Brief analysis.
This page of the website is dedicated to brief analysis of a variety of music videos, looking into a mix of different, genres, styles and artists to allow me to gain as much inspiration as possible. Below are twelve different music videos and analysis for each of them.
1. Diamonds - Rihanna (Mandler, 2012)
This music video is of Rihanna's single 'Diamonds', directed by Anthony Mandler. I especially like the close up shots in this piece, such as the close up shot of a male and a female's hand slowly letting go of each other, which slowly happens more throughout the piece, I believe this symbolises having to or being forced to let go of someone you love. I also really like the colours that are used in this piece, particularly the blue water. This works well with the lighting, which is very predominant in the piece. It has been used very well to make diamonds shine more and backlights Rihanna in many shots to bring the focus onto her which works very effectively.
2. Give Me Love - Ed Sheeran (Nava, 2012)
Produced by Emil Nava, I like this video because of its narrative. It shows a female character saddened that she cannot find love. Somehow she turns into a Cupid character, shooting darts at people making them attracted to the next person they see. It also shows her becoming increasingly sad, and holding an arrow to her neck. The final scene shows a police officer at the scene of her apparent suicide, when she wakes up and is looking directly at him. This piece is very powerful, combined with the vocals of "Give me love" playing repeatedly in the background, making the meaning of the song and the video even clearer. It does not actually have any performance aspects which I don't think it needs.
3. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Taylor Swift (Whitebloom, 2012)
Taylor Swift commented that she wanted to be the music video as "quirky as the song sounds". She successfully does this and created a video described as "truly a treat to watch". I like this video because the whole piece is filmed in one take, which is very difficult and rare for a mainstream music video. I think it is very effective and interesting to watch. As much as I would like to try to do this for a music video, it would not be easy to do and I don't think it would fit the genre which we would want to use. As well as this it would be very hard to edit and to film without a large filming crew and cast, when we only have three people in the group, with limited time.
4. Elastic Heart - Sia (Sia + Askill, 2015)
Although this video was controversial when released, I think it is one of the best music videos released in 2015. I would describe it as a performance and narrative video, as there are only two characters, in one location, dancing, however by doing this they are creating a story. The video is very raw and powerful. It shows a child and a man that seem to be fighting through dance. It is very primitive, they fight until she is able to escape through the cage, but he is too big too and doesn't want her to leave. Although this is a very basic set; just a cage in a big white room, with two actors, I believe it is very interesting to watch, showing the relationship between two people.
5. Emperor's New Clothes - Panic! At The Disco (Campos, 2015)
Despite the fact that I do not like the style of music, this is one of my favourite music videos ever, purely because it is so original and is so well created. It shows the main band member's transition to a devil-like creature once his body dies and soul goes into a white light. He then falls into a trap door into hell. The video is incredibly well created. The shots and the make up used on the character is really well done. I like how they have sped up and slowed down certain aspects to make his movements appear very unnatural. It focuses mainly on the characters facial expressions and movements, which makes it appear quite creepy but addictive to watch.
6. Laying In The Snow - Left Boy (2013)
This is also one of my favourite music videos, as it features one of my favourite artists. Although that it is incredibly simplistic, featuring the artist, in a room. However, it is the editing that makes this piece. The editing is very good, making the character interesting to watch. It is all done in time to the song, which is very important for it to look right. As well as this the editing actually works with the characters movements. The use of colours, shapes and patterns as the song progresses makes it very original, and the way that they appear on specific beats makes it work really well. I apologise for the language in this song but the editing on this video needed to be analysed.