Recommended Music Videos

For this task, we were asked to do a textual analysis of five recommended music videos. Here are the five I was asked to comment on:

Panic! At the Disco - Emperor's New Clothes

          

This music video is clearly a narrative/conceptual video. What I like about it is the drastic lighting, that often flickers a bright white, and the carefully constructed mise-en-scene. Furthermore, I like how the video seems to be filmed in as little camera shots as possible, with smoothly edited transitions but jerky movements from the obviously central lead singer. Overall, it gives the entire video a very creepy vibe.

       

Liam Gallagher - Wall of Glass

          

This music video is definitely a conceptual video, and what I like about it is the constantly changing lighting colours, that gives an eerie and indie feel to the whole video. Also, I like the way the camera plays with angles and movements to make certain scenes seem unaffected by gravity. Furthermore, the editing techniques in this video are highly professional, which increases the strangeness, just like the choice to play with mirrors does.

Green Day - Basket Case

         

This music video was famously shot in black and white, and each individual shot was recoloured, to give the entire piece a strange, neon look. I like the level of detail that went into the mise-en-scene of this conceptual/performance video. Furthermore, I like how in certain scenes the lighting is harsh, and there's a stark contrast between the rest of the image and the lighting.

Paramore - Hard Times

         

Honestly, I love this entire video. The mise-en-scene is carefully constructed to give this conceptual/performance video a weird, edgy and 80s vibe. I like the way the video is editing to give the overall feel of an 80s kids instructional video, the close-ups of the instruments, and the pastel colour scheme. The music video clearly has a lot of close-ups of the lead singer too, while keeping the band in a lot of the other shots. Furthermore, the camera shots also seem to be very smooth pans or zooms, which fits the 80s feel perfectly.

Circa Waves - Fire That Burns

          

The most spectacular things about this music video are the beautiful lighting, strong narrative, and the carefully picked colours to emphasise the scene. The bright reds and lush greens really leave an impressionable impact on the viewer. Furthermore, this video fits all the tropes of a cheesy murder mystery, with the frequent quick zooms and strong lighting cues when people are about to die.