Key Changes Music Video

7/30/2019 Key Changes Music Video

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Key Changes Music Video

Drum & Bass genre


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Early 90s

Music Video Name: Congo Natty- Junglist Release Date: 1993

Camera Angles shots and movement:

There are a great deal of close ups in this music video. They predominantly are of either the artist face or of the musical equipment in

the studio. The close ups allow the audience to clearly see the tape recorder, or microphone, or CD decks,; representing a genre that iproud of their musical making abilities. This also appeals to the audience greatly; they are almost taken through the musical engineerinprocess, and with that, can feel more attached to the song and for the target audience their favorite artists. Using the uses andgratification theory the audience is not only entertained but informed with how music is created in that contemporary era.

I must note here that there are a lot of shots that show the artist singing. This is an important note for later in the PowerPoint and isexemplar of how much the genre has changed.

Here we can see a low angle shot of the Artist; establishing him in a position

of power, in the studio, he is seen as something powerful and almost godly

to his fellow producers. The low angle close up shots puts him in this powerfu

l position, and he is subsequently looked up to by the audience.

Movement: There is also a gradual track in to the artist as he sings. As we move towards him

It is a reaffirming of how important he is. The audience identify with his status

Of power.

Wide shots are also used to a create extent; they prominently convey

the theme of togetherness amongst these people. Interestingly, this

music video revolves around the Rastafarian religion. It combines boththese cultural elements of togetherness with the drum & bass (at the


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Editing:

The editing is very basic in this music video. It consists of a great deal of standard editing; continuity editing as the characters

enter the studio and place the tape in the recorder etc.. There are two main editing points that should how ever be noted.

1. The music video uses graphical editing. The music video unfolds as a narrative almost; reaching the studio, smoking

some drugs and then Djing their music to what seems to be a small drum & bass gathering of mainly older males. It isinteresting how the music video is edited to freeze frame at the beginning on certain shots that show characters and

then graphical editing is used; their names are written over the shot and their character names in the video. The

audience will appeal to this as it is not merely a music video where a series of shots are strung together but that it follows

a narrative. This connects the audience far more, broadly defined, even in the early stages of when music videos of this

genre were created this idea of having an interesting and highly cinematic storyline to the narrative has always been

present.

Editing technique two.

The second point is that the speed of certain shots has been either sped up or slowed down. This seems

to be highly conventional to the drum & bass genre as it seems to be that in the early 90s this convention

has been established. As many would define the drum & bass genre as being cool, this notion of using

slow motion allows the director to present the characters in such a manor. It would suffice to say that slow

motion not only makes characters actions more easily visible but it does, indeed, make them look far

more stylish. This editing technique is in keeping with the stylish nature of the music video and is a

representation of an extremely stylish genre.

Song title appears in a

blood red colour above

a freeze framed image.

Some would argue thatthis use of blood red,

coupled with this image

of a group of

aggressive looking men

presents the genre to

be one associated with

violence. This is an

alternative

interpretation.

Slow motion shot that

then becomes a freeze

frame. Example of two

editing techniques that

are both stylish,

conveying a cool genreassociated with cool

people.


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Paragraph on the Mis-en-scene:

Briefly, this video depicts themes of togetherness and love through its characterization of the characters; music brings them

together. Set in the studio for the majority, poster images ofBob Marley (the iconic musician that brought marijuana and music

together), musical equipment and and posters to underground drum & bass raves can all be seen in the shot. This conveys a

tight nit, close and cultural community that is highly associated with the Rastafarian music. In fact, the song itself has various

reggae elements that make it a part of this movement.

Smoking is a key element in this music video; the artists are seen rolling marijuana and smoking it, and many people would arguethat this is promoting drug use as their use of it almost brings them closer to each other and to the icon Bob Marley. Even in the

early 90s, before the initial rise of MDMA, marijuana has always been a key element to the drum & bass genre. It is a symbol ic

representation, I believe, of love in amongst the people and it is therefore depicted in this video and throughout the genre.

The characters are wearing highly conventional clothing associated with the genre; baggy clothing, no suits or formal wear. Hats

and bandanas on their heads and wearing T-shirts and jackets two sized too big, it is very conventional and will appeal to the

audience for that matter.

What really appealed to me in this music video was the juxtaposing

colour scheme. At times, there is what seems to be a blue wash

over the image, than in the studio a more warming orange that

perhaps seeks to represent the togetherness of these people. Then,when Djing, the infamous strobe lighting that seeks to be a

symbolic representation in itself of the rave culture permeates

through the shots, and finally, there are shots that are desaturated

entirely and become black and white, with the contrast taken down to

a certain extent. There is a conjunction of a various colours and this

creates a lively, entertaining and constantly fluctuating music video

that would appeal to the audiences through its unique use of colour

and style.

The music video is unique in that it resembles that of a documentary.

Cinematography in the music

video.

Shows the

baggy clothing

of the artists

and music videoactors also.

To a certain extent the use of marijuana is

glamorized; poster of Bob Marley smoking

the illicit drug almost haloed by the warm,

orange coloured wash.


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Late 90s.

Music video name: Ed Rush - BacteriaRelease date 1998

Camera angles, shots and movement

The majority of the music video is shot in POV. This allows for in-depth

character exploration; we see the narrative, and all its bewildering

imagery and symbols through the eyes of our protagonist who looks to

be battling with his sanity. It is this that will appeal to our audience as

they really feel engaged with the character, relating to the monotony of

his everyday life (such as putting on shoes, brushing teeth), yet

intrigued by the state of his psyche.

Further emphasizing the character exploration, and further still, the

instability of the characters mind to a certain extent is that the musicvideo consist mainly of Hand held camera work. This results in a

somewhat fragmented delineation of the narrative, that seeks to

represent the recklessness of the characters mind.

This music video consisted far more of hand held shots (shots highly

conventional to the drum & bass genre) than

Congo Nutty- Junglist. Perhaps, as time progressed,

this became more of a convention to the genre hence

why it is used to excess here.

The video has very few long shots, extreme long

shots. Broadly defined, the director has strayed

away from these shots as they would, in a sense,

connect the character to the world as much of itwill be visible in the frame. He is not part of the

world, his isolation is presented through the

excessive use of close ups and extreme close ups,

for example of his eyes, that depict a tinge of

madness. There are indeed slightly controversial

themes portrayed in this music video, but this only

makes the video more conventional to the genre.POV Shot


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Editing:

What is the most striking editing technique used in this music video is that, I would say,

90% of it has been sped up. This is not a speed of around 150% however, I would place

it at an even faster speed, around 200%: it is extremely fast footage.

I believe such an editing style is used because it is, as many videos of the drum & bass

genre have shown, highly conventional. Also, it allows the audience to watch theprotagonists entire day; all the monotony involved in every day activities, that would take

an entire day to show in normal speed in the space of 6 minutes. The director is able to

play with time so to speak.

There are very few shots that are slowed down; seeking to break the speed of the fast

shots and provided the viewer with a brief break, before they are thrown back into the

fast tempo. The way in which the fast shots and slow shots are edited is very

meticulously. Some shots are in fact edited overt he other: for example, the boystanding, his silhouette only at the camera in slow motion and then a fast paced image

of his face played over it. This all seeks to convey this idea that this boy is relatively

unstable.

Similar to other music videos of the early 90s and

to the genre in general the footage has been edited

at times to be in black and white. This gives the

music video a sense of realism. Furthermore, the

audience would recognize this as being highlyconventional to the genre as this is now in the late

90s, they would have been exposed to far more of

these videos and this use of desaturation as the

genre evolved from the early 90s. The use of black

and white, juxtaposed with colour presents the

genre to be one of many emotions. Black and white

is at times symbolic of his insanity, depression, and

then the tinge of light that is the rare colour shots

amongst the desaturated ones is arguably

symbolic of the beauty in the world. This is a clear

It is important to note also that this music

video lacks continuity editing. This is

because such an editing technique would

suggest a sense of stability and order; this

video has none, the somewhat random

presence of the cat, candle, washing

machine are all intermixed in such a manorthat reaffirms the character insanity.


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The initial and most important thing that I would like to discuss regarding the

mise-en-scene of this music video is that it is very dark.

The colours; firstly in their desaturation, and then coupled with the abstract

nature of some of the shots and the content of them (a solitary cat, a boy

staring at himself in the mirror) all convey this somewhat eerie atmosphere.Arguably, this represents the genre in a mysterious and quite scary manor to

say the least. The target audience however would appreciate such a dark

music video as they are aware of how unique of a genre drum & bass is,

tackling the topics and themes that other genres would dare to reach.

There is no element of love however in this music video that Is represented in

the other music video studied on this PowerPoint. There is no unity ortogetherness, key themes of the genre, only one boys solitary journey ( until

the end where he meets the girl and then arguably there is a sense of love).

The themes covered in this music video are that of obsession and isolation,

and this is shown through his obsessive filming of the cat and his solitary state

through most of the video.

He seems to not care about his appearance; his clothing is highly conventional to the genre, again,

baggy clothing, non branded clothing that appears dirty and over worn through the music video.

There are various conventions that relate to his teenager identity. His converse, the bands worn on

his wrist, even the act of him eating cereal and doodling upon his pad with a pen. Clearly, this music

video explores the world of a teenager, and also, an outsider. It will suffice to say that the strugglers

of the social economic backgrounds would relate to this character, and with that, the music video

could appeal to them greatly.

Mis-en-scene

Dark, almost demonic

representation of genre Drum

& Bass with the use of red and

black.


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Furthermore, the use of long shots in this music video add

to its comical element. Using a long shot and extreme long

shot to show the, it will suffice to say, overweight man

dancing topless in the street places various normal objects

that we see everyday in the frame: For example cars,

lampposts, shops. This makes his down right bizzar antics

far more humorous as the normality of the surroundings is

juxtaposed with his peculiar behavior. These shots,coupled with the actions of the protagonist, present the

drum & bass genre to be an entertaining, amusing and

unique genre that can intermix comedy (shown here) with

serious and poignant societal issues (exemplified in the

other music videos studied).

2000s

Music Video Name: Pendulum - Slam Release date: September 2005

Camera angles, shots and movements:

Compared to the other music videos studied, Slam consists of a great deal of panning shots

and dolly shots. Exemplar of this is this Mid shot framed, tracking shot of the protagonist,

tracking backwards as he walks forwards. This shot almost isolates the character; a man

suited and well dressed walking aimlessly through a market of casually dressed individuals. It

seeks to make him look out of place, and the outsiders of social economic groups in the

audience could relate to this character through the camera work alone.


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Editing:

How the genre has changed since the early 90s is exemplified through the editing of this music video. Firstly, this music

video cuts its shots on the beat of the song far more than the earlier videos. This is exemplified to the greatest extent

before the drop of the song, where Jump cutting is used to fragment the shots on the beat ( the speed of shots increase

as the beat speed increases). The use of jump cutting firstly allows the editor to edit such shots easily with the beat, as

continuity editing at times would require perfect timing of shots. Jump cutting does not. Moreover, jump cutting is a

representation of the building reckesslens and instability of this character as he begins to undress in public. As soon asthe song drops rhythmical editing is used to join a selection of shots to the timing of the music.

The genre is represented, through the editing as being slightly reckless but more importantly a free spirited genre that is

not restrained by anything. Jump cutting represents how they are cutting through the constraints placed by society: to

act responsibly and quietly in public. Drum & bass says NO to this.

What seems to be highly conventional to the

genre is this notion of fluctuating the speed of

shots. Videos in the 2000s adhere to thisconvention, and almost exceed it, with the Time

lapse style of editing used in this music video.

The protagonist stays still in the shot while the

pedestrians around him move at an extremely

fast pace. What this represents, arguably, is that

his life is flashing before his eyes and that he

must remove himself of all societal constraints

(symbolized by the shirt, tie, suit that he wears at

the beginning) and just do what he pleases to do.

The use of time-lapse is a clear example of a key change

occurred. As editing technology has improved it is now pocreate such an effect. We did not experience such editing

the 90s videos studied.


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Mise-en-scene:

1. The mise-en-scene of the early part of the music video exudes binaryoppositions. There is the protagonist who is formal and well presented withhis clothing. This is contrasted entirely with the civilians who are dressed inan informal, relaxed manor. The use of these binary oppositions is to

perhaps really highlight how the formality in our lives (going to work, 9-5 etc)really does make us boring and monotonous.

2. Similar to many drum & bass music videos the setting is out and about onthe streets/town. This connects the genre to every day living. We can seeshops, restaurants, clothing stores and fast food joints in the background. Itis highly conventional to locate a drum & bass music video in such alocation as themes of humanity and people are always presented in D&Bmusic videos, and what location better expresses the versatility of humanitythan a town or a city?

Finally, as it is filmed during the daylight the atmosphere created through the lighting is one that makes the

audience feel cheerful. The sun is seen is several shots, there is no presence of cloudy sky's, rains etc. This

use of sunlight could arguably be a use of pathetic fallacy; the protagonist is so happy, dancing in the street

topless, free of his uniform and work commitments and the weather is a representation of this. Broadly defined,

this drum & bass music video conveys themes of happiness and love. There is no indication towards any form

of drugs (which some would consider to be a rarity in a D&B music video), and therefore it is a video suitable

for all ages, to a target audience that is far broader than other D&B music videos, ones that are specifically notsuitable for children due to the depiction of drugs and adult themes. The fact that it is such a humorous video

also adds to the family orientated notion of this video.


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Music Video Name: Rudimental- Feel The Love Release date: May 2012

Camera angles, shots and movement:

With this music video being produced in 2012, we can see the clarity in the cameras used instantaneously. The footage is crisp and

lacks in the, at times, grainy aspects of a low resolution camera that we experienced in the early music videos of the 90s.

I believe that out of all the music videos studied in this key changes element of my coursework, that this music video consisted of

the most variety of shots; perhaps this is a more contemporary convention, and that as the music genre has become more popular

since the 90s, less amateur producers are direction the music video, the budgets are higher and more experienced and talented

directors are involved.

There are indeed also a great deal ofclose ups; of both the horses faces and of the

children and town residents. At times we cut directly from a close up of the animal to aclose up of the Childs face, thus, symbolically presenting them as being alike in their

purity. This music video strays away from the themes of violence and destruction so

prominent in many drum & bass videos and seeks to only highlight the unabridged

beauty within nature.

Some of the close ups, especially of the people in the video, are of a low angle. Some

would argue that this shows their superiority to the animals, how they are in power. But

I would dispute this fact; the music video shows an equality between the animals and

the people throughout, and therefore the low angle is almost a representation of how in

power the animals make their humans feel, as in they give them the strength and

The Tracking shot is key and used a great deal in this music video. It is a shot that

captures the graceful movement of the horse and great speed. The camera is most

probably mounted to a sturdy dolly and the camera man follows the horse. Thegenre, due to such elegant shot is presented in a graceful and almost peaceful

manor. Although the music sounds are so hard hitting and loud the juxtaposition of

the swift beauty exhibited by these beautiful creatures in their movement creates a

sense of complete tranquility.

Mi


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Mis-en-scene

Noting first upon the setting of the music video, we are graced with the open out doors. Thenarrative seems to unfold in the streets and fields of a town location which is un known.

It is cold weather so in terms of clothing everybody is wearing large jackets (puffers) glovesand hats. The Mise-en-scene makes a clear class divide through the clothing of the charactersin the music video. One man riding upon the horse is wearing gold chains (a reflection upon

his wealth), where others are huddled around a fire bin for warmth in the street wearing dirtypuffer jackets. However, although there is a clear representation of different classes the unityis in that everybody is happy. This overwhelming illation through the music video representsthe genre to be one that judges no body and promotes only happiness.

This screenshot exemplifies the beautiful cinematic element to this

music video that adheres towards its mise-en-scene. In the shot

we see the man riding his horse in what appears to be isolation.

He is alone with his animal, nobody is around, and yet this

isolation is not one where being in a solitary situation conveysdistress or of one character being an outsider, due to the beauty

of the shot his isolation is just seen as alluring. It is defining him as

a character and through the narrative as being in need of nobody.

Beautiful shots such as this filmed with such clear depth of field

and eloquence are a key change in the genre; this would not have

been seen, to such an extent, in the early Drum & bass music

videos.This is a screen shot of one of the protagonists, the young boys, home and the

images on his wall. This whole scene that lasts approximately 15 seconds has an

entirely different colour to it. I believe this to be the use of soft lighting when

filming, but then perhaps a brown filter is used over the main light. There is this

brown wash to the scene that the others do not exhibit (they show a grey, white

colour to their scenes due to the snow and natural lighting outside). The purpose

of this brown wash is to, arguably, convey the notion of safety amongst our

homes. That warm feeling we get when arriving home and being safe is

represented here, and the images of what appears to be the boys ancestors with

horses is a narrative technique that informs the audience of the boys past quickly

and efficiently. The audience would appeal to this as they can gage howimportant horses have been to this protagonists bloodline; they are portrayed with

such pride. This juxtaposition of lighting is also something highly conventional to


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Editing

Compared to the their music videos, there is a lack of

jump cutting (which I would argue to be the most

convectional editing technique to the genre next to speed

fluctuation). Jump cutting connoted to instability and

recklessness of characters usual in the genre. These

characters exhibit no recklessness, no violence or

aggression, only the conventional themes of love and

unity. Jump cutting, then, would not be a fitting techniqueto reflect such themes. The cuts would be too hard, here

they are fluid and eloquent due to the use of rhythmical

editing. They do increase at times as the beat does but it

is always through smooth and graceful cuts that exhibit

no disjointment. Part of this is again due to the slow

motion. What this does is represent a genre that is clam

and graceful, that is exemplifying the theme of love to the

audience throughout.

This slow-motion shot really

does exemplify the similarities

between humans and horses.As the protagonist and best

friend sit in the dinner, facedopposite each other talking

their horses out side the caf

are in the frame almost doing

the exact same thing through

the windows. Who is

mimicking who? Who owns

who? This is a very clever

shot that would appeal to the

audience through itsintelligence. The theme of

friendship is portrayed, which

Cut then to a shot of the horses

outside, and we can assume that likethe two friends inside, they are

conversing.

70% I would say of this music video has actually been edited

to be in slow motion. This is a very conventional editing

technique to the drum & bass genre, and in this music video I

believe the slow motion is used in excess to capture ever

movement of the characters and the horses in detail. We know

that animals twitch their ears and move their lips so quickly

that we do not even pick up on it at times; slow motion

however does, the audience would identify with the animals

movements and with the characters similar movements (for

example eye lashes flashing, movement of the boys eye brows

and lips), and again there is an equality established between

animals and people. Without this slow motion, this message

that Feel the Love conveys would not have been clear, it is

therefore a necessity to the music video.

Key Changes Music Video

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