WHY DID YOU ENROL IN THIS STUDIO?
This studio subject really stood out to me for a few reasons. I’ve always felt a big connection to music, I love the emotions it can evoke in you almost out of nowhere. I feel that video and music go hand in hand and compliment each other in ways that other media types don’t. From a young age I was making songs on garage band and would then film a video to go along with it. Music videos are probably my favourite type of media because they can be pretty much anything you want them to be. They can tell a story, they can be aesthetic or they can be completely nonsensical, this kind of experimental cinema really excites me and I can see myself heading down a career path in this industry. I would really love to learn different techniques and approaches to making music videos and by the end of this studio I hope to have a professional looking video that I can use to show employers and that the client can also use to promote their song. I’m really looking forward to getting creative with this studio and producing something that is well rounded and thought provoking.
WRITE ABOUT A MUSIC VIDEO YOU THINK IS EFFECTIVE.
I found the music video for Breezeblocks by Alt J really interesting. It tells a story in reverse chronological order and in slow motion. The way that this is done makes the viewer know what the ending of the story is, but ask questions about how we got there. Many viewers at first would be shocked at the murder of the seemingly innocent woman. Additionally, the video makes the viewer question their personal morals on whether or not a murder is justified if it is committed in self-defense, as appears to be shown in the video: the woman who was murdered is implied to have assaulted the man’s wife before attacking him directly. The way that this video tells a story is very unusual and unique which I think is very effective. The slow motion in reverse not only tells a story but it makes for some really visually interesting and satisfying shots. In text (Trevyn-bell-a2-media-studies.blogspot.com, 2019) they speak about how the use of reverse slow motion helps tie the video in with the pace of the music and also how the video tackles arguments to do with gender roles, domestic violence and cultural representation. The images do directly correlate to the lyrics throughout the duration of the video with the main line in the chorus being “hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks” which is actually the way she is murdered. In terms of how the music video was made, I personally don’t think it would have been very complicated or expensive to make. They would have shot it in chronological order and then reversed it in post. They’ve used a lot of extreme close ups and close ups which really demonstrates the intensity of the story. Overall I found this video to be extremely effective in partnership with the song and very thought provoking.
See Breezeblocks by Alt J music video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVeMiVU77wo
B I B L I O G R A P H Y
Trevyn-bell-a2-media-studies.blogspot.com. (2019). Breezeblocks Music Video – In-Depth Textual Analysis. [online] Available at: http://trevyn-bell-a2-media-studies.blogspot.com/2014/10/breezeblocks-music-video-in-depth.html [Accessed 12 Nov. 2019].
Youtube.com. (2019). YouTube. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVeMiVU77wo [Accessed 12 Nov. 2019].
REFLECT ON ONE OF THE READINGS (VARNALLIS)
I found Varnallis’ reading quite interesting and I agree with some parts of it but not all. He talks a lot about how in order for music videos to be effective, aka provide commentary on the song or sell the song they cannot embody complete narratives, and the ones that do take away from the song itself. He explores the differences between music videos and film in relation to their sound tracks. In films music generally finds its way to the background and should compliment the plot line, whilst in music videos the song should be the main focus. Varnallis argues that “If there is a story, it exists only in the dynamic relation between the song and the image as they unfold in time.” I like to think that music videos have no boundaries, no rules and no right or wrong. They can be as nonsensical and crazy as they like, or they can be calculated and tell a story. This reading really made me think a lot about what a music video’s purpose is or should be, but I’m not sure there should always be one. It can be to sell the song, it can be to tell a story, it can be visually appealing or it can be none of the above if it wants to be. Thats what I love about music videos. A music video that I felt portrayed a bit of nonsensicalness was “Heart’s a Mess” by Gotye. Elijah Mueller wrote about the song in (You.stonybrook.edu, 2019). He spoke about the song’s meaning and described it to be a struggle between a man and a women and his fight for her heart. She’s decided she has been hurt so many times in love that she has given up on love, locked her heart away and thrown away the key and that this man is telling her she “can’t live like this” and that he’s “desperate to connect.” When listening to the song it’s really quite moving. However, the music video in my opinion doesn’t really portray any of these ideas. I looked online for some sort of analysis into the video and hoped for some hidden meaning that perhaps I missed, but I couldn’t find any so here’s my summary. The video is a dark animation, and pictured in it are a few interesting looking characters who walk around the world without a clear purpose, covering the world behind them in darkness. Once they get to wherever they were going the climb on top of each other above the clouds and float away into space. I like that this story is open to interpretation. I like that the viewers can connect with it in different and personal ways. In my mind this video does tell a story, whether or not the story is what the creators intended I will never know. This video doesn’t directly” commentate” the song, neither does it“sell” the song, but I enjoyed it and the song together and I guess, in the end, that’s all that really matters right?
See Hearts A Mess by Gotye music video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpN1j8R5lZ8
B I B L I O G R A P H Y
Youtube.com. (2019). YouTube. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpN1j8R5lZ8 [Accessed 12 Nov. 2019].
You.stonybrook.edu. (2019). Reflection/Hearts a Mess (Love): | This is the New Year. [online] Available at: https://you.stonybrook.edu/elimueller1421/2015/02/02/reflectionhearts-a-mess-love/ [Accessed 12 Nov. 2019].