Task 4a

THE STREETS
-
YOU’RE FIT BUT DON’T YOU KNOW IT

The Streets are a British Hip hop/Garage band that formed in 1994. Hip hop music is tend to
be written by solo artists or young men because that‟s what kind of audience would listen to
Hip Hop. Director – N/A

Genre Characteristics:
Hip hop music tend to have attractive women, money in their video or something to suggest they do have a lot of money, sex an d fighting.
Throughout the video there are scene implying sex which is emphasized by the lyrics also there is a scene where there is a fi ght between the
singer and a group of men this is typical for a Hip hop video. Eg: 0.26, 1.33
Relationship between the lyrics and visuals:
There is a relationship between the lyrics and visuals for example “You look like an eight or a nine maybe with four more bee rs you‟ll be just
fine” there‟s visuals of the singer with four beers at a bar and a woman he is staring at whist singing. Next scene is when he goes “wandering
to order a burger or chips” he is looking at pictures of burgers and chips but also he mentions in the song about loosing his place in the
line, which happens in the visuals. Next scene is when he goes and when the man in white behind us was clocking onto you” you see a man in
white chatting up a girl in the background. “Into the arms of some other man” we see her and the man in the pervious scene -leaving arm in
arm.
Relationship between music and visuals:
The visuals and the music flow but they don‟t flow as well as they do with the chorus. This is because the beat/rhythm of the song in the verse
varies so it‟s hard for the changing of the photos to be in time with the music whereas the chorus the changing of the photos link with the
music because the music has a steady beat/rhythm.
Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?
There is a close up of the star when he is talking about the man in white with the woman he likes this could be to show his e motion about not
getting the girl. This is the only close up shot in the whole video, which could be because this part of the video is signifi cant.
Is there any reference to the notion of looking/voyeuristic qualities?
Yes there are. The voyeurism is key in this video because it is about girls and looking/ trying to get with them. There are a lso parts where
there is nudity of the women suggesting the singer wants to get with the women in this video. The costume does play a part in us knowing that
their intentions is to get with the girls because the women are wearing minimal clothing suggesting that they are easy and me n can take
advantage of them.
Is the video performance, narrative or concept based? How much of each?
The video as a whole I think is more narrative because it flows in a sequence as if it‟s telling a story. The video helps us understand the story
as he is showing us videos in a picture form. The narrative of the video is the singer has just come back from a holiday he h ad and he just
picked up his photos which he took. The photos are a set in a video and it links with the lyrics we so understand both the ly rics and the visuals

GREEN DAY
-
JESUS OF SUBURBIA (PUNK ROCK)

Green Day are an American Punk Rock band formed in 1987. Punk Rock began in 1974 and lyrically it had involved
political and anti establishment themes. Mohawk hair, safety pinned clothes and make up worn on men was all part
of the era of Punk Rock. Punk Rock music tend to have an outcast, fighting and a performance involved in the
music video. Jesus of Suburbia was directed by Samuel Bayer. There is two version of the music video, the 12
minute long video with the directors cut and the 9 minute long video.

Genre characteristics:
Punk Rock characteristics involves fighting, being an outcast and girls. Throughout the video for Jesus of Suburbia there are these themes throughout. For example the start of the
video you see the main guy (Jimmy) talking to a girl Jimmy is angry which is typical of punk rock music but it also involves a girl which again is typical for this music. Also Jimmy
has the punk look with the black clothing, black hair and black eyeliner. Jimmy is an outcast with his family and has been re jected by a girl causing him to be angry and start fights to
release his anger. This is all what punk rock is about.
Throughout the video there is strong inks between the video and the lyrics such as “get my television fixed” we see a image o f a TV but also we see Green Day performing on the TV
in black and white. “And Mary Jane to keep me insane doing someone else‟s cocaine” We see Jimmy and Mary Jane (the girl from the start of the video) lying on the bed doing
cocaine. “At the centre of the earth in the parking lot” we see Jimmy sat in a parking lot kissing a new girl. “City of the d ead” Jimmy writes on the wall „dead‟ in time with the lyrics of
the song this is the same with the part when the lyrics go “no one really seems to care”. All of this stands out because they are the only lyrics being written on the wall by Jimmy.
“Running away from pain when you‟ve been victimised” shows Jimmy getting in a car and going and showing all the people throug hout the video who he fought with which shows the
victimised part of the song.
The relationship between the music and visuals of Jesus of Suburbia works effectively. I think that the relationship with the music and visuals is stronger than the characteristics of
the genre of music. The start of the song is really effective, when the drums hit the camera changes in a way that makes the movements of Jimmy look jumpy which is really
effective. Again when the drum hits there‟s a scene where Jimmy is in bed with Mary Jane, he is on top the first drum hit the n second drum hit Mary Jane is on top and third drum hit
he is on top again furthermore this is all fast pace which matches the activity Jimmy and Mary Jane is doing. When the drum h it multiple times the girl is punching the air but the
editing has made it on repeat so it makes it look like she is doing the drum sounds. The drum hit and camera change througho ut the music video for Jesus of Suburbia happens on
a regular basis. The camera is shot are very fast pace and tend to be cut aways.
There are a lot of close ups on Jimmy throughout the video this is done to establish that Jimmy is our main character and he is who we are supposed to associate with. The start of
the video shows Jimmy in close up it shows that he is smoking, we can see his rough punk looking hairstyle and his black eyel iner which is all typical for the punk style. Throughout
the video the main thing which happens a lot in the video is smoking and drugs it is seen in close ups which could suggest it is important. There is an extreme close up of Jimmy‟s
eyes which shows his anger this is typical for punk rock music.
There are a lot of voyeuristic qualities. For example there is a part in the music video where Jimmy is sat on the bed watchi ng Mary Jane in her underwear getting changed ready to
leave. The use of this is getting to know the relationship between Mary Jane and Jimmy because it‟s as if he has asked her to leave and he is just watching her go. Another example
which is strong in this video is the TV and Green Day playing on it. Jimmy may not have his full attention on it but the TV i s being watched partly by Jimmy but mostly by us. There is
a part in the music video where Jimmy does sit down and watch the TV. He is looking up at the TV as he is sat on the floor as if he admires/idolises Green Day as if he wants to be
Green Day.
The video is partly both performance and narrative. There is a performance on behalf of Green Day as they are playing on the TV throughout the whole video. It isn‟t a direct
performance but it is there and we do see Green Day as a band performing. The narrative of the video does give the song backg round and feeling as it shows how we are supposed
to feel about the song. Jimmy is designed to represent us so the way he acts is the way we feel. The narrative doesn‟t flow a t the beginning for instance the start goes “you meant
nothing to me you‟re just a pair of tits” then in the video we see him and Mary Jane together kissing so it‟s like it‟s a fla shback and it is also showing us their relationship. The rest of
the video does flow though in a story like way, how there‟s a beginning and middle and an end.

GOTYE
-
SOMEBODY I USED TO KNOW (INDIE
POP)

Gotye is a multi musician singer and songwriter. Somebody I Used To
Know is directed by Natasha Pincus and shows Gotye and Kimbra
naked and as they sing their skins gradually get painted into the
backdrop via stop motion.

Indie pop music characteristics include keyboards, drums & guitars instruments and the singers to have long wavy hair and like pastel and
bright colors. There aren‟t any instruments in the video but the video is full of pastel and bright colors due to the painted backdrop with pale
colors such as the pinks and greys but there is also bright colors with the green.
The music video for Goyte doesn‟t really go with the lyrics. There‟s one part in the whole video which does go with the video and it‟s when
Kimbra joins in the video and she is singing to Goyte as if what she is singing is directed to him personally “I don‟t want to live that way
breathing into every word you say, you said that you could let it go and I wouldn‟t catch you hung up on somebody that you us ed to know”.
The relationship between music and visuals work together. The things which do work together in the video in time with the music i s the
drawing. Besides that there is very little with the music and visuals being in time with each other
At the beginning of the video there are close ups by using a tracking shot of Gotye‟s body parts. The use of this is to understand that Goyte
is naked which could mean something to the song and video. Throughout the video there is more medium close ups rather than cl ose ups. I
think that they have used more medium close ups because they happen more before the paint is on him and after the paint is on him there is
more close ups which could want to show a before and after. They use mid shots when him and Kimbra are together because it shows both
their bodies with the paint but also the distance between them which is what the song is about how far apart the two have bec ome when they
used to be so close before.
There are some notion of looking but only when Kimbra comes into the video. Her eyes low down a lot he is also naked which is why she is
looking down at him where as he doesn‟t look at her anywhere besides looking into the camera or having his eyes closed.
The video is definitely concept based rather than performance and narrative based. I think this because there is no strong narrative within
the music video and there is no sign of performance because there are no instruments being played and no audience. I think th e video is
more concept based because I think that the paint lines and how their bodies fit together with the background is a symbol of how Goyte and
Kimbra fit together like a jigsaw.

THE PRODIGY
-
SMACK MY BITCH UP (ELECTRONIC
DANCE)

The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group who formed in 1990. The
Prodigy are said to make different genres of music such as rave, hardcore techno
and industrial with elements of electro rock and punk vocals. Electronic Dance
music tends to be heard in nightclubs or dance based entertainment. The director
for Smack My Bitch Up was by director Jonas Akerlund.

The characteristics of dance music is nightclubs, women and dancing. This music video does fit in with the dance characteristics because in the music video there
are scenes of a lot of women. The women are seen a lot more than men in this video and they are seen to be less dominant than the person we are seeing things
through. There is night club scenes throughout for example when the person we are seeing things though is dancing we see othe rs around them but also there is a
bar and drinks around also the costume others are wearing suggests that they are in a club. Fight scenes are also typical of dance music videos. Throughout the
video the fight scenes play a big role in the video because it‟s how the person gets from one place to another but it also te lls us about what the person we are seeing
things through is like.
The relationship between the visuals and lyrics are a bit uncertain. There is only two lines throughout the whole music video which are “change my pitch up, smack
my bitch up” the lyrics are hard to work out what they mean so the music video needs to lets us understand what the song mean s. I had to google what the lyrics
meant and people think Smack my bitch means to do something intensely, like being on stage for the music video the intense feeling is the drugs and fighting in the
video which in some ways gives shock value to the audience as we watch the person do drugs and fight a lot which is what The Prodigy want from this video to
shock us.
The relationship between the music and visuals is much more stronger than the lyrics and the visuals because the genre of music i s dance there would bound to be
more music than lyrics. The music and visuals do work effectively together. When the music does a sound which sounds like „ pow‟ that‟s when the scenes and
movements of the person we are seeing things through link together. Also sometimes when that pow sound happens there is like a second black screen as if the
person is blinking because when this does happen the scene does change. Before the pow sounding noise there‟s a sort of waga waga in the sound of the music
those scenes are a bit longer than the pow sounding scene because they only last seconds where as the waga waga sounds lasts for 4 seconds or a bit more.
There aren‟t any close ups of the artist because we are seeing everything in first person and there are no members of the band in t he video.
The video for Smack my bitch up is full of voyeuristic references. Through out the video we are seeing things in first person and by the way the person we are seeing
things through is acting we assume that the person is a he because he is going to strip clubs, drinking and drinking to get w ith girls. The ways he is trying to get with
girls is by touching the girls in inappropriate areas such as their boobs and we see that he is looking at inappropriate area s due to the p.o.v camera style. Also strip
clubs are designed to have the notion of looking and voyeuristic qualities because en go there to watch women prance around i n little clothing so again there is
strong reference to looking but also male dominance.
I think the video is partly concept based but also performance based. I think this because there is no performance from the ban d The Prodigy themselves but I think
it is concept based with the we come up to conclusions who we are seeing things through due to the activities the person is t aking part in which could be the concept
of don‟t judge someone by their actions perhaps because at the very end of the video the actions which do take place are all done by a girl. There is a element of
narrative too with the process of leaving home and ending back at home. It‟s like the video is trying to capture the events o f a night out, like the getting changed and
ready, the eating, the drinking and ending back at home with someone you don‟t know.

COLDPLAY
–
THE SCIENTIST (ALTERNATIVE
ROCK)

Coldplay are a British Alternative Rock band that formed in 1996. Jamie Traves
directed the music video for Coldplay. Because the video was set in reverse
narrative the lead singer of Coldplay had to learn the song backwards so when he
was miming it would look right.

The genre of alternative rock music is that it‟s very similar to indie music. In the 21st century alternative rock has become popular
because it‟s similarity to Brit pop. Coldplay are also said to be Brit pop as well as alternative rock which I agree with but I think that
they are more soft alternative rock because they aren‟t heavy in comparison to most bands in the alternative rock genre. To m e I
think Britpop are being commercially sellable because it‟s a popular genre here in Britian and Coldplay are a British band so they
are more than likely going to have more British fans this is why their music video needs to suit a British audience. The musi c video
is soft and mellow just like the genre of the music and the song. The video isn‟t heavy and it is suitable for all ages to wa tch
because it doesn‟t have any themes in the video that are inappropriate.
In the last minute of the video there is some relationship and the visuals. There isn‟t a strong relationship with the lyrics an d visuals
but there is some, which is when he goes “I‟m going back to the start”. That bit is a connection between the whole video and that
lyric because the whole of the video has been done in reverse narrative so I‟m going back to the start relates to the lead si nger
walking backwards to the start whereas when the video started we saw it from the end.
Throughout the video there isn‟t any close ups of the lead singer of Coldplay because most of the shots are mid close ups. In the
video he isn‟t playing himself so he is acting. The mid close ups in the video are designed to show his miming backwards but also
show his facial expression which look like he is worrying about something but also there is mid close ups at the end when he is in
the car because he is happy again so it‟s showing how he was sad at the beginning but happy again at the end.
In this video there is no reference of looking or voyeuristic qualities at all. I think this because it fits into the genre of m usic
because it‟s Coldplay are a mainstream band they need to be able to appeal to most people of all ages they don‟t want it to b e
inappropriate for younger audiences. The genre really does effect what the video can show but the simple ness of the video do es
let the audience focus more on the song which is probably what Coldplay want to achieve with their song and music video.

SLIPKNOT
–
DUALITY (NU METAL)

Slipknot are an American nu metal band who formed in 1995. Slipknot have
worldwide success and have released 4 albums and have won grammys. Nu metal
music tends to be listened to by everyone from teenagers to young adults and even
to middle aged adults. The director for Duality is Tony Pertossian.

Genre Characteristics
Slipknot fit into the Nu Metal genre. The characteristics of Nu Metal is that the shows they put on get a crowd going and tha t there is a lot of anger in
their songs. In this music video there is scenes where you see clips from live shows they have done but the anger is apparent throughout the video as
the video is based around a lot of anger teenagers and a live performance by the band.
Relationship between the lyrics and visuals
There isn‟t much relationship between the visuals and the lyrics. There is one lyric though the whole video which the visual scenes follow through which
could suggest that the lyric is the main lyric in the video and that is what inspired the video. The lyric which I think insp ired this video is “It works it‟s way
inside” in the video is features Slipknot in a house and there are A LOT of people teenagers and adults trying to get inside the house which could be it
works its way inside means because even when the house is full in the video there are still loads more people trying to get i nto the house.
Relationship between music and visuals
The relationship between the music and the visuals is a lot more apparent that the lyrics and the visuals. Because the music is fast tempo the music
video has to be fast tempo too so the editing is quite fast. The editing the that has been used so that it matches the temp o f the song is slow motion
editing is a popular edit in this music video to match the slower parts of the song. A point in the video where this edit is effective is during the scene
where the large mob of teenagers are running towards the house because it shows us the amount of people running to the house.
There are a lot of close ups of the band but because the editing is quite fast you don‟t see the shot for very long but you d o notice that the lead singer
Corey Taylor has a lot more shots of him compared to the band to show his significance in the band. The close ups in this vid eo show the band
interacting with the crowd and it also shows the detail in the masks worn by Slipknot.
In this video there are not many references of looking or voyeuristic qualities in this video. I believe it‟s because the lyr ics of this song doesn‟t have
anything to do with women it‟s more of a personal song so there is no male gaze in this music video. The music video hasn‟t g ot many women in it also
which could suggest the audience who listen to Slipknot are. There is looking qualities in this video for example the house s cene because the angry mob
style people are all looking at Slipknot as if they are looking up to them/wanting to be Slipknot.
I think that this music video is definitely more of a performance video than a narrative because the lyrics don‟t match the v isuals loads and the point of a
music video is to help the audience understand the song in greater detail which I don‟t think the music video does but it doe s show anger which from the
song there is a lot of anger within it. I think it‟s more of a performance based video because the band are playing their ins truments and it‟s like we are
watching a private show of Slipknot.

Task 4a

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Task 4a