The layering of the band onto narrative performance or just one of the band members
Have black & white for some of the shots
The editing pace should link to the track pace
Have a limited amount of special effects
Layering:
The layering in music videos in the Indie/Alt - rock genre contains mainly performance footage layered on top of narrative or a cutaway shot or a scene of some sort. This gives a good visual effect alongside still haveing performance in the music video which is key to this genre. Below are a few examples on how it is incorporated.
Bishop Briggs - River
In this track you can clearly see the lead singer being layered over some interesting landscape. This happens throughout the video however it isn't consistent and there are both shots with just the landscape and just the lead signer.
The Cure - Picture Of You
The whole music video is the band which are distorted and layer into alongside onto a background consisting of a cartoon style of nature. This is basically just performance footage but to liven it up and keep the audience engaged they have used this layering technique instead of having a variety of close ups/ medium shots of each band member.
The Smiths- Panic
Like The Cure, the performance footage is layered onto scenery. However this time it is a black and white background with a coloured tint on the performance footage. There is a larger shot variety on the performance footage compared to The Cure however the layering is literally just the performance footage clipped on top of background scenery instead of being incorporated/blended into the background. Colouring:
As blogged on previously Indie/ Alt - rock commonly has black and white footage.
The Cranberries - Zombie
(this music video has a mix of coloured and b&w footage)
Oasis - Wonderwall
Catfish and the Bottlemen - Twice
Kasabian - Underdog
Sam Fender - The Sound
Notice how all the B&W footage is of the band and performance footage. The 'Zombie' music video has coloured and b&w footage of both the narrative and performance. These bands have also done music videos with colour as well.
Oasis - Don't Look Back in Anger
The Smiths - Ask
These are two examples of coloured footage from Oasis and The Smiths. This signifies that Indie can be both black and white and coloured and that it doesn't have to be one or the other. Both of them work and both of them can connote Indie/ Alt- Rock. Notice how The Smiths also has tinted layering of performance footage over the narrative footage with a close up of the lead singer. Pace:
Generally the editing pace reflects on the pace of the song. Slower in the calmer parts and then when the beat drops it speeds up to make the drop more powerful visual.
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In this example of 'Sun Goes Down' by Arctic Monkeys you can guess where the drop is with the sheer increase in editing pace and the shakiness of the camera. The takes become much shorter than before and they become more action movie like. Compare the medium shot of the woman in the snow which is quite a calm shot and a longish take to the POV shots in the car of short takes quickly followed by one another. The next example (Barns Courtney - Fire) you can see the change in pace as well when the drop happens. this time the background changes and there is colour correction at the drop to make it more vibrant. The combination of changing the cinematography and editing to match the pace of the music video is part of Andrew Goodwins theory on how the music links to the music video.
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Special Effects:
Considering budgets for Indie music videos aren't very large due to the whole origin of Indie being independent and the do it yourself attitude. special effects won't be as prominent or at the same variety as a mainstream band or artist who has many companies backing them up for a music video production. Sometimes the most special effects you are going to get is a b&w filter with layering which are two of the common conventions for this genre anyways.
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Oasis - Wonderwall
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The focus is on the band and what they can produce/ how they play the instruments. The focus is not on visually striking special effects that are hard to produce and require a large budget.
Track is repeated twice, two distinctive narratives
Warning at start saying "it is difficult to watch"
Clash between freedom of speech and freedom of information + protection of children
The opening warning has a voice over of a young school age female
Primary Audience younger males/females (teens)
Uses and Gratifications due to lip syncing done by Teens in video
Performance is integrated into the diegetic world
At 5:41 there is a dolly zoom
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At 7:24 there is a woman seeing running to the beat which is part of Goodwin's visuals link to music
Editing is selectively cutting to beat at times in video as seen with GIF below
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Social realism is reflected with handheld(steady cam)
Conscious effort to keep movement going
Low key lighting is also seen as social realism
Explores social issues
Directly represents the underprivileged in this music video
The underprivileged are the protagonist in this video, they are given a voice through lip syncing
Protagonist vs Antagonist
Slow motion, but lip syncing is still on time
Timestamp in video 5:00
Cannot be screened pre-watershed
Too visually graphic
In America most TV programs will never screen even post watershed (especially advertiser funded channels)
Directly critical of Trump
Lack of exposure through mainstream TV
Does it matter that there is no mainstream exposure on TV?
Yes and no
Yes they lose exposure through mainstream TV
No because, there is still online distribution
Web 2.0 (top-down model has become interactive, converged) (Top-down model is when corporations produce and audiences consume)
Has only 6.7M views which is not a lot compared to their most popular music video, The Time
Due to video being 9.40 mins long it requires a certain amount of time viewing the video for it to count as a stream on YouTube
Quite high budget due to:
Special effects
Bullet wound effects
Facial blurring
convergence
*Twenty one Pilots GCSE (Simon)*
Facial mixing (face appears on others)
CGI
convergence between professional and amateur technology
audience and producer technology being blurred
The high budget of music videos is more uncommon due to the DISRUPTION and due to DIGITISATION. Record companies sales are plummeting due to the huge decrease in sales and revenues of CD's. The DISRUPTION of CD sales comes from YouTube and other streaming services.
Hugely established band created music video, not some small Indie band, more likely to get larger budget.
the big 3 (Sony, Universal, Warner)
continuity editing
Large amount of cast
Large variety of locations
Law enforcement props
Expensive mise - en - scene
Lighting can be used with candles as seen in this shot below
Frame (below) is dominated by the coffin, person lip syncing is pushed towards of the left (not using rule of thirds intentionally to focus on the message)
There is a high angle used to show weakness which is not as common as a low angle and unusual
Direct Address (looking directly at camera/you) is used to make the shot feel much more personal
Fairly Low key lighting used (shadow is shown) not over exposed, some fill lighting. They are very careful to try and not over do the fill lighting
lighting is still being controlled.
Majority of the shot is shallow field of focus to emphasise the message
Selective focus
Representations:
Preferred reading can be taken both ways of will.i.am being a person of positivity or seen as pedophellic in this shot.
Male science teacher
still careful to include shots of female students in lab coats
Male P.E teacher
P.E class is mixed gender
Different to what the representations was 30 years ago
Have editing pace link to pace of track at some points
Large shot variety
Layering in post production
Attempt robot arm movement
Have variety of stable camera angles + handheld (stabilized when appropriate)
Summary
Editing pace generally fits pace of track
Special effects and cgi implemented at times
Large variety of shot types
Scope for creativity in post production
Goodwin's theory of cutting to the beat
Cutting between narrative and performance
Vodcast
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Cinematography and editing is one of Andrew Goodwin's 6 conventions of music video. Being that there is usually a large shot variety and the editing and pace of editing is generally too the beat. The track I have chosen is Jebroer - Kind van de Duivel.
About Track
Jebroer - Kind van de Duivel
Genre: Hardstyle
Release date: January 2017 Lyrics
Narrative
A young boy who has a hard family life decides to rebel and get a gun too steal things which ultimately results in his death.
Lyrics
The main lyrics translated are:
Dutch: Ik ben een kind van de duivel Mama, jij hoeft niet te huilen Feesten, alsof elke dag hier mijn laatste is Hoop dat je deze draait op mijn begrafenis
English:
I'm a child of the devil Mum, you don't have to cry now Partying, like every day is my last I hope you turn this song on at my funeral
These lyrics give a general idea of the track, and also link into the narrative.
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The music video ends the same way it started creating an effect of an unsolved narrative making the audience watch it again and again.
The opening shots start out with a little narrative enigma followed with a series of panning shots to establish who has made the track. This is an effective method of keeping the audience engaged with the music video.
The first narrative shot is a long shot slowly zooming into a medium long shot. The next shot is then a close up of the little boy singing the lyrics. Almost a jump cut in a way.
The track starts out fast paced but the editing pace does not relate to the track pace until the first "drop".
At 0:36 there is an over the shoulder shot, that is clearly indicating a conflict between the father and son.
When the buildup for the drop is happening there is a slight earthquake/flash special effect to the first beat which is preparing you for the drop. This is also a medium shot and two shot. The camera is also panning to the right as this is happening.
At 0:47 there is a handheld shot done on purpose for it is the boy who is angrily throwing stuff out from his cupboard. The handheld shot signifies action.
The earthquake/flash special effect with colour correction comes again in this shot with the second major drum hit. The pace has also increased and is cutting to the beat as the drop is getting closer. The earthquake/flash special effect also signifies the anger of the little boy in this video and helps anchor the narrative of the boy having a hard life.
At 1:09 there is a small speed up effect on the shot as the boy walks fast and slows down to a realistic pace. This is quirky but quite effective.
The whole sequence from 1:09 - 1:35 is a series of panning, handheld CU, MS and LS shots because this sequence happens during the drop. The editing pace is not that fast so they have to make up for it with all the different type of camera angles and shot types.
As the second drop happens the same earthquake/flash special effect happens. In a way all of these flashes are foreshadowing what is about to happen if you listen to the lyrics and watch the narrative of the child rebelling.
At 2:03 there is a low angle of one of the producers of the track who is acknowledging the boy. This shot signifies that the boy is still weak and not prepared for what is about to come.
At 2:17 we see a tracking/dolly shot of the boy walking confidently as if something is about to happen.
This shot happens right after a dramatic moment of a gun being fired. The flash signifies a muzzle flash from a gun, this effect is also used to transition the next part of the narrative which is a close up shot of a picture of the boy on top of a coffin. The close up slowly becomes an extreme long shot as the camera slowly panning out from the picture.
3:13 There are two more close ups before revealing that people are carrying the coffin with a long shot.
The music video ends the same way it begins.
Additional Examples
This music video for PIXIES - INDIE CINDY has some interesting ideas with the whole narrative being in reverse. With special effects that show an old camera flicker, signifying the "flashbacks" of the central protagonist.
*warning: this track contains explicit content*Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar - Kings Dead ...
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... Kendrick Lamar always produces interesting videos in the sense of editing and cinematography and this one is no exception as one of the scenes, has been edited together with many layers put on top of each other, clips being both reversed and played on repeat. Multiple zooms and panning being done in post production as well to the beat. *warning: this track contains explicit content*Kendrick Lamar - HUMBLE. ...
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... The effect created here is using a robotic arm as this is not possible with handheld, steady cam or post production to make it so smooth. The robotic arm is programmed to stay focused on a subject and then move in unique ways to create this effect, either with the program or a controller. Its named motorized precision. There is a video created to explain all of the features used for this incredibly unique technique. The is no special effects or CGI added with this robotic arm. ... ... Panic at the Disco - High Hopes ...
... In this music video we follow the lead singer walking up a buildings sideways. Many shots are obviously using a green screen and CGI plus special effects in post production to make this bizarre concept achieve verisimilitude as seen with the GIF below. ...
... Mötley Crue - Kickstart My Heart ...
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Editing pace plays a huge factor in music videos. The editing pace in this music video clearly reflects the pace of the track. Special effects, the large variety of shot types as well as cutting between performance and narrative has made some of the sequences extremely fast paced.
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(JC)Guns N' Roses - November Rain
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The video opens with a close up of a man (Axl Rose) extinguishing a ciggy on his table and takes
some pills, the close up shows clearly the contents of the table and gives a slight idea to the viewer as to what kind of person he is. However because of the height of the camera angle there is narrative enigma as to who it is.
The lighting throughout these shots has a blue color correction, it gives a cold feeling to the shots which matches the content of drugs
Part of the video is set in a large concert hall, the first shot we see of this is a large establishing shot, it looks over the hall and shows the scale. The orange color correction is a complete contrast to the previous shots.
There are multiple shots of the band, these include, close ups, medium close ups and medium shots
These shots are used to show a lot about the band, they show there clothing, props and setting. Again they are shown with the blue light however because the lighting is darker it doesn't have the same cold feel
The setting now changes so the common convention of a extreme long shot, establishing shot is seen
Throughout the video there are multiple uses of cross-fade transitions, these are heavily used and the transition lengths are quite long
Here slash can be seen with a low range of focus, he is completely blurred out and out of focus.
Here is a clever example of a use of special effects in editing, the room Axl Rose is sat in
![Panic! At The Disco: High Hopes [OFFICIAL VIDEO]](https://i.makeagif.com/media/10-07-2018/eNWkVN.gif)
