Timeline of an Electronic Music Video

Timeline of an Electronic Music Video

To come up with ideas on what shots and techniques to use we analyses a music video, making a timeline so we could see how a music video in our genre was put together. We Chose the Prodigy “Firestarter“.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmin5WkOuPw

0:00- Opening Shot, tunnel with light at the end. Black and White, lights start to come on.

0:03- Long shot of two band members looking at camera, one on a step making him higher.

0:07- Extreme long shot of band at the end of a tunnel

0:08- Cut back to long shot of two members.

0:10- Extreme long shot of band, now the camera moves in.

0:14- Long shot of two members again, now the singer is dancing.

0:18- Long shot of band who run past the camera

0:20- Mid-shot of singer dancing, cuts to him from different angles

0:29- Cuts between singer mid-shot and two shot of band members.

0:31- Long shot of singer in tunnel, camera moves away

0:32- Shots of singer singing, camera moves in. Close-ups and Mid-shots.

0:37- Long shot of band member, camera pans.

0:40- Close-ups of singer

0:47- Head shot of another band member turning towards camera

0:48- Back to two shot of band members.

0:49- Long shot of singer in tunnel, light getting brighter.

0:51- Panning shots of tunnels

0:53- Long shots of singer, cuts between two shot and close-up of singer.

1:01- Long shot of singer in tunnel, light brighter still.

1:03- Cuts to long shot of singer in darker tunnel

1:05- Cuts to shots of band on tube tracks, high and low angle shots.

1:08- Long shot on singer, camera still moving in but closer now.

1:10- Cut to same shot, but the band members appear running away from camera on screen

1:11- Close-ups of singer

1:16- Cuts back to long shot, now band running to camera. Cuts between close-ups and two shot from the beginning.

1:23- Cuts to band member, slightly off centre running towards camera which moves away. In a dark tunnel.

1:25- Cuts to long shots of singer, camera moves in

1:33- Shot of tunnel, now fully lit the camera moves down towards the light

1:34- Long shot of singer

1:36- Head and shoulders shot of band member.

1:37- Close-ups of singer

1:39- Band, silhouetted, running towards camera from bright tunnel. Possibly a fire. In-between are very quick shots of the singer making quick movements.

1:53- Cuts to back mid-shots and close-ups of the singer

1:57- Shot of band member taking electric saw to a train track, sparks fly which are the focus of the shot, very bright on screen. In between are shots of the singer.

2:00- Back to the singer dancing in bright tunnel

2:10- Shots of singer dancing, cut in with shots of the band member with the saw and stills of the singer looking straight into the camera.

2:16- Long Shot of band member walking towards still camera down a tunnel

2:18- Close-ups of singer, cut in with shots of lights coming on in tunnels

2:21- Cut in with long, mid and close-up shots of the singer are those of him dangling from ropes in mid air of a large tunnel. Other band members present watching.

2:30- Long shot of singer in dark tunnel, camera moves away

2:31- Cuts back to two shot of singer and other band member who is now moving around while the singer remains centre of the shot.

2:34- Back to shot of singer on ropes.

2:35- Close-ups on singer making manic movements.

2:41- Rising shot to another band members face, slightly off centre. Done as the music begins to calm down.

2:44- Shots begin to slowly fade into one another, of singer moving down tunnels. Camera follows.

2:54- When the music begins to pick up, back to close-ups of singer becoming aggressive again. Camera moves out and he follows.

2:56- Cuts between close-up of singers face with band member in background and the singer in ropes.

3:01- Long shot of entire band in dark tunnel. No movement by them but camera moves in.

3:03- Mid-shots and Close-up of the singer moving to and from the camera.

3:10- Close-ups of the singer making manic movements.

3:20- When beat drops, each beat is timed with the singer making a quick move.

3:28- Close-ups of singer cut with him in ropes.

3:35- As the music really begins to pick up, cuts become very quick. Of singer making very quick and manic movements.

3:40- Shots of tunnels lighting up.

3:44- Final shot is a low angle shot of the singer looking down on he camera. He is slightly off centre and sticks his tongue out.

The Prodigy- Breathe: video analysis

Analysis of The Prodigy’s “Breathe”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmHDhAohJlQ

We carried out initial research of the electronic genre by analysing three other music videos in our genre. We decided to pick a wide range of videos, being either narrative or concept, from various artists to gather a lot of ideas that we may be able to use for our final product.

The Prodigy’s Breathe of the album Fat of the Land is a Concept video with elements of performance intertwined. The concept of the video involves the band members interactions with a run-down house while various creatures are filmed exploring including, at various points, an alligator. The two main band members are interacting with each other through a hole in the wall while they perform alone in their separate rooms. This element appears to have nothing to do with the meaning of the song but adds to the maniacal and fractured personality of the song. The constant dimming to brightening of the lights reflects the lyrics “Breathe with me” as it makes it seem like the house itself is breathing via the lights.

Location:

A run down, decaying house. The band members all occupy a separate section of the dirty and debilitated house in which the video is set.  The filthiness of the video reflects the underground popularity the group had at the time as well as being a reference to the genre of “grime” which the group were often called

Mise-en-scene:

The video is in many places, very stripped. The location is mainly empty, especially when the artists are in the shot. The proxemics of the artists suggest that the audience should focus on them as they are the dominant (if not only) object on screen being centre of the shot and taking up a lot of room on screen. However, cut together with shots of the artists are shots of cluttered, filthy and decrepit rooms such as a science lab and kitchen. This contradiction again resembles the manic and unpredictable features of the artist’s style of electronic music.

Costume:

While the colour of the the artists clothing is very dark, the outlandish and casual clothes they wear are similar to the “raver” outfit. The Prodigy were huge on the rave scene in the 90s and the video references this as the artists were baggy clothes or even shirtless with vibrant body art and hairstyles on display.

Camera Angles:

Tilted shots are used frequently throughout the video when not focused on the band members to give the impression they bring sanity to the situation which contrasts with their manic and aggressive movements on camera. When the artists are on screen close-ups and fast zoom-ins are used to disorientate the audience.

Chase & Status Website Analysis

Pendulum- Showdown: Video Analysis

Pendulum’s Showdown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6BKBIOtRXw

This narrative video depicts the life of a female who is forced to fight others for men’s entertainment and her eventual escape. The video depicts males very negatively as captors and users of women who strive for freedom.

Location:

A gritty, run-down industrial estate. Many shots are long and incorporate a lot of the jagged and sharp silhouettes of the metallic location of the music video. The director has done this reflect the sharp and heavy sound of the music. A focus on decay and dirt as a lot of the scenery is collapsed sections of the warehouse the fights are taking place and shots of rubble and broken glass are used in the background.

Mise-en-Scene:

The narrative of this music video is heavily character led and so, the female lead is frequently centre shot. In the second half of the video, where she escapes, she is often seen interacting with the gritty location, this reflects electronic music’s transition from underground to mainstream. In the first half of the video, shots often start with nothing in focus, and the characters then move into the shot. There are also many shots of the angry men in slow motion to highlight their thuggish behaviour.

Costumes:

Very simplistic and dark costuming has been used as the focus is more on the story being told then how the characters look. However, one key difference between the female character and the males is that her clothes are wasting away and are filthy where as there is very high end, well looked after outfits. This fits in with the narrative of the video, she is the male’s prisoner and as such, looks that way.

Camera Angles:

The camera often tilts to disorientate the audience and reflect the distortion of the music Pendulum produces. High angle and low angle shots are incorporated into many sequences to display which characters have dominace over others. For example, in the opening few shots, the camera is tilted down to the female and up to the males to show she is literally owned by them.

Nero- Promises: Video Analysis

Nero’s Promises

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llDikI2hTtk

A concept video with aspects of performance that depicts a dystopian society where young people are drugged and encouraged to become identical in every way. The main character decides to break away from the group, reflecting the roots of the electronic genre, and become unique.

Location:

A clean, bright/vibrant and technologically advanced facility where the characters are kept prisoner. The setting is very bright, with most of the scenery being white or heavily lighted. The characters (apart from the singer of the group who has nothing to do with the story) are all dressed in black to contrast with the location. The location serves as a contradiction of the chaos the young woman causes by being different as it is so clean and organised.

Mise-en-Scene:

The scenes are very stripped to match the bright and clean location of the music video. Only people fill the shots so the audience are encouraged to focus on them instead of the background scenery. The band can frequently be seen in the background of many shots, suggesting they are orchestrating the events of the video. This would reflect the new wave of electronic music that Nero work in (Dubstep) and carve an image for the group.

Costuming:

Every character, bar the lead singer who is dressed in white, is wearing black which contrasts heavily with the white location. This is done to make it seem like the characters don’t belong, and as this is an electronic music video it would suggest that this genre of music doesn’t belong in the clean and stripped environment of the video. Another reference to electronic music’s underground roots.

Camera Angles:

A constant use of close-ups and mid-shots to highlight characters on screen. Two shots are also used to give an impression of a connection between the main male and female characters. A new technique is the focus on body parts, namely hands. Many shots of the female singer’s hands and the sequence where the teens are “dancing” focus on hands. This reflects the rave scene of the early electronic music days were arm movement was integral to the dance patterns.

History of Music Videos

The History of Music Videos

Alexander Nevsky:

This 1938 film was one of the earliest to incorporate music with moving images. The scene depicts a battle between two armies while music, composed by Serge Prokofiev, plays over the top. The phrase, synaesthesia was coined in reference to the film as it means mixing two sense together, in this case sight and sound. While having background music play over a film clip may seem simple to modern audiences, at the time this was state of the art development in cinema, paving the way for the golden age of motion picture.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKZPgGbUuX0

Soundies:

In the 1940’s, the first visual jukeboxes were made available in America. Under the name “Soundies” they played three minuet long 16mm films specifically for the visual representation of music. Customers would use the coin-operated machines to view the film, usually of the artist performing or a dance routine while the song played over the top.

A new spin on Videos:

Up until 1956, music videos (if a song was popular enough to garner one) simply depicted the artist performing or a dancer dancing. However, Tony Bennett’s Stranger in Paradise had an accompanying music video in which he, albeit simply, strolled along the Serpentine in Hyde Park. This was one of the first instances were artists showed thought about what else could be shown during their songs.

Musicals:

The 50’s ushered in the age of musicals. Still popular to this day, many Hollywood productions such as “Singin’ in the Rain” and “The Sound of Music” captivated audiences with vivid imagery while catchy tunes played in the background. Filmmakers began to experiment with the idea of giving meaning to the songs by what the audiences could see on screen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fH2FOn1V5g

While this clip from “The Sound of Music” seems very different to the abstract videos we see in the modern day, it shares many characteristics with present music videos such as: Choreography, lip syncing, costuming and camera work.

The Modern age of Music Videos:

The Beatles are responsible for many of the milestones in musical history so it will come as no surprise that they are also the first artist to produce the first purpose made music video (hardly surprising considering the hype of “Beatlemania” that swept the world in the 60’s. Their song “Strawberry Fields Forever” added a new element to the music video repertoire, an artistic interpretation of the song, paving the way for many other influential artists to do the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4yHYbhCDLg

The video doesn’t simply portray the band performing, nor does it have a series of random clips intertwined but uses complex (at the tie at least) editing techniques such as superimposing artists faces over clips.

Express Yourself:

Music videos were rapidly becoming a marketing manager’s dream. It allowed artists to present themselves in a whole new light, it gave them an opportunity to carve an image for themselves and get their persona’s across to their fans. For example, The Beatles “A Hard Day’s Night” depicts the bands various characteristics and shows them to be fun and outgoing. Indeed, the age of the rock star was born.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70QfHtKdh_0

Making a Statement:

The 60s brought in an age of music where artists were making statements about issues they felt strongly about. Were it politics, love or war, music videos were an opportunity for an artists to illustrate their passions in a new and exciting format guaranteed to be seen by millions. The Doors “The Unknown Soldier” focuses on the poor treatment of soldiers after war and the accompanying music video was highly controversial upon its release, try and have a guess why…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUJdfmFVcMk

Video really did kill the Radio Star:

1981 saw the birth of MTV, Music Television, which was channel dedicated to playing artists music videos. The first song played on the station was The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1-DHI_-K1w

Narrative vs. Concept:

Now music videos were an established form of media, they became more experimental in their presentation and “concept” videos became popular.

Narrative Video- Tries to tell a story related to the lyrics of the song, uses imagery to support what the artists is singing about. The video below is a prime example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djV11Xbc914

Concept Video- often an unusual or obscure theme is presented in the video, it will have connection to the song but will not be a visual representation of the artists lyrics. For example, Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” depicts the miscarriage of justice against a black man as Jesus. The imagery of crucifixes and Jesus may have literal connection to Madonna’s lyrics “It’s like a little prayer”, though further analysis of the song may suggest she is referencing something quite different…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79fzeNUqQbQ

Record Companies:

During the 70s, artists would often use the show “Top of the Pops” as an opportunity to create a cheap music video though restrictions were placed on what was allowed to be shown. However, when Queen re-released “Bohemian Rhapsody”, met with critical acclaim especially it’s psychedelic music video, the record label that produced the song also paid for the video. This was the first time this was ever done

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ

The modern age:

Advancements in technology allowed artists to create more complex and creative music videos using special effects and complex editing to make their videos stand out. The chemical Brothers’ “Let Forever Be” music video was particularly popular for it’s exciting editing effects, the shots themselves are simple but the editing brings the video to life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5FyfQDO5g0

A Pathway to Cinema:

In the 90s, MTV began listing directors names alongside the artists of the music video as the media was so popular people wanted to know who was creating their favourite artists videos. Music videos became an amateur directors medium, acting as a platform for directors to enter the world of cinema. Possibly the most famous case is David Fincher, Academy Award nominated director of Se7en. He started his career by directing a plethora of music videos, most notably Madonna’s “Express Yourself”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsVcUzP_O_8

How Much!?

Fun fact- the most expensive music video to date was Michael and Janet Jackson’s “Scream” costing a staggering $7’000’000! Though watching it, it’s hard to see where the money went…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P4A1K4lXDo

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