This is the music video for the number one single ‘Somebody that I used to know’ by Gotye featuring Kimbra. This music video is from the alternative genre of music. This video is part performance, abstract and narrative making it post-modern. This is because the video has the artists singing the song whilst abstract artwork is covering their bodies and background. It also has a slight narrative because at the end of the track the female vocalist no longer has the artwork covering her body indicating that the pair have split up which reflects the song lyrics. The first shot shows a pink background that turns into a tracking shot up the right hand side of the artists’ naked body finally moving the shot into the centre showing his face. The artist sings to the camera the first part of the song. This is then followed by a shot of drawings of lines that turn into shapes. After short shots of the drawings, the next shots are medium close ups of the artist performing (singing) which is then followed by other shots of the drawings. These shots go back and forth showing the artist one second and then the drawings another. Short shots of the drawings being painted interrupt the medium close ups of the artists singing until the shots change to the drawings being drawn around the artists naked body. When the chorus starts the paintings behind him are complete and there is a medium head shot of the artist singing with the paintings in the background. This shot is interrupted by other short close ups off different parts of his body being painted to blend into the backdrop. By the end of the chorus the artist is coloured in completely to blend in with the background. Animation is used throughout as the paintings become complete without showing who is actually drawing them. At the end of the chorus the shot zooms out from the artist to show that a female singer is next to him coloured in with the background as well. However her face isn’t coloured in like his is. The female singer is looking at him as though she is singing a message to him. The shot changes to a medium tracking shot of her moving closer to him and singing into his face. As the chorus starts again the shot changes to a medium close up of both faces however the male singer isn’t looking at her he is looking and singing at the camera – indicating how he feels. There is a medium close up of the female artists face looking upset at the fact she is being ignored, she then moves back to her original position making her body blend in with the background once again. At the end of the chorus as she is moving there is a medium close up of his face turning to look at her whilst he is singing. Whilst he is singing there are lots of short close up shots of her body with the paint disappearing which indicates that she has left his life (split up) which reflects the song title and lyrics ‘somebody that I used to know’. Editing is used cleverly throughout the video as stop motion animation is used on both artists and the cuts are to the rhythm of the music.
This is a music video for the R&B song ‘Yeah’ by the artists ‘Usher, Lil-Jon and Ludacris’. The first shot shows a diamond necklace at the right side of the frame with a ‘U’ on it which stands for the main artist’s name ‘Usher’. This type of jewellery is conventional for an R&B music video because these kinds of artist often wear this type of jewellery. The video starts with a long shot of the artist dancing; he is wearing baggy jeans, cap, trainers, white jacket, and jewellery which are all conventional for an R&B music video. The next shot shows a long shot of ‘Lil-Jon’ who is wearing a striped jacket, sunglasses, cap, large jewellery and dreadlocks. This is again a stereotypical R&B artist’s look and is conventional for the genre. There is a panning shot of girls in the club singing ‘Ushers’ name, this is again one of the codes and conventions of an R&B music video – they always include attractive girls who dance during the video. The mis-en-scene is also conventional for these types of videos as it is set in a nightclub were this type of dancing usually would take place. There are slow motion long shots of usher wearing different clothes talking to girls in the nightclub; this tells the narrative of the music video. There is a slow motion low angle shot of the girl he is trying to talk to which suggests that she is in charge. A medium close up shot of both of their faces using shot reverse shot is used to show each of their reactions to each other. The video is cut between narrative and performance and the lyrics reflect the narrative so much so that the girl lip-syncs some of the song that he is quoting. There are a mixture of medium and long shots of the girl and ‘Usher’ dancing, which are edited together with ‘Usher’ dancing by himself to show that he is telling a story whilst performing. The camera often slowly pans around ‘Usher’ whilst he is dancing and then cuts to other angles to show the dance from different angles. Half way through the video ‘Lil-Jon’ and ‘Usher’ share the same frame whilst dancing to the song which again cuts to the beat to show ‘Usher’ dancing with the girl creating joint performance and narrative. The dance sequences in the video are very detailed and in time which is conventional for the R&B genre especially with an up-tempo song like this. ‘Ludacris’ raps in the second part of the song, he again fits the stereotypical R&B artist. The shots vary from long and medium shots of him rapping whilst dancing with girls to close ups of his face and other long shots of him dancing with ‘Usher’ and ‘Lil-Jon’, this again implies he is telling a story. During this rap there is a dance sequence of the girls in the club dancing together which uses lots of fast editing of shots from different angles. The medium close up of the girl ‘Usher’ has been flirting asking him to come over, indicates that in the end he got the girl. At the end of the video there is a long shot were ‘Usher’ stops dancing and walks away.
This is a music video for the song ‘Going Under’ by the gothic rock band ‘Evanescence’. This video is mainly performance however narrative can be seen as the lyrics do reflect what the video is representing - how she feels when doing a performance. The first shot is a medium close up of the lead singers face getting her make-up done. This shot is interrupted several times by a medium shot of her underwater screaming whilst wearing a flowing white dress which connotes purity. This is conventional for the gothic rock genre. Short close ups of the make-up artists faces are portrayed differently to how they were previously shown by making them look like monsters. There is a medium shot of the artist walking down a red corridor which has connotations of blood and death which again is conventional for this genre. There are lots of high angle shots showing the audience dancing to the music yet CGI is used to make them look like monsters. There is a long shot of the artist singing the chorus which is followed by lots of fast cuts to the beat of the music. Medium close up shots are used to show the other performers of the band (drummer, guitarist etc). There are also low angle shots which creates the illusion of being in the audience looking up at the artist. Lots of fast editing is used throughout the video whilst performing, this is because of the tempo of the song. There is a high angle shot of the artist jumping into the crowd and landing underneath which reflects the lyrics creating a narrative. The next shot is a long shot of her landing under water which could reflect how she feels. The performance is still there as there fast shots showing close ups of the band playing their instruments in slow motion. There is a medium shot of her singing underwater for a short while whilst showing aggression in her words which tells us how she is feeling. The mid-shot of her coming up out of the water dissolves into a mid-shot of her coming out of the crowd, wearing the outfit she wore whilst performing. At the end of the video there are lots of fast long shots of the crowd. Editing is used to make their faces distorted and look like monsters and when the song is over they return back to normal. Shot reverse shot is used at the end of the video as the artist looks at her band mate, when the shot goes back onto him his face is distorted like the rest of the audience. This horror genre is conventional for gothic rock videos as it reflects the lyrics of the song and appeals to their target audience.
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