Locations

The main themes in our video are drug use, psychedelics, life and hallucinations, we wanted these themes to be clear to the audience therefore when we went location searching we decided that the best location to use for the majority of the video would be inside one of our houses as the video consists of portraying the lives of two people, so the home environment fit perfectly. We also found some isolated streets which were suitable for the outside shots as they were quiet and isolated so it enabled us to create the perfect atmosphere.

Another idea we considered to do was a contrasting shot of the protagonist walking out of two different houses, both characters being the same person yet existing in different ways, therefore giving a certain image to the viewers. We decided against this as it may have lost us the effect we desired, so in the end we decided to show the two different life paths by using two contrasting outfits and mise en scene to show their separate lifestyles.

Mise-en-scene

Shot list

                      

              

                      

                

Storyboard - sheet 7,8 & 9

Storyboard - sheet 4,5 & 6

Storyboard - sheet 1,2 & 3

         

Our Storyline

Our storyline


Basically we are creating a psychedelic indie music video, we have chosen the song "Kids" therefore we want the main focus of the video to be about childhood. We decided to show the lives of two people, one who has been successful and made the right choices in life and the other who has taken the wrong path and suffers from substance abuse. We want to emphasis to the audience the importance of childhood in the music video and how we believe that a bad childhood is the cause of our character in the wrong. We want to show the contrast between the characters and also make the video belong to the psychedelic genre. We chose to have a male child play both roles, the sophisticated and the lower class man, this again links back to the importance of childhood, we also thought it would emphasis our videos meaning more to the audience if a child actually plays the role, it could be seen as the two choices he has for his future.




Additionally we had our actor in our video, Liam wear different outfits for each character, for the middle class guy he is wearing a blue business shirt and tie with black trousers and shoes, this shows his power and sophistication, in contrast to the other character who we decided to make up very stereotypically. We dressed him in tracksuit bottoms, a simple black t-shirt and sport trainers; we also put dark makeup under his eyes to show the lack of sleep the character is suffering from due to his problems.


In the video both characters live out a normal day in their life, the normal guy comes home from work, gets a healthy snack, does some file work, relaxes with his girlfriend and then goes to bed. On the other hand the drug user stumbles in, gets some alcohol, passes out at the kitchen table where he then begins to hallucinate, he then wakes up and stumbles again to the bathroom to vomit and then onto the street. At this time the normal guy is getting into his car and beginning his travel to work, the other character begins to have a breakdown and then finds a teddy on the pavement; this is a semiotic for everything he has lost. He then runs into the road and straight in front of the normal guy’s car. They then walk to each other and stare directly at one another whilst deep breathing.


We have decided to add stop motion to our video; we will do this whilst the drug user is hallucinating in the kitchen. We will use lego and random household items to create the full child like effect.

Our ideas

It's hard when you are time pressured to conjure up ideas for your video, especially when you’re working in a group where every individual has thoughts and opinions. Luckily, our group was on the same trail of thought as we considered different narratives. I think the narrative was the hardest to fit to our song. In the end, as a group we decided to not have a narrative may help us in the long term, it also enabled us to keep the video abstruse. The prezi below outlines our first ideas and the process my group has been through.

Relating music conventions to a music video

A narrative is the way a story is told so that the elements are structured so it makes sense to the audience.


Todorov believed that narrative is structured by five different stages.

• Equilibrium
• Disequilibrium
• Recognition
• Reparation
• New equilibrium

Propp believed that narrative is motivated by a variety of character functions.

• There will be a hero
• They will overcome a villain
• They will then gain a reward, often a princess.

Strauss believed that narrative is motivated by a clear struggle between binary opposites.

• One side is represented as the "right" side
• Usually two opposite characters are set against each other, for example a jock and a nerd.

In the music video "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias there is clear evidence of Todorov's theory.

1. Equilibrium - Enrique and the girl are really happy together.
2. Disequilibrium - The gang of men following them eventually catch up and they are attacked
3. Recognition - Enrique knows the gang are not going to let them go.
4. Reparation - He begins to fight against them.
5. New equilibrium - Enrique dies but he knows that the girl is safe from harm.

The use of close up shots on Enriques and the girls face shows the happy emotion they are feeling during the equilibrium stage, the wide shots show that the location is desolated and peaceful. This connotes to the audience that they are in love and there is no pain between them.


During the disequilibrium the lighting has a much darker tone, to show the drastic change in atmosphere as their lives change from good to bad. The close up shots on the necklace is a symbol of the love they share, it could also represent a dangling cause as there is no way to escape the gang, therefore as an audience member you no somthing bad is going to happen.


There are alot of close up shots in the recognition scenes of both heroes and of the villains, this enables the audience to clearly see the talk between them and the pain on the faces of the heroes at they face death.


During the reparation the heroes are dressed in white, which emphasises to the audience their innocence and purity, this is a massive contrast with the villians as they are dressed in typical black suits which could represent their darkess, also the mise-en-scene, such as the money and the smoking are typical conventions of strong, powerful men.


During the new equilibrium the wide shots show the audience the darkness and rain that surrounds Enrique as he dies, we see lots of close up shots of the girls face, again emphasising her sad emotions.


Enrique is usually shot in centre frame which emphasises his importance in the narrative to the audience, they will then feel more empathy for him.

Music video conventions part 3

Camera works




Music videos tend to consist of many long, mid and close up shots, in order to create emphasis on the artist, location or emotion. Close up shots are used to show the emotion clearly to the audience and to reflect the words of the song with the movement of the artists lips, to show a connection between the two. The camera is often used to follow the artist; this is usually done by pans, tilts, tracking and crane shots.


Usually crane shots are used when there is usage of stages in order to catcher every movement on stage of the artist. They can also be used to emphasis the number of fans a band has by tracking over the top of the audience showing a vast number of people. An example of this would be in "Planetary Go" by My Chemical Romance, the video consists of the band performing live on stage where crane shots are used over the audience to show the vast number. Similarly in the video there is a lot of low angle close up shots on the lead singer "Gerard Way" as if he has the most power in the clip.


    Low angle, close up shot with a blurred effect.




Mise-En-Scene


All music videos contain mise-en-scene suitable for the genre and song type, such as if it’s a performance style video like the "Planetary Go" one there would be instruments, stage equipments and lighting visible in the shot, to emphasis the fact the band are performing live. In the R&B video "Mad" by Neyo, the mise-en-scene involves him walking down a road alone and being in an isolated room. This is a reflection of the isolation from his lover. Also the dark hats and clothes represent the dark mood of the song. It's shot in black and white, this connotes the depressive mood. Props are vital to create significance on a particular person.




Sound


Some video producers decide to add diegetic sounds at the beginning and ending of music videos, these are scenes without any music to explain what is going on, and to start of finish the narrative. Also sometimes in music videos there are changes in the levels of sounds at certain times in the song, this could be for effect, narrative reasons or just to suit what is happening.




Editing


In music videos the editing process takes the longest, it's also the most crucial part. This is because the lip synching needs to be synchronous with the lyrics in order for the video to look good. Also jump cutting is one of the most popular editing techniques used in music videos. This is because it enables a sudden change from one scene to another. Similarly transitions, such as fades and dissolves are very common as they create a different effect to cuts. Computer generated imagery is also popular editing in music videos as it enables the producer to use effects to show impossible outcomes, such as flying. Finally split screens are fairly common in videos as they allow the creator to show two different stories and outcomes at the same time.

Music video conventions part 2

Concept video





These videos portray only stories or images and never performances. An example of this would be "Sabotage" by The Beastie Boys.






Animation video





This is where a video is animated and features animated images in which the artist and band may or may not be depicted. An example of this is "Clint Eastwood" by Gorillaz.


Film video





A film-clip video is used when a song is featured in a movie soundtrack. The video will contain clips from the films that are intercut with the music video. An example of this would be "Hero" by Nickelback.


Mixture video





This is when the video contains a mixture between a performance from the band/artist and a narrative. An example of this would be "Can't Catch Tomorrow" by Lostprophets.

Music video conventions part 1

All music videos share similar conventions, and here are some examples of styles of videos.




Performance video





These are music videos that feature the artist or band performing the song in the video, it's the easiest type of video to do if you’re on a budget. An example of this would be "Planetary Go" by My Chemical Romance.


Narrative video


    not featuring the band/artist in the narrative.



    featuring the artist/band in the narrative.


A narrative based music video often contains footage that attempts to tell a story though moving image. The narrative can be either synchronous, where it connects to the lyrics of the song, or abstract, where the storyline is completely separate from the lyrics. An example of this would be "Wherever You Will Go" by The Calling.

Censorship

It’s very common for music videos to be censored, especially in modern society. In the past MTV has suffered from negative criticism saying that it’s too politically correct and sensitive, meaning they censor too much of their programmes. The Parents Television Council argued that most of the censored material on MTV is easily discernible because of the context in which it is presented.




In the 1980's media group’s criticised MTV over music videos that were claimed to have explicit images of Satan, since then MTV has developed a strict policy on refusing to air videos that may have religious taboos, for instance MTV had to ban the video for "Megalomaniac" by Incubus. In today’s society all ethnic or racist slurs are censored in music videos and programmes making MTV more diversity aware for all people.


MTV censors music videos to remove references of drugs, sex, violence, weapons, racism, homophobia or advertising. It also completely censors swearing and anything that may be considered copyright. An example of this would be in the song "Teenagers" by My Chemical Romance, there are lyrics such as "gun", "murder", "shirt" and "pay", they are censored due to the attacks on a high school in Virginia. Also "This Love" by Maroon 5 had the words "coming" and "sinking" edited out of the lyrics because of the context of the song.


MTV also moves certain music videos onto a late night rotation in a censored format, an example of this would be "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-Lot. Similarly Madonna's "Erotica" was aired on MTV only after midnight due to its dark and sexual scenes. In an interview, Madonna said she agreed with MTV's opinion of the video by saying, “I know that the themes I'm exploring in the video are not for children, so I understand that they can't play it earlier.”


After really looking into what censorship consists of, i have realised that if we were to release our video on MTV, the censorship would heavily apply to our video. We are using a child actor in our video, in which there will be some mild drug abuse in order to fit with MGMT's genre which is psychedelic rock. It’s more than likely our video would have to be edited to be shown or MTV or in a more extreme case not be shown until after the water shed hours.

Research into MTV

MTV is an abbreviation for music television, it’s an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by a video jockey, an announcer who introduced and plays music videos on commercial music TV. MTV has had a massive impact on the music industry, slogans such as "I want my MTV" became embedded in the public’s thoughts.

The original MTV logo was based around  the first space shuttle launch countdown of Columbia. MTV played music videos 24 hours a day, 7 days a week guided by video jockeys. The original taglines of the channel were "You'll never look at music the same way again," and "On cable. In stereo." Now MTV no longer plays music video 24/7, several spinoff channels do, for example MTV Hits and MTV Jams. Again on a different platform videos can be played on demand on the channels website, internationally the station continues to support a broad selection of music, including 4 channels in the UK that broadcast 23 hours of music video per day.

Research into music Institutions

The majority of people in the world today are exposed to some form of music; here i have looked into how music institutions such as YouTube have affected our lives. For instance we no longer watch a video that’s direct from the artist; it’s always broadcasted to us via institutions like MTV or Vevo. These types of web 2.0 sites allow us to here a diverse range of music from all over the world. Due to the globalisation of the internet we get to hear music from parts of the world that we couldn’t 60 years ago.

Facts about YouTube

• Display a variety of user-generated video content such as music videos.

• Media corporations such as Vevo offer some of their material via the site as part of the YouTube partnership program.


• The average YouTube user spends between 15 and 25 minutes a day on the site.


• Began life as a video dating site dubbed “Tune in Hook Up” said to be influenced by HotorNot. The three creators decided not to go that route.


• For the last three years YouTube has pranked its millions of users every April Fool’s Day


• As of February 2011, YouTube has 490 million unique users worldwide per month, who rack up an estimated 92 billion page views each month


• We spend around 2.9 billion hours on YouTube in a month, that’s over 325,000 years.


• YouTube says that on average there are more than 400 tweets per minute containing a YouTube link


• On Facebook over 150 years worth of YouTube videos are watched every single day.




The statistics above are evidence of how much of a influence YouTube has in today’s society. It's an interactive platform and therefore enables people from all over the world to share their opinions and comments about a video.


 Similarly Vevo




• Is a music video website


• The service was launched officially on December 8, 2009


• The videos on VEVO are syndicated across the web.


• VEVO offers music videos from three of the 'big four' major record labels: Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and EMI


• There are more than 45,000 videos available on VEVO.


• The concept for VEVO was described as being a Hulu for music videos, with the goal being to attract more high-end advertisers


• To this end VEVO censors the content of some of its videos for language, to make them more acceptable to advertising partners such as McDonald's


• In August 2010, VEVO introduced a free application for the Apple iPhone that allows users to stream videos in the VEVO catalogue and create playlists.









People can access YouTube no matter where they are in the world due to mobile apps; this means people no longer have to have access to computers to view videos on the web. YouTube is also a good website for artists to use as it allows them to find demographics and opinions on their music much easier than browsing other opinionated websites.

Our target audience

Our target audience for our chosen music video would mainly be younger people such as teenagers or young adults who would be able to relate to the video personally. We will make the music video so that all ages can enjoy it but we feel as a group that younger people would predominately be our target audience. The story line throughout our video would be easier for the younger generation to relate to, as every person as had a downfall in their life and have gone through something they needed rescuing from.




If I was to personally promote the MGMT song ‘Kids’ I think it would most likely appear on TV shows aimed at younger people, for instance Hollyoaks during the ad breaks rather than on BBC 2 at 11pm.

I decided not to add the official music video for the song, as our group decided not to watch the video as it might influence us during the filming of ours.

Research into the music industry

Over the years there seems to have been a massive decline of music on music channels, for instance MTV have suffered as they used to be very music based where as nowadays it’s rare to find a music video on MTV as they have been replaced with lifestyle and comedy shows, such as ‘My Super Sweet 16th.’ There are channels which specify for niche music videos, for instance for much older and slower music, the channel ‘Magic’ would be suitable.

This could be due to the fact audiences can easily produce their own music videos for a seriously cheap price, for instance on sites such as ‘YouTube’ there is free broadcasting of music twenty four seven, meaning that song channels are not needed as much which causes a decline in the industry. Due to YouTube audiences are now vastly blurring the once evident lines between consumer and producers as they are making their own videos for a cheap price, meaning they take on the shoes of the producer. This then causes a power shift as the audience claim most power which often threatens record labels as they lose out on a lot of money as they are needed less to make expensive music videos to promote an artist, because the audience are downloading their song for free rather than purchasing it. This can be seen as beneficial to the artist because overall its free advertising, therefore it’s not always considered such a bad thing.

Finally because of web 2.0 sites like YouTube there has been a consequential shift in relationship between producer and audience. The point of web 2 is that it’s a way for audience to connect with one another, for instance YouTube enables audience to upload a video which they created and then share that with the whole world, this therefore gives active audiences a chance to share their opinion and let a relationship form.

Lyrics analysis - Kids by MGMT

Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song, in our case MGMT’s lyrics are very abstract and almost unintelligible, and therefore they are decoded in different ways by each individual. Here I have outlined a few of the possible meanings of our chosen song.

You were a child

Crawling on your knees toward it

Making momma so proud

But your voice is too loud

We like to watch you laughing

You pick the insects off plants

No time to think of consequences

[Chorus:]

Control yourself

Take only what you need from it

A family of trees wanting to be haunted

Control yourself

Take only what you need from it

A family of trees wanting to be haunted

The water is warm

But it's sending me shivers

A baby is born

Crying out for attention

Memories fade

Like looking through a fogged mirror

Decisions too

Decisions are made and not bought

But I thought this wouldn't hurt a lot

I guess not

[Chorus x6]

The first possible meaning is that the song is about life and the different stages. For example the lyrics “crawling on your knees towards it” this could represent a stage of infancy. Similarly the lines “enjoy yourself take only what you need from it” and “control yourself” is said to mean enjoy life and take only what you really need from it, and not be greedy something which strongly affects the current generation.




Another meaning for the song based on the lyrics “when a baby is born” suggests the song introduces another stage in life which is no longer about the success of one’s self but one maturing and the changes and realisation that take place when they have a family.



Some people have linked the song’s lyrics with the ideology of ‘The American Dream,’ for example the lyrics “Making momma so proud” references to the belief that it’s important to do well and make your family proud of you.



Many people believe the song is representing environmental destruction, for example babies and kids are being used as a metaphor because they are innocent and dependant and the way the environment is being destroyed is oblivious to them.

Research into band members

I decided to do some research into the two main band members of MGMT, in order to gain some background information on the two and fully understand why they create the genre of music they do.


Andrew VanWyngarden


Born Febuary 1st, 1983 (28 years old)

He is the lead vocalist, guitar player and the song writer for MGMT, described by “Interview Magazine” for having an “uncanny knack for producing pop music that sounds as if it were filtered through a kaleidoscope.” “Kids”, arguably one of the most popular songs he has wrote received a Grammy nomination in 2010 for best pop performance. He has stated in interviews that “Kids” is one of the first songs that they produced together, which they released under their new name MGMT and not The Management. Also Andrew was on NME cool list in 2008, he came in as number 3, underneath Jay Z and Alice Glass.

Benjamin Goldwasser

Born December 17th, 1982 (29 years old)

He is a singer and keyboard player in the psychedelic rock band MGMT. In 2009, his song "Electric Feel" won a Grammy Award in the Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical category. Both band mates hail from New York’s Brooklyn borough, they met at Wesleyan university, where they decided to form the band ‘The Management’ which they later abbreviated to MGMT.

Reviews of Oracular Spectacular album.

I have included some reviews of the album 'Oracular Spectacular' which features our chosen song 'Kids.' this gives us a general insight into how popular our song has been with top critics such as Rolling Stones.

Reviews of ‘Kids’ by MGMT

The album has millions of copies worldwide. It has been nominated for best international album in 2009 at the Brit Awards. During 2008 it was estimated that ‘Oracular Spectacular’ sold on average 4,000 copies a week. The song ‘Kids’ is the third single to be released off of the bands album Oracular Spectacular.

Knowing that the Almost Famous notion of stardom doesn't exist anymore (if it ever did), the duo of Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser realize they're "fated to pretend." It's a charming idea making a career out of fantasizing and on Oracular Spectacular, they not only accept their playacting destiny, they demonstrate that, just maybe, it's a path more people should take." - Eric Harvey, Pitchfork Media.


"This space-rock gem mocks the clichéd coca cola-and-hookers rock-star lifestyle, over big synth whooshes." - Kevin O'Donnell of Rolling Stone


“A debut which is both intriguing and exciting if a little uncomfortable” - Damien Jones (producer)




Reception of the album 'Oracular Spectacular'


Overall Oracular Spectacular received mostly positive reviews of the album. On the website ‘Metacritic,’ a website where people can leave reviews on songs, videos and films rated the album 76/100 with generally favourable reviews of each song.

Why we choose MGMT.

This prezzi above states a few reasons why we chose to use a MGMT song for our A2 Media Studies coursework. It is really important to decide upon the right song in order to interpret a clear meaning. We wanted one that would represent modern society and post modernism; therefore we choose to use the song 'Kids' as we will be able to show clear meaning through good use of semiotics and mise-en-scene.



The prezzi shows some of our research into genre and the band itself.

Analysis of music videos by Eminem and the Buggles

Analysis of Video Killed the Radio Star and No Love




*Lucy Sayers*


The music video ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ refers to a period of technological change in the 1960’s, it focuses on the desire to remember the past and the disappointment that children of the current generation will face when they do not fully appreciate the past. The video is shot in a non-traditional setting in a disjointed manner, the TV and video is new technology which is the reason why the piano and the drummer are seen on the TV in order to create the disjointed effect, this way allows the audience a first-hand experience on seeing reality through a video. The music video ‘No love’ by Eminem is a small snippet of what society today can be like due to gang crimes and bullying. The song is about being let down by the people you need most. The video is shot in traditional settings including a range of isolated locations such as alleys and car parks. The video begins with a close up shot of a young boy with a black eye which then quick shots into a flashback of him being attacked by dodge balls in the gym, the shot is black and white except for the balls which could be a representation for the power they have over him and also the fear and danger that he is in at the time.


In the radio star video the space age is massively reflected as the 1979 space age was a new thing at the time therefore they are representing the modernisation and change that is going to happen further than what has already happened so far. In ‘no love’ irony is a big concept as the implied meaning of the video would be bullies be aware but the literal meaning behind it would be that music influences young people and acts as a ideology, therefore giving the boy enough power to stand up against the gang at the end. This is not the case in ‘radio star’ as the implied meaning in this video would be that it’s an end to a era but the literal meaning would be it’s the beginning to something much more.


Power is represented in both music videos. In ‘no love’ the bullies are a representation of what society can be like in some places. The young lad is disempowered by the gang as he is continually beaten by them. Where as in ‘radio star’ technology acts as the power over them all, in a way it’s as if it’s controlling them. Disempowerment is shown in the video by the fact the music is forcing the girl to dance, again controlling her as she is being forced and therefore is not really enjoying it.


In ‘no love’ there is a pan up shot on the kids bedroom wall showing posters of both Eminem and Lil Wayne, his ideologies showing the influence they have over him as he sits below them on the floor listening to them on his ipod. The framing of the shot shows the kid putting himself below them in the shot to represent his level of importance compared to them. The high angle shot looking down on the kid during a flashback when he is being bullied shows the power divide between him and the gang. This is shown again during another flashback in the toilets where they push him down, the high shot is a representation of putting him where he belongs on a lower level than the gang because he is different not because he has done anything wrong. In ‘radio star’ the black and white figures over the girl discovering the radio is disconnected from the rest of the shot as it doesn’t fit therefore emphasising the point. The shot of the girl and the radio, the radio is centre shot with the black and white figures at the sides which represent being true to their time and being original. The shaky camera work is evidence of the whole disjointed look of the video. There is not any effort or enthusiasm put into the video by the singers therefore it strongly lacks emotion. From the close up shots on the radio lighting shows the lack of knowledge and the shot clearly shows the confused expression on the girls face as she touches everything in order to understand and gain knowledge of the changing world around her.


In ‘no love’ the clothing is very modern and therefore fits the era of the music video, all the kids are wearing t-shirts and trackies with gold chains, representing the kind of people they are as the clothing acts as signifiers to each of them such as the bullied child wearing the new era hat, it’s part of who is therefore when the gang flush the hat it’s as if they are trying to take away who he is and lower his importance in society rather than everybody being equal and not judged. Where as in ‘radio star’ the clothing is all based on the space age which is the time that the video was filmed around therefore their clothing would be appropriate with such as change. The women that is trying to get out of the test-tube in order to get back to being her original self in dressed in space clothing because she doesn’t want to be modernised therefore she is portrayed in the video as being a subject of experiment rather than a human. The two shot of the two space alien subjects shows one looking above the camera and staring whilst the other looks directly up at her in a way it looks like she is idolising her as she would seeing her on TV for the first time.


The video ‘no love’ is very male dominated as there is only one female throughout which shows the gang to be more masculine and power driven as they lack a female figure. Rather than in ‘radio star’ where there is a mixed divide of males and females. This could be because one video focuses on gangs and bullying which stereotypically could be considered a more male dominated crime than a female doing it. Both videos are very much with their time as they show the problems that are huge in society at the time of production therefore they emphasise the important of what’s happening through their video and lyrics. The ‘no love’ video is very disjointed as it goes in and out of flashbacks and back and forth from current time to pass time which disorientates the watcher. The trajectories behind this video would be the chosen path that he follows is being in the eyes of his idols so he finds the strength to fight back against his bullies. The clip where the kid returns home with a black eye shows his dad who is typically very masculine, his tattoos represent his power and brutal ness which is the opposite of his son, this can also be seen when he grabs hold of the women therefore emphasising his control and dominance which is opposite to what’s actually happening as the kid is too scared to stand up against the gang so it’s basically vice versa. In ‘radio star’ the microphone by the mouth suggests power over the other characters and they hope that the audience is stimulated by the message. The song represents an era about to pass and there is song nostalgia which is echoed in the time of the music.


When the girl climbs the radio/TV pile then looks directly at the camera it makes the audience included, emphasising that it’s affecting us as viewers too. The camera then pans down into a huge explosion representing that new times are coming. There are a lot of varied editing techniques used in the video, the use of fade editing after the radio explodes could be interpreted in two ways one way being an editing technique the other being a representation of a radio losing its strength as the signal fades due to people moving forward and watching music videos. In ‘no love’ the bullies are all of different ethical backgrounds which shows a trait of modern society where culture is much more diverse and mixed whereas in the other music video it’s pretty much focused on one nationality of people. The darkness in Eminem’s video is suitable as it represents the dark theme that runs throughout, also some parts the lyrics are synchronous with the action such as “where were you when I fell” is a reference to religion and God. There is a lot of shadow effects used in the video which again show the darkness and the pain being reflected off the child. The use of quick shots from previous times to the present day to the singer’s uses a lot of fades in between which is a common convention of both music videos as they both strongly use fades between scenes to show a different in time. The close up shot on the boy’s bruised face is shown continually throughout the video to represent what the gang have done to him and emphasise the importance of ending gangs and bullying to the audience.


In ‘radio star’ the woman wants to connect back to her youth in the days where everything was simple and everybody understood what was actually happening. Also the little girl is real whereas the women in the tube isn’t she is more of an object for study to show what’s going to happen in the future when things keep on developing and advancing. This is shown as the women in the tube mimics the lyrics of the song rather than actually sings them emphasising she is not real unlike the others. In the very first shot the young girl is shown in colour whereas the singers are shown in black and white, both colour schemes represent the time and era that they are living in. This is similarly used in ‘no love’ as the changes in time are shown by the colour of the film, for example the previous being in black and white with heavy dark shadows.


Overall I think that both music videos represent the time and era that people are living in. The lyrics in ‘radio star’ I met your children. What did you tell them? Video killed the radio star, pictures come and broke your heart” is a perfect summed up representation of what has changed due to modernisation as they represent the technological change. The voice is edited in the song to make a clear distinguish between times. The radio was an important medium for creating stars that was being lost due to music videos coming around which is clear from the music video. Finally at the end of the video the kid becomes motivated and stands up against the bullies, which is evidence that the music and his ideologies have empowered him and gave him enough strength to not be afraid anymore. The ending is shown in several ways, one him getting caught and two him defeating the bullies, this is shown amongst a series of flashbacks. I think the powerful message behind this would be that it’s hard growing up and therefore it’s a suitable message for people all over the world. I think that the video shows a huge problem in post modernistic culture as bullying and gang crime levels are high.