Technical analysis

The View- 'Same Jeans'

• In total I recorded 180 different shots in the music video.
• The majority of these were during the performance part of the video, when the music was at its fastest pace, here the video was representing the music through the use of cut to go with the beat or rhythm. Some of the shots were so quick that they may have been missed on a first viewing giving it repeatability.
• The longest shots were during the narrative scenes.
• The longest shot was about 18 seconds long and came at the end of the video when the music was fading out, there were many shots of about 0.3 of a second long with three shots being seen in one second, these were during the performance when the music was at a fast pace in the height of the chorus.
• There were 48 close-ups of the lead singer, over 25% of the whole video. However as 'The View' are an indie band the singer did not tend to look directly at the camera, or even acknowledge that it was there at all, many of the shots depicted him with his long hair covering some or all of his face, this is a typical convention of indie rock bands who are more concerned with the music than the fame/star image.
• There were 20 close-ups of the other members in the band, meaning a total of 68 close-ups of all the band members, over 30%. Again however none of the close-ups showed the band members as looking directly at the camera, many of the shots had them moving in or out of the shot, often 'head banging' suggesting that they have good stage presence and are fully engaged with the music and nothing else.
• There were also a number of close-ups of the instruments the band were playing during the performance, adding authenticity to the performance by showing the artists' skills.
• The movement of the camera was at its fastest during the performance part of the video when it was the chorus, a handi-cam was used here to give the impression that the audience are in the crowd watching the band live.
• Any movement during the narrative was shot using a stedi-cam.
• Angles were used to best effect during the performance, the lead often depicted using a low angle, and the crowd often viewed from a high angle, clearly differentiating between the status of the crowd and the band.
• Lighting was also used to contrast between the narrative and performance sections of the video, generally the narrative was shot in daylight, the exception being in the party, whereas the 'gig' was very dimly lit with the crowd in darkness and the band in light, although a red tint was used for this, creating authenticity for the performance.
• Some post-production effects were also evident, the foremost being slow motion, predominantly used when the crowd were in shot during the performance, others were when the lead singer opened the door of the flat or the elevator onto the 'underground gig'.
• Jump cuts were used for a 14 second period when a handi-cam was used that followed the lead singer from the front as he was walking through a party (another convention of music videos), the use of jump-cutting, dutch angles and the perfromance from the lead singer, his non-verbal language and facial expressions gave a clear impression of drunkeness. The jump-cuts showed him staggering jerkily through the room with random object such as a telephone appearing in his arms, and then a large red kiss mark appearing on his face (possibly aggrandizing the lead singer by portraying him as popular).
• There were links between the lyrics and the visuals particularly when the chorus starts, here the singer says "So!" as a lead in for the chorus, every time this was said there was a cut in time with the lyrics to a picture of the band on stage in the performance. Other links were seen at the beginning of the video when the lead singers gets out of bed and says, "I've got the same jeans on" here there is a deliberate cut to his jeans as he is getting out of bed illustrating the meaning of the lyrics, and providing a literal image.

My technical analysis has taught me a great deal about the more technical side of making a music video and has introduced me to some techniques that i intend to use when making my own video. Some of the key techniques that i may use in the making of the video are listed below;

• Fast-paced cutting and lots of movement during performnace shots.
• Longer shots during narrative or conceptual parts.
• Close-ups of the lead singer (however the singer should not look directly at the camera or seem as if he is interested in anything but the music, also he should show lots of emotion linked to the song at all times).
• Low angle shots of the band.
• High angle shots of the crowd.
• Handi-cam shots of the leadsinger from the front as he is walking (camera probably attached to the singer so that as he moves the camera moves with him).
• Slow motion effects on people dancing/performing.
• Jump-cuts and duth angles to portray someone as drunk or unstable.