Analysis of previous student work

The beginning of the music video starts off with a close up of an electric guitar which instantly makes it apparent to the audience that this is a band. The effects used on the guitar are entertaining and unique and is not often seen in music videos, making this one stand out. However, some parts of the music video I do find tacky, such as the cartoon effect on the footage. Despite this being a creative idea, I think there is far too many effects on the video, making it seem over the top. I also noticed that when the artist starts to sing near the beginning part of the video, her lips are not in sink with the actual song, instantly making this less effective for the audience and therefore unrealistic. At this point, it would be hard for the audience to identify with the artist. I also find the narrative of the music video slightly confusing, and the relationship between the two girls being filmed is not made clear. I do however, like the costume and make up ideas used for the artist, as it represents the rock genre of the song. I think the use of different locations also make the video effective as it keeps the audience watching on. This is because the images are constantly changing through the use jump cuts, so the audience do not get bored of watching the same clips again and again.

Another weakness of this video is the fact that they filmed in a school and in a park. This is common in music videos, therefore reducing the unique feel to the song. I do however think that they picked the right person to be the artist, as she does at some points make the video look realistic and she is giving the performance to the best of her ability. Some parts of the video are also filmed in poorly lit settings, meaning the picture quality isn’t that good, and at one point it is hard to work out what they are filming.

This video also uses a lot of different camera and angle shots. Close-up shots are frequently used, which is a common convention of a music video and low angle shots make the audience look up to the artist, which I believe is a clever idea. As well as this, the camera always seems to be moving which I think keeps the audiences eyes fixed on the video, rather than still camera shots that could be boring. The use of frequent jump cuts as well, keeps the audience entertained throughout.

I believe that this group thought very carefully about the common conventions of rock videos, especially when they used the effect where the artists face goes close up into the camera. I believe that overall they created a successful music video with a selection of good ideas and following the generic conventions of rock music videos, however, some parts made it seem less realistic, such as the cartoon effects that the fact that the artists lips didn’t sink in time with the music. Analysing this video has been a great help for my understanding of constructing a music video, and has shown me what works as well as what doesn’t work. Therefore, I hope to learn from previous students work to try and make our music video as successful as possible.