Primary Research - analysing music videos

I like the way this music video has been shot because of how real it is. What I mean by this is that in movies when people go out on a night out their makeup is still perfect and in general when people wake up they have no bed head or anything. However, this video shows the best and the worst parts of a night out. Although throughout the video it is the same shot constantly, the slow paced editing (in some parts of the song) fits in to the mood she is feeling, then throughout the video when she is having a drink the editing pace picks up a bit faster and then edits along to the music. The pattern throughout the whole video is changing editing pace and technique.



I chose to analysis this music video as the concept is similar to my own ideas for my music video. In this music video you can clearly see Alex on a path to get this girl to come out and have a couple drinks with him, whilst he is high. Whereas in my video you can clearly see him texting a girl to come meet up with him, however he is only using a vape for the smoke. Within the video you can tell he is under the influence of drugs as you can see through his eyes but then the next shot would be what is happening in real life.
Throughout the video a hand held camera is used and I believe this is because the audience may get a better understanding of what he sees whilst under the influence.
At the end of the video Alex believes he has reached the girls house however you can see that he has knocked on the wrong door as an elderly woman is looking through the window. Although we see the girl in this music video, I think I want the sense of mystery about what he is on the road to get.



Goodwin's theory states that music genres each have their own particular characteristics which define them. Key conventions of pop videos are the performance element - where we see the artist performing their song, and either a concept or narrative based video. Katy Perry's 'Thinking of You' music video is narrative based, and although she is playing the protagonist, there are clips of her performing the song included throughout the video, therefore the video conforms to genre characteristics. A genre convention in editing is the use of fade-in and fade-out transitions, such as the opening and closing shots in the 'Thinking of You' video. The video also uses neutral colour schemes, another convention of pop music videos. The storyline of the video is also described in the lyrics, the lyrics talk about a couple separated by war, and the lyrics are reflected through the visuals of the music video; the video provides insight to the woman's life and relationship before the war, and shows her failing attempt to move on with another man. One particular example is where the artist sings: "I'm thinking of you", and the video cuts to a flashback clip of the couple, symbolising whom she is thinking of. The editing also amplifies the music, as jump cuts are made to the beat.