Linkin Park Music Video Analysis

This music video is shot in the Californian desert. The idea that this video wants to portray through this song is the sins of humanity or what they define as a 'bad things' humans have done such as war, world hunger, stem cell research, terrorism, etc. Emphasis on life is shown in various parts of this video by using colors of life such as blue and green as shown right at the beginning of the video, with the grass reversing into the mud, while this aspect is reinforced at the end with the grass growing out of the mud itself. Elements of plot advancement or otherwise create a sense of motion is used through time scheduled movements such as the appearance of clouds over time, or in a pollution clip, the movement of cars.

A sense of slow motion is created after the instrumental segment after the second chorus by slowing down the movement of the band members while implementing the collapse of the World Trade Center. A small amount of ocean of life is used when Chester Bennington sings "and wash away..." Another interesting thing I noticed was how camera angles were used, the camera is almost always shot from underneath the band members to give them a sense of importance. The sun is always behind to create a washed out/shadow scene, possibly the way the band sees the world today in general.

The beginning with  the grass effects and time-movement scenes were nicely implemented, but things such as a binary opposition of world hunger and the fat individual chomping down a burger, show that this is very literal music video. The way how everything was literally put into the video to give an image of this and that is something that Linkin Park has not previously done; and in an artistic point of view something more symbolic would be better than this, but perhaps the band considered this and thought lets cuts to the metaphors and just show them the truth, delivering a much harder hitting message. All in all, Linkin Park have a good mix of performance and narrative within this music video, which is all that can be really asked of any music video.

The Neighbourhood Video Analysis

The start of the music video is of a blank screen with the letters THE NBHD, clearly meaning The Neighbourhood, this fades out and we are presented with the band sat in their house, before the title of the song is shown on screen there are various cuts that all happen at the same time as the drum beats. The first shot is that of the sky and palm trees whilst the car moves, this quickly cuts back to the original shot, cuts again to a vinyl record, back to the original shot and then to a close-up of a girl's face, not particularly in focus, this again cuts back to the original image, cuts to a shot of the band silhouetted against a city skyline, these simple and quick cuts create an enigma code, we gain more interest in the video and want to know what all these shots mean.

When the title of the song appears, we are given a shot of the band in a car, this is probably the longest shot of the video so far, this allows us to see who the band is and is also a shot that the video comes back to. the basic premise of the music video is that the band are traveling through the city, aiming to have a good time, it follows them however both at night and during the day, suggesting, their lives are pretty much a cycle and that everything do is a repeat of something they've done before. There is also a lot of shots of a particular women, whenever she is seen the lighting is very low-key, adding a sense of mystery to the women, perhaps a hint at why Jesse Rutherford is interested in this girl. Another interesting point is that the whole video is shot in black and white, which adds quite a gloomy feel to the whole thing, which makes sense as the song is about it being incredibly cold outside, this could also be why the every time the girl is seen, she is seen indoors.

We are also presented with The Neighbourhood's logo an upside down house, we first see it the right way round but then the whole shot is flipped upside down, probably a statement from the band meaning that they are going to reinvent the music industry or perhaps it is simply the band claiming that since their success their world has been turned upside down and they don't know what to make of it. The camera slowly zooms into the house as we see various shots similar to the ones seen before but of course instead being upside down, once the house takes up the majority of the frame, a quick cut and the video now cuts between upside down and normality causing even more of an enigma code, I interpreted this as it meaning the band really don't care, they're hear to have fun and make music if you can get down with this, you'll enjoy The Neighbourhood. At the end of the music video, we are presented with the opening shot of the band sat down in their house, as we zoom towards them, the screen fades to a white background with the logo present once more, this then fades to black as the video ends. This is simply the band making the best use of the end of the song which is simply instrumental, nothing needs to be seen here, show the logo, make a statement, be remembered, The Neighbourhood have got this covered.

Survey Monkey Analysis

As shown here, the majority of my audience appears to be female, 30/35 out of the participants in my questionnaire were female, therefore my music video should be more directed to females.

Due to these results, my music video should be aimed at the 14-24 demographic, this is about the right age category I was looking for, it is at this age that people would really bother to watch a music video.

As identified, the average length people are willing to watch a music video for is between 3 and 5 minutes, I will try to keep my music video between these times to appease my audience.

The majority of people who took my survey listened to rock the most, there was also a high demand for stoner music, which is technically a sub-genre of rock music, so I can incorporate this into my music video. The other responses included alternative, indie, metal and grunge, again all sub-divisions of rock. Therefore the track I shall be choosing for my music video will be a rock due to popular demand.

The majority of people would like a storyline alongside the music as part of the music video which is understandable as a just music would be boring, I will have to try to create a short story that works with the music and the rest of the shots in my video.

Arctic Monkeys Video Analysis

The start of the music video is of a medium long shot, showing the pub in which Alex resides in, he is framed at the centre of each shot, regardless of it being the medium-long, medium or close-up, this then cuts to a close-up of Alex's phone, showing the time and who he is texting, this is key to the song and this why a close-up has been shown. Following this, there is a close-up point of view shot of the clock, this transforms into a smiley face, showing Alex's mind clearly isn't functioning properly. During this opening of the song, another Arctic Monkey's song is playing in the background, this is done by many bands. He then has another shot, breathes a fireball, the room starts morphing and shifting around him, again this reinforces that Alex is heavily intoxicated, this ties in heavily with the song title 'Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?'

Following this, Alex leave the pub and the song actually starts playing, a tracking mid-shot is used for this part of the video, to follow Alex as he tries to make his way to his 'girlfriends' house. Throughout, close-ups are shown of rare occurrences, that aren't really happening but Alex thinks are.

Signs and Signifier

The type of representation we were aiming for was within the category of age, specifically looking at the dominant representation of teenagers being party animals involved in a lot of drugs and sex. We decided to picture teenagers within a grimy tunnel with a pizza box containing drugs paraphernalia and condoms. We felt this visual code clearly showed the main things in a teenagers life. This is a fairly negative representation of teenagers but I believe it is a stereotypical one.

Kerrang magazine analysis

The masthead of this magazine is Kerrang, this is fairly recognisable and I would also say it is unique to Kerrang magazine, this is at the top of the magazine and so is probably what would get read first. Therefore Kerrang have done a good job by making it their own, this means it is recognisable as their branding and so people will look out for this masthead.

The main image is of a Kurt Cobain, who looks very plain, the only major part of him we can see is his face and the cigarette, he looks pretty relaxed and content and this ties in with with the main cover line, 'Hugs Not Drugs' This particular cover line is in white and is fairly bold and large, this draws attention to the magazine and Kurt's face. Following reading this, we would see the secondary cover line saying 'Kurt gets happy! Exclusive!' This is an enigma code and makes the audience want to read more about this Kurt Cobain exclusive. 

The other cover lines surround the image making the most out of the space provided, not much information is given with these cover lines and so they add to the enigma code that the front cover presents. The cover lines are small but are varying colours which make them stand out against the background, this draws our attention to them, and the two at the bottom of the page that would be read last also feature a photo and a little more information, showing these are probably the second most important stories in the magazine.

The audience for this magazine are 16-25 year olds, falling under the D/E category of the socio-economic model, who obviously like rock music, either male or female would buy this magazine but I believe it is aimed more at males. The cover lines are mainly band names and stories about that band, all of the bands featured are rock bands and so this ties in well with the audience. The representation of this magazine is actually fairly positive with the main cover line being about hugs instead of drugs, although rock is seen as fairly negative,  being all about drugs and sex, this magazine cover has tried to change that perspective.

Textual Analysis Charli XCX Break the Rules

The video makes use of diegetic noise to establish the setting, this can be seen at the start of the video which features the sound of a school bell ringing this is accompanied by a bunch of school kids running down the corridor, this fits in with the theme of the song, which is about not attending school.

The start of the song has Charli and her friends in some sort of mock school uniform, walking towards the camera, trying to look cool, it then cuts to a shot of the same girls walking down the race track and then on school bus showing various different places all associated with school. The back of the bus also has Charli XCX spray painted on it. This all enforces the message of the song, basically saying they are supposedly rebels, not wanting to go to school just wanting to break the rules.

Whilst they are on the race track, the camera is in front of them, movie backwards and tracking the as they walk forward. During this it cuts to Charli standing on the bus in a completely different outfit, one that she might use on a night out rather than go to school in, this shows she is embracing the fact that they don't like school and she is ready to have fun. Just before they get on the bus, a close-up of one of the girl's arse is shown, this is tracked for about two seconds. This soon cuts to the friends on the bus, this includes various close-ups of Charli and her friends on the bus, showing how gleeful they are that they have finished school.

It then cuts to a long shot, showing the bus arrive at a shop called 'Trashy Lingerie' this reflects the vibe of the school girls because they appear pretty trashy, there is even a close-up of the sign, emphasising just how trashy this shop is. Once inside the shop, there is a mid-shot of the man behind the counter who's eyes follows the girls' arses as they walk past, this clearly shows the male gaze, as we are supposed to be attracted to these girls, even they're in school uniform they are being sexualised constantly throughout the video.

After this, the main scene is the prom, this cuts between various different shots including close-ups of Charli, to show how much fun she is having, mid-shots to show her interaction with other people and also long-shots to show the whole room. All of these shots emphasise the party vibe, showing how much fun Charli is having, that she is dancing with other people and also that the room is packed, this emphasises the fun that Charli is having, if we see her interacting with other people we can tell that she is actually enjoying herself. The end of the video cuts again to a long-shot of Charli walking away from the bus on top of the school bus again as this happens the screen fades to black showing the end of the video and that Charli is still just as lively as ever.

This video follows the basic design of a music video nowadays, sexualising women and supporting partying, what more could be wanted by the audience. The video is clearly made for teenagers and as such uses things they can relate to in the mise-en-scene such as the school bus, school uniform and the whole party scene, near the end of the video it even features some girls kissing, showing the strong sexuality amongst teenagers today.