The one of the songs chosen to analyse, by BBC (Bombay Bicycle Club) is "Magnet". Taken from their 2009 album "I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose", the video was released onto YouTube by their record label, Island Records on 12th August 2009 less than a month after the album was released. Up to date, the video has over 442, 500 hits.
Within the first 10 seconds as the drum solo starts into the introduction, there is a sense of style from the ban already. The use of projected lighting, and moving image over the band;the psychadelic imagery connotes their eccentric style as they are first shown together with their instruments, wearing similar, casual 'everyday' clothing.
The set as shown, is based in a studio similar to Foals' "Cassius", however here, the colour is compensated for through afrorementioned use of moving image and text; this allows the band to reflect the style of their music and genre through visual aids, as well as through the sounds. It also allows a slight change of scenery with moving location, as well as repeating similar images to provide a unity throughout, rather than haphazard images placed one after the other.
The lighting because of this is kept mainly natural and soft, the band members being lit by the light from projections. However in the latter parts of the video, Jack Steadman (lead singer) and the other members are lit by a stronger, white overhead lighting.
As the pace of the song is steady, with no real climatic points, the camerawork and editing echoes this continuous pace as there are no real quick cuts or jumps. Instead, there are longer shots of the entire band, or medium shots of single, or two members. These shots of the band as a whole with their instruments, show a side of almost live performance, something regularly seen as a staple within music videos.
When Jack's voice is edited at 2:14, the camerawork changes to quicker cuts and close ups of him; the overhead lighting flickers with his quirky and jerky movements.
Although they are a four piece band, the video features the lead singer more so than the other three boys; he is the only singer paired with strong vocals therefore more close ups are seen of him.
When Jack's voice is edited at 2:14, the camerawork changes to quicker cuts and close ups of him; the overhead lighting flickers with his quirky and jerky movements.
Although they are a four piece band, the video features the lead singer more so than the other three boys; he is the only singer paired with strong vocals therefore more close ups are seen of him.
As mentioned previously, the projections over the band features psychadelic images using bright colours, geometric pattern icons and coloured landscape. However, it also features girls skipping, looking forwards and walking into the camera; this suggests- along with the lyrics- that the song is written about a girl, a lover "dreaming of you rushing up to me... we almost fell in love".
This could possibly be BBC's way of using a sub plot or storyline within the video; it is something seen more commonly now with newer music.
The below YouTube comment almost reaffirms the analysis and research covered into the indie genre of music videos so far:
No comments:
Post a Comment