In this particular video I would argue that the lyrics and visuals do not entirely correspond with each other, as most of the video is performance based with the band performing on a stage. However, I would argue that this music video is amplifying. Even though the lyrics do not completely illustrate the visuals there are various parts throughout the video where I believe the lyrics do fit the visuals. For example, when the lyrics ‘I predict a riot’ is being sung, there is a group of young people in the audience dancing to the music while having a pillow fight, therefore illustrating a ‘riot’. Along with this another example can be given when there is a man walking down the high street, and the lyrics are saying ‘walking through town’.
Above are the images of a man walking on a street whilst the lyrics 'walking through town' are being sung, and also another image below that of a group of young people throwing around pillows which directly corresponds with the lyrics 'I predict a riot'.
There are various moments throughout the Kaiser Chief’s Music Video where the music and the visuals correspond. For example, the band members seem to be in time with the music in their actions, when playing their instruments or even when moving their body in time with the music. Along with this, when the ‘I predict a riot’ is being sung, not only does the lyrics and visual correspond but also the music and visuals, as when the chorus is being played the crowd of people and the actual band move frantically to this upbeat chorus. Therefore the relationship between the music and visuals is amplified rather than illustrative as there are only a few moments throughout the music video where the music reflects the visuals.
The first four images above are stills from the music video at points where the music reflects the visuals shown to the audience. Above you can see a guitar, a keyboard, a foot on a drum kit and a one of the band members legs, although these are stills at these moments in the video the movement of each of these things correspond with the music being played. The last picture shows a still of the audience jumping up and down and moving to the beat of the chorus which has an extremely upbeat and fastened pace.
Most of the time Indie music videos will have some sort of performance video, therefore this music video’s follow this trend. ‘I predict a riot’ is mainly made up of the band performing on a stage with various instruments being played, throughout the music video the audience is shown over 30 different moments where the band is seen to be on stage. The fact that the music video is mainly made up of a performance idea, may highlight the fact that audiences like to see bands playing their instruments as they appear talented and also many Indie audiences believe that instruments such as guitars and drums play a major role in creating the songs they listen to. Along with this, there is an element of concept in this music video, which follows the trend of a Indie music video time as a lot of the time these music video’s will either be performance and narrative or performance and concept. The only quirky or ‘different’ aspect of this particular video would be the style of the actual band itself (big wild hairstyles and geeky looking clothing) but also the fact that the audience are having pillow fights at various points throughout the music video. The pillow fight could also signify letting go and being unconventional which seems to be a fairly common feature in the indie world. This point can be backed up the the Indie Music video I have analysed below by Jack Penate. Jack Penate's music video 'Second Minute or Hour' shows us the artist running throughout the whole of the video, which could be interpreted as the artist breaking free. Another characteristic of this video which is common in indie music video’s is that the main vocal singer is placed in the centre throughout the music video, which allows them to ‘sell’ their image. This will appeal to the audience as they will be able to feel connected with the main member of the band, which could be important if the band has not been introduced to a particular person before. Indie audiences tend to be of a younger age group, this is shown in this particular video with the crowd members all being of a younger looking age.
Notions of looking are not that common in this particular music video. However, we do see the band members watching the girls in the audience whilst performing. When they are singing ‘oh watching the people getting larey, we are shown different shots of the members of the band staring into the camera. Along with this, there is a shot that shows a man walking and suddenly turning to look at himself in the mirror. Goodwin's theory about the voyeuristic treatment of females is shown in this video with many close ups of women in the audience throughout the music video, even though we know that men are also present. However, these women are not presented solely as a sexual object, unlike the women in LL Cool J's music video 'Doing it' where the women are shown to be dancing provocatively (last picture below). In the picture, the women are seen to be wearing tight shorts will both their legs and belly's on show.
Throughout the music video we are shown various close ups of each band member, this allows the audience to be introduced to them and the audience can then become familiar with the band. Each band member is shown to be playing an instrument, in order to portray the sense that this is an indie video. The record label has also allowed the indie band to come across as quite an established an popular group, even if this isn’t the case. They do this by showing that there is a large audience in the video going to watch their show and making the audience seem like they are extremely excited, which is being shown by their facial expressions and the way they are moving and dancing.
‘I predict a riot’ by the Kaiser chiefs is both a performance and concept based music video. The music video mainly consists of a performance, where this particular band has been placed on a stage performing their song to a large audience, reflecting the importance of live performance in this genre. However, it could also be said that the music video is concept based as well. This is because, we are not only shown the band performing but also shots of various people collecting pillows and making their way to the spot in which the band are performing. We are then shown these people who are now the audience having a pillow fight when hearing the chorus being played. Therefore the music video has no set narrative but is concept based.
In Jack Penate’s ‘Second minute or hour’, the lyrics are only slightly relevant to the visuals the audience are being shown, therefore making this music video an amplifying video. Jack Penate is being seen running throughout the whole of the music video therefore no narrative is being shown to correspond with the visuals. However, the lyrics in the chorus ‘I can’t wait for another second, minute or hour...’ relates to the visuals as the running suggests he is anxious and ‘can’t wait’.
The video has limited visuals as throughout the music video we only see the artist, Jack Penate running along a pier. The reason for this may be that the use of showing the artist throughout the video on his own may allow the audience to become familiar Jack Penate, and they understand that he is in fact the artist as he is singing throughout the entire music video. However, this is done cleverly as the music is extremely upbeat and the fast paced running is in time with this beat. The upbeat music with the fact that Jack Penate is running at the same time suggests that he is a ‘free spirit’, which is common feature within the Indie genre. Also, when the beat slows down towards at various parts throughout the song, Jack Penate’s running becomes slightly slower, and at the end of the song when the beat dies down he suddenly stops running. Therefore, the relationship between the music and visuals is also amplified.
This music video is slightly unusual compared to other Indie music video’s as it is concept based but also shows signs of a performance video as the artist is singing along with the lyrics whilst running. Along with this, compared to most Indie music videos the artist is not shown to be particularly ‘different’ in his image, however Jack Penate is wearing a colour lime green shirt with a pink jacket over it, which is extremely colourful. The lime green mixed with the bright pink is not only colourful but also allows the audience to suggest that the artist is confident and wacky, as it is reflected in his style. The setting in which the music video is filmed is also quite bright where the sea is being shown and there is high key lighting throughout the whole of the music video. This is often used in Indie music videos making the video come across as lively and playful. Also, the fact that the music video is solely being based around one man running is quite unusual in its own way, the audience cannot quite work out where the man is running to and why he is running there.
One of the main examples that could be said to be a demand of the record label could be that the artist Jack Penate is constantly engaging with the audience throughout the whole of the video, he is always facing the camera and there are tons of close ups of him all the way through the music video. It could be argued that the idea of this is to allow the audience to become fairly familiar with Jack Penate himself, therefore allowing him to be in an environment where he is the centre of attention and nothing is distracting the audience to engage at anything but him.
It can be argued that ‘Second minute or hour’ by Jack Penate is concept based as there is no narrative present and Jack Penate is actually singing the lyrics whilst running. Even though the performance side of the video is not the typical on stage instrumental type, it still shows the artist performing his stage. Although, it is not common for Indie music videos to be just concept based as most Indie videos will have some form of performance in it.
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