This is a music video that has always interested me, and from a media studies point of view, the best thing to look at in this video is the relation between music and visuals (one of Andrew Goodwin's main points in his book, "Dancing in the Distraction Factory"). The rap part of the music video in many ways fits the generic signifiers of rap music in video, entering in an urban landscape, with the sound of sirens and gunshots in the background creating a very dystopic view of the city where the video is set. The camera then takes us away from this, and presents us with a tower above the clouds, labeled with the words "Feel Good Inc.". Inside the tower, we are shown members of the band experiencing the simple pleasures, sex, partying and alcohol, but nothing besides this. The Feel Good Inc. is a place created to satisfy the basic human needs, but gives us nothing else, which is why the main character in the tower, 2D feels the need to escape, but is confined within the tower, shown by the symbolism of the prison-like bars across the window he looks out of and the lyrics by 2D - "You wont get out the county, 'cos you're damn as free". This "trapped" feeling is also shown by the screens we are seen when the camera circles 2D, which represent the media, and how is is confining us to only one way of thinking, and there is nothing we can do. "With your sound you're in the blink, Going to bite the dust, Can't fight with us, With your sound you kill the inc, So don't stop get it, get it, Until you're jet ahead, And watch the way I navigate, Ha ha ha ha" This is rapped at 2D by De La Soul when the screens surround him, telling him that they are too powerful (which is also represented visually by the size and omnicience of the rapper and the cage of screens), and that there is nothing he can do but be forced to enjoy it, like the other band members. This is the bands view of society, so the tower is created as an exadurated microcosm of the group's views. This is all contrasted by the second part of the video and song, which enters as 2D presses his face against the barred window, watching a floating island drift past longingly, where another character, Noodle is relaxing, and playing the guitar, which creates a far softer sound than the harsh rap inside of the tower. The island represents nature and true, fuller pleasures, such as peace and beauty. The mise-en-scene is much prettier here, too, using brighter, lighter colours to suggest a much happier style of living. In the end of the video, 2D gives up, accepting the way of life forced upon him, singing the words "Feel Good" repeatedly as a token to the tower, and to convince himself of a state of mind.
2. A conventional music video - Down With The Sickness by DisturbedDisturbed - Down with the Sickness (music video)
Besides being totally awesome, this song has the worlds most conventional music video. Almost all heavy metal and other bands with similar genres have videos featuring concert footage of the band, mixed in with the band messing around or playing the song, unlike most other genres of music, which tell a story, and so this video fits the conventions. This genre of music tends to have very dynamic, exciting and powerful live concerts, which are very suited to the genre of music, and therefore the video. The dark mise-en-scene of a hard rock concert also works very well with the dark mood of the music, and the everchanging lighting fits in with the pase and mood of the song, so using footage of concerts is very effective. Using the concert footage engages the audience and makes them feel a part of the crowd, even when sitting at home, which makes the video a form of advertising, as it encourages the . The video is edited so that it is cut very quickly and on the beat, which again adds to the fast and powerful mood the song creates. The video is essentially a form of advertising, selling concert tickets to the audience.
3. An unconventional music video - Second Bad Vilbel by Autechre
Whether this video is unconventional or not is open to debate, given that the genre of music is experimental/electronic, and how few experimental songs are given official videos. Either way, the video is very different from more mainstream music, using fast edits and a blurred/distorted effect to make what would otherwise be very ordinary images very weird and disturbing. Mechanical, futuristic objects and robotsare shown to us, which creates a relationship between the electronic music genre, which obviously has connotations of computers, due to how the music is created, and often the themes of the music. There is a colour scheme to each clip, creating an unnatural, claustrophobic effect. This is often contrasted with a flash of another (often complementary to emphasize the contrast) colour, which keeps the video exciting and interesting, as well as creating the effect that the video is slightly broken, which makes the footage appear more realistic and therefore disturbing. The colour scheme separates our realistic world from this video, but uses familiar settings, such as the underground tunnel, which could have been a metro station, to link the video to reality, leaving the viewer slightly on edge. The fast edits in the video are a result of the unusual and fast tempo and beats in the song, where the director often uses an image for a fraction of a second on an off-beat, to great effect, as it creates a mystery, and makes us feel that something important is happening during these flashes. The enigma of what is happening is withheld throughout, so that a clear plot is never established, and no resolution is reached, leaving the audience thinking about the video after it ends.
No comments:
Post a Comment