Video Analysis.

Light House Family - I Wish (I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free).


Aspects of Performance / mode of address.
A direct mode of address is used, the main artist is looking down the camera at the audience. He is singing to the people on the train and looking into their lives. The element of performance is narrative based, no dance routines are included.

Narrative
The narrative is non linear as the video includes 'flashbacks' to parts of people's lives. There is a clear beginning; we see people board the train and it begins to move. Middle; the train is traveling and the artist is singing and seems to be helping with the passengers problems. And end; the people get off of the train looking a little happier and stress-free. They walk up the stairs into the daylight which symbolizes this.

How does the video create an image for the star artist/band?
The video gives the impression that The Lighthouse Family 'change peoples lives' as we see the people get off of the train a lot happier after listening to him sing. Also, it shows the band as a laid back normal band as in the video we see them relate to the audience. They are more about the message than the performance.


How do the visual elements relate to the song?
Illustration / Amplification / Disjuncture.
The visuals amplify the song. In the video we see the artist is saying that he cannot take the problems away but they should be more open about their problems as everybody has them.

Mise-en-scene
The video is set on a train, in an underground place, on public transport which the audience can relate to.The main artist is black, and he is wearing all black, the majority of the people on the train are black, relating them to the artist. Also, they are all wearing mundane similar looking clothes, everyone including the protagonist blends in. The woman that guides the artist down the train is the only character to stand out. She is shown with an almost angelic look.

Use of Camera.
The video starts with a close up of the train setting off, showing the audience the setting of the video. Throughout the video we see the man traveling down the train through the use of tracking / panning shots making the audience feel present. Occasionally we see the use of an over the shoulder shot / point of view shots, this gives the audience an insight into how the main artist is 'seeing it'. A lot of mid-shots and close-ups are used, to show the passengers on the train, zooms are used to show us looking into the lives of the passengers outside of the train.

Editing.
The editing used is fairly straightforward, it is straight cuts are used at a slow pace keeping in time with the music. Occasional dissolves are used as we look back into the lives of passengers. Match on Action is used when the female takes the artists hand and leads him down the train.

Representation.
Everybody on the train looks working class or lower, except the main artist as he is wearing a suit and a hat making him look quite smart. The lead girl is blonde making her conform to traditional stereotypes. Her pale porcelain skin glows highlighting her beauty and her angelic appearance. There may be a religious theme to the video, the characters start off underground looking unhappy and move up into the light, looking happier as if the artist has 'cleansed their soul'. The guy in the background who follows the artist down the train could be described as a 'disciple'.

Special Effects.
The special effects used are rare and very simple. They are used through editing techniques such as transitions / dissolves.

Genre
The Genre of the music of the video is Contemporary Soul / Soulful Pop. This is shown by the beat of the music.

Audience
The audience would be people between 25 - 40, as it is quite mellow / easy listening.

Channel
The channels you would expect to see this video on would be 'Magic' 'VH1' & 'Smooth' as these are the more mellow channels for the older target audience.


Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy, Hey Girl.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64szVQugrAo

Aspects of Performance / mode of address.
There is no performance by the band in the video, it is fully narrative. There is an indirect mode of address, as the audience, we are invisible.

Narrative
The video is purely narrative, the narrative is linear. There is a clear beginning; we see a little girl on a school trip to the museum, she is obsessed with bones. Clear middle; The little boy teases her and she falls and breaks her arm. She grows up and we see her go to a club where she see's all the people as skeletons. And clear ending; She leaves the club and gets in a taxi to go home. It all happens in a clear line, there are no flashbacks.


How does the video create an image for the star artist/band?
The video is different. The visuals create an image of the dance music culture showing the Raves and use of Drugs. Although this image is negative it is popular amongst the dance culture therefore it promotes the dance music, which indirectly promotes the band. As the band do not feature in their video, this shows that they are more music based rather than image based.


How do the visual elements relate to the song?
Illustration / Amplification / Disjuncture.
The visuals relate to the song through Amplification, there are few lyrics so the video gives those lyrics meaning. One of the most common lyrics 'Hey Boy, Hey Girl' we see a lot of boys and girls everywhere.

Mise-en-scene
Most of the video is set in a Rave, which represents the target audience and the culture, which is given negative connotations throughout the video. The main woman is dressed all in black and looks very boring and plain, she is not sexualised which is different.


Use of Camera.
The video starts with a tracking shot down the bus, eventually zooming into the main character, the girl sat on her own reading a book about bones, aligning the audience to her. We see an over the shoulder high angle shot, from the point of view of the boy, looking down at the young girl to show her size in the scale of the bus. There is then a low angle shot of a boy making him look taller and intimidating towards the smaller girl. We see a long shot of all the kids running showing excitement / chaos. There is a closeup of the teenagers in hoodies sat on the bench, highlighting the teenage dance culture. We see the museum through a long tracking shot, this makes it look really big in comparison to the small children. We see a panning shot of the dinosaur highlighting the bones.

Editing.
The editing builds from a slow pace to fast to fit with the pace of the music. Slow motion is used when the kids are running towards the museum and when the girl falls on the stairs. Elliptical editing is used to show her go from a child to grown up.


Representation.
The video represents the drug culture, it exposes negative points but indirectly promotes the dance / Rave / Drug culture. When she is in the club and see's everybody as skeletons we think is an effect of drugs that she is on as it does not make sense and nothing makes sense when you are on drugs. Although we are not sure if she is on drugs as we saw she was obsessed with bones as a child.

Special Effects.
In the club toilets, the music is dubbed making the audience feel as if they are there. Strobe lighting is used in the club and CGI is used to show everybody in the club as skeletons.

Genre
The Genre of the music of the video is electronica / Dance.

Audience
The audience would be people between 16 - 30 as it is likely to be listened to when you are going clubbing.

Channel
We would expect to see it on MTV Dance.



Lily Allen - Smile



Aspects of Performance / mode of address.
There is a direct mode of address as she sings into the camera to the audience. Although during the narrative bits, it becomes indirect. The video is narrative based and does not include any dance routines. The aspect of performance is through her, she is the artist and has the main role in the video.

Narrative
The narrative is non-linear as at the beginning we see her lay on the bed with her 'boyfriend' happy together. There is a clear beginning; we see her sat in her bedroom singing. A clear middle; her friends go to her 'boyfriends house' and break all of his stuff. And a clear ending; he goes crying to her and she smiles.


How does the video create an image for the star artist/band?
The video creates an image for the Lily Allen as a normal, everyday type of girl, but also a spiteful and vindictive quality is portrayed. These qualities allow the target audience to relate to her if they've witnessed betrayal and been hurt by a partner.

How do the visual elements relate to the song?
Illustration / Amplification / Disjuncture.
The visuals in the video amplify the lyrics in the song, the song is called "smile" and the vocalist is smiling about what she is doing. We are shown her reaction to being 'wronged' by someone.


Mise-en-scene
The artist is wearing everyday clothes, and the video is set in everyday places such as the cafe, the alleyway and the club, giving the image of her being an average person. Her clothing is a trademark which we see in every video, she is wearing her trademark trainers and earrings.



Use of Camera.
In the bedroom scene we see a montage of different angles including close ups, mid-shots and Panning shots around the room. The camera uses quite a lot of zooms on the main character to accentuate her facial expressions. Shot reverse shots are used very quickly between the vocalist and the man she makes a deal with the get back at her partner, this is used to show and common bond between the two and that the deed has to be done quickly and subtly. When the boyfriend is being beaten up, hand held camera is used, with a slight high angle making him look vulnerable. We see a long tracking shot of her walking down the street singing at the end.