MUSIC VIDEO TECHNIQUES / MEDIA LANGUAGE ANALYSIS

SKUNK ANANSIE - CHARLIE BIG POTATOE <- CLICK TO WATCH HERE

The genre of this music video is alternative rock. Alternative rock is a genre of rock music which emerged in 1980s. This music video is concept and performance based therefore it is again a hybrid. In this video a mix of thematic and symbolic concept has been used as the video is packed with small symbols as well as a theme. The symbols used in the music video are hard to understand as they convey a concept that the artist had however objects like water and bugs could be used to symbolise  the artists concept. I believe that this music video clearly represents the alternative rock genre by what is visible in the video itself as at the first sight it does really stand out to what is shown by the mainstream music. In the video we have a lot of symbols which do interlink with the concept based idea of the music video. Water, insects or even abstract way the artists sit could symbolise the thought the artist had behind the music video. 

The sound in this music video is a mix of both diegetic and non diegetic as we can partially see the whole band perform and partially a concept story being shown. In my opinion having both diegetic and non diegetic sound really helps to get the concept across as the audience is not focused on the artist singing but on what is shown in the video. In terms of the mise-en-scene used in this music video we can see that a very dark theme has been set. The band is wearing black leather clothing which is mainly associated with rock music therefore this clearly presents the genre to us. Additionally the clothing contained spikes which to the audience signifies the sharp and hard-core tone of the music. To emphasise the dark theme the video uses a low-key lighting which makes the scene very mystical, allowing for a very effective use of strobe lights which can be seen in the background. In terms of the editing, this music video used a high amount of cuts. The cuts have been done at both fast and slow paces depending on the songs rhythm. By this the song is emphasised as the audience gains tension according not only to what their hear but to what they see. The cinematography used in this video included close ups on the walls and face, tracking shots, medium shots and medium close ups . The close shots such as the close up or medium close up were used either to show the scene or show the artists emotions. By the use of such various cinematography, the artist conveys her performance and the concept behind it very clearly to the audience.