Research: Existing Music Videos

The Last Shadow Puppets – The Age of the Understatement

­The video begins with images of a stereotypical ice skater, who is sat preparing to take to the ice in silence, almost as if she is sat in preparation for the start of the song.

When the music begins, we see the ice skater in action, with slowed down shots to emphasize the elegance and grace in her movements, and the movements in turn could also emphasize the elegance of the orchestral sound we hear.

The video then shifts to a shot of a snowy Russian landscape, with tanks and two figures dressed all in black, in complete juxtaposition to the ice skater dressed all in white. The contrast between light and dark becomes immediately clear, making the lyrics sound all the more sinister in comparison with the flowing orchestral music.

The video moves on to “our heroes” (as they are described by Domino Records) in a town in Russia, filled with blue lights, giving a chilling feeling of coldness.

The camera shots are slow initially however as the song goes on, and the tempo picks up to create a sense of urgency, the shots become quicker and quicker. This is mirrored in the movements of the singers, who at the start are stood or are walking at a slow pace, but being to march with prominent power as well as riding on top of the tanks.

The faces become more and more aggressive, with the lyrics being sung with a certain degree of anger in the tone. When the video contains the singers, it is always lip synced to create the illusion that the singers were singing the words at the time of filming.

Contextuality is clear throughout the video, as the tanks and war outfits worn by actors are frequently seen in war films and games for example “Saving Private Ryan” or the “Call of Duty” series. The big hats worn by the actors wanting to look Russian are also commonly associated with Russian culture.

Blur – Song 2

The video starts with drummer, Dave Rowntree, playing drums in what appears to be an empty room, as the drum-only introduction is synced with the drummer playing in the video.

As the guitar comes in, we have a long shot of the guitarist, Graham Coxon, again playing in what seems to be an empty room just like the previous shot.

Just before the vocals come In, we switch to a shot of singer Damon Albarn right up close. And as the lyrics begin, the camera suddenly shows the entire band in the room who in turn just start to rock out as if on stage.

The room itself is decorated in a 1930’s fashion, with the carpet and wallpaper both carrying an old, authentic look to it, in complete juxtaposition to the genre of music it is hosting.

During the verses, when the tempo of the music is slower, there are longer camera shots which focus more on the band’s music playing abilities and match the slower pace of the music.

The chorus’ throughout the song progress in power. The second finds the band being blown around, crashing into walls, by the power of their own music however the final again increases in power. Dust and dirt also occupies the room, as the band are hurled around the room, as the power of their music gets stronger and stronger.

The darkness in the room prevents the audience from fully seeing the band clearly despite close ups, and this adds to the mysteriousness of the band and their music.

Above all, the band show they are enjoying their music, and this enjoyment is passed from the band to the audience.

The end of the song suddenly cuts off, as does the video, which just goes black without any kind of out-ro.

The Killers – All These Things That I’ve Done

The Killers kick off this black and white video not performing as they have in previous videos; however they have become part of the story, with the 4 band members taking up the roles as the 4 leading men to counter the 4 leading women in perfect equilibrium.

The video, set in what appears to be a Nevada desert town, could show the Killers going back to their roots, as they grew up around Vegas. The title “All These Things That I’ve Done” suggests regret in the tone, and the fact it is set close to home could show regret in earlier years.

The black and white of the video also suggests it is set in the past, as an old fashioned car again reiterates this as it crawls around the old fashioned Nevada street corner in a fashion that could resemble “Grease” when the men would sit in the back of a convertible, relaxed and with their feet on the back of the seat in front.

The band are all dressed in black with large black hats on, another contextual reference, this time to Zorro from the “Zorro” films.

The men are all covered up, as if concealing something behind their long cloaks, and we never find out why the women are attacking the men. Where as the women obviously have nothing to hide, as they don mini skirts and revealing shirts. They wear denim and chequered shirts which would have been around in the time the video is set rather than modern day materials.

Brandon Flowers is seen in the showers, seemingly cleansing his regrets, or trying to as cutaways break up the video again showing scenes from the past. Flowers’ struggles and slips in the shower, his attempts of cleansing have failed.

Flowers walks around the old style town, with a plank of wood and numerous light bulbs attached to it. He tries to smash the bulbs with the heel of his Cuban heeled winkle pickers, but fails to smash them all.

He is seen with the other 3 members of the band, approaching the camera as if approaching war. Flowers mounts a donkey, a sign of humbleness in the bible, again trying to show he’s not the big man he thought he was.

The enemies of the men come into view. They line up directly facing opposite each other, both singing the same lyrics. “I got soul but I’m not a soldier” as the men take a step back for each one the women advance.

Again breaking the conventions, the men turn and run from the women, who appear quite angry at the men maybe for the reason, the men seem to regret something. The men claiming not to be soldiers would normally be seen as the more powerful sex and the women shouldn’t even dare look at the men in the wrong way, let alone commence in an all out onslaught.

The men, after running seem to escape with minor wounds from the attacks of the women; however, one by one are picked off. The last to go, ironically as he’s the front man is Flowers, the most integral part of the video. He falls with his face flat in a pool of water like what is seen at the start of the video, completing the circle of the video.

The plank of wood, after being nailed up right into the ground explodes leaving the remaining lights lit up, spelling out the word “Killers”, the band marking the video as theirs, adding to how personal the regrets are to them.