1. Leaf dog Music video analysis
I will be using Andrew Goodwin’s theory of music video analysis using his 5 points in order
analyse the song ‘some people say’ by leaf dog as it is of the same genre as my chosen song
and therefore is useful to take any noticeable genre conventions and patterns.
1)
‘First step- Interpret the music by the chorus or/ and verses
and structure of the song’. The song does seem to conform to
this rule or point as there is a noticeable chorus that is
repeated, this also happens to be the name of the song
making the chorus recognisable as well as the actual name of
the song itself acting as self-promotion in some ways. More
importantly it gives the song an identity as it allows people to
recognise a distinctive verse of which they can repeat
themselves.
‘Second step- The voice of the song being able to distinguish
the main voice from other sounds with in the music. The
artist’s voice is unique and can form an ID that works with
stars image’. This is clear with a distinctive UK accent which
can be recognised on a domestic and global scale. It helps the
artist identity by having a simplistic and repetitive instrumental
which is also recognisable as it flows and adapts with the
lyrics.
‘Third step- the story that the artist is telling within the song.
The artist can be known as a story teller to such an extent and
the music video can be seen to aid the story in which is being
sung by the artist to reinforce the story that they are trying to
tell’. In this case there is no real narrative for the song to follow
in the first place. Therefore this point isn’t very relative to the
song, unlike in my other music video analysis of ‘Spastic Max.’
However this diversity in lyrics whether creating a narrative or
performance or conceptual is what makes the UK hip hop
genre more interesting and brings about a more inquisitive
outlook on music.
2)
‘Narrative and performance- Songs fail to give a full narrative,
these two parts work hand in hand to make a more enjoyable
music video which gives it more coherent repeatability.
Goodwin believes that miming the words is still the most
popular thing done in music videos today.’ This is relevant in
the song in terms of a clear performance based side with the
majority of the song focused on miming words. However there
is a lack of a narrative therefore only partially supporting
Goodwin’s second step but emphasising the concept that
miming word using lip syncing in music videos is the most
popular way to create a music video.
2. However this is very common for UK hip hop videos due to the
fact that hip hop originated as solely a performance to express
feelings. In the case of UK hip hop these lyrics can be seen as
very indirect some of the time not following any sort of
narrative. Also due to low production budgets as it has a small
demographic for the general hip hop scene let alone the entire
music demographic videos a lot of the time a simplistic with an
assortment of different locations to sing at.
3)
‘Star image- Goodwin states that the star image is the most
vital part of the music video. The artists want to keep an
individual and unique image to stay current and for the
audiences to remember them. This plays a big role I the
production process of the music video. It forms an image of
which the audience can interact with’. This is applicable with a
clear style and delivery from artist with a constant casual look
which is emphasised by his ultra-casual approach to a suit,
with a badly adjusted tie with his shirt untucked and top button
undone. Whilst in the rest of the music video he is wearing
hoodies, large t-shirts and joggers. Also the idea that all of his
clothes in the video predominantly consist of dark colour
schemes, this possibly reflecting the inner emotion of the artist
as he like other UK hip hop artists choose to address darker
subjects in their songs.
4)
‘Relation of Visuals to the song - there are three ways in which
music videos work to promote a song… Illustrate- music
videos can use a set of images to illustrate the meaning of
lyrics and genre, this is the most common out of the three
Amplify- this is similar to repeatability. Meanings and effects of
the song are manipulated and constantly shown through the
music video and drummed in to our vision so its constantly
coming up. Disjuncture- This is where the meaning of the song
is completely ignored’.
