3 Music Video Analysis'.

1. Music Video Analysis
By Hannah Duncan

2. 7 Key Areas- Andrew Goodwin
 1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. (e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance
routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).
 2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images. (either
illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
 3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects
that of the music. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
 4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the
artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).
 5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and
particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
 6. The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (a visual style)
 7. There are often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc).

3. Twice- Catfish and the Bottlemen.
‘Twice’ is a song by UK indie rock band Catfish and the
Bottlemen. It is taken from the band’s second album ‘The
Ride’ which was released in May 2016.
The song is an indie rock/alternative song and includes
multiple instruments like electric guitars and drums etc.

4.  Andrew Goodwin suggests that each music genre
has different characteristics that makes it their
own. ‘Twice’ is a song of the indie rock genre so
therefore the video will show more conventions
of an indie genre video.
1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. (e.g. stage performance in metal
videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).
A key convention of indie rock videos is performance. This
is where the band/artist is performing throughout or,
depending on whether there is a narrative structure,
partially performs in character. However, the main feature
for this particular band is full out performance. The video
looks like a live performance from the band which fully
supports Goodwin’s idea of specific characteristics within
genres.

5. 2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with
images. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
The video is an performance of the song, so there are no
direct visual links between the lyrics and what is on the
screen unlike narrative based videos which tell the story
of the song.
The lyrics aren’t reflected by what is on screen, however
there are some actions which could link with the lyrics.
The whole band is frequently shown in the video, however
lead singer Vann McCann is the main focus and has more
camera time. From watching his movements and body
language it is evident he has no intentions of telling the
story of the lyrics. However, he does hold out his thumb and
pointer finger (shown on the left) multiple times while
singing. This could have been done to reflect the song title
and chorus line ‘twice’. Also, McCann slightly lowers his head
and leans against a speaker (shown above) while singing the
line ‘from every hangover my head feels’ which could
portray hangover exhaustion as he is lively throughout the
rest of the performance.

6. 3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual
reflects that of the music. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
There is an evident relationship between the music and
the video as, being a performance video, the band are
playing the instruments in perfect time to the music.
The band also do various movements like bobbing and
head nods to the rhythm of the music and are always in
time with the beat.
The bands movements make the video more lively to
reflect the tone of the song. It makes the atmosphere of
the video fun and energetic; just like the song and the
band’s live performances at gigs.
The video looks as though it has been filmed in one shot
as the camera follows the band in and out of their set
and never seems to stop. This makes the video look
smooth and laid back which gives off chilled vibes to the
audience.

7. 4. The demands of the record label will include the
need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist
may develop motifs which recur across their work
(a visual style).
There are multiple close ups of both the lead singer and
the rest of the band, but there isn’t too many that it looks
as though it has been demanded as the idea of the video
is to reflect a performance.
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking
(screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and
particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female
body.
There are no references to notion of looking evident in
the video as it is a performance. However, McCann does
look directly into the lens a few times; possibly to
connect with the viewer. The majority of the time the
band keep their eyes away from the lens and are normal;
possibly to show the realism of the performance.

8. 6. The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (a
visual style)
The band have always included some form of
performance in their videos. However, since the release
of their second album, they have began to use black and
white videos unlike their previous videos for their 2014
album ‘The Balcony’ which used various washes of colour
and narratives.
‘7’ from
‘The Ride’
‘Soundcheck’
from ‘The Ride’
‘Kathleen’
from ‘The
Balcony’
‘Cocoon’
from ‘The
Balcony’
The first few videos released
by the band were both
narratives and disjuncture's,
however they became
performance based and have
been since.

9. 7. There are often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music
videos etc).
There are no intertextual references to films or TV
programs within the video, but the video is similar to
their previous videos but also very different as they are
never the same.

10. How Good It Was- The Courteeners
‘How Good It Was’ is a song by UK indie rock band The
Courteeners. It is taken from the band’s fourth album
‘Concrete Love’ which was released in August 2014.
The song is an indie rock/alternative song and includes
multiple instruments like electric guitars, bass guitars and
drums etc.

11. 1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. (e.g. stage performance in metal videos,
dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).
Similar to the previously analysed video, the band are
performing the song throughout the video. However,
the difference with this video is the band have chosen
bright colours to light their performance space and
have edited them on to the video. The colours used
have links to the indie genre and target audience as
they are bold and bright colours are preferred.

12. 2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The
lyrics are represented with images. (either illustrative,
amplifying, contradicting).
Throughout the majority of the song, the band don’t
make any references themselves to the lyrics apart from
singing them. However, there is a projection behind
them of a sepia toned film. This adds contrast to the rest
of the video as the colours are different. The projection
reflects old times which is what the song is about, hence
‘how good it was’. The image of a women appears when
the lead singer sings the line ‘then she’s here and then
she’s gone’.
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The
tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the
music. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
The lighting flashes and changes colour quickly, along
with the editing from shot to shot. This reflects the beat
of the song and the fast paced rhythm made by the
instruments. The band play their instruments in time with
the music and lip-sync the words perfectly as though
they were actually singing them.

13. 4. The demands of the record label will include the need
for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may
develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual
style).
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking
(screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and
particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
The video includes a lot of close ups, but not to the
extent that it looks directed by the record label.
The band almost always have bright themed videos and
seems like that is something they are comfortable with
doing as it is what their audience like to see.
It is difficult to tell whether or not the lead singer is
looking into the lens or not as he is wearing sunglasses,
but the position of the camera makes it look like he is
creating that bond between artist and viewer.
There is a reference to notion of looking as a woman
appears behind them on the projection multiple times
which could link to the female gaze.

14. 6. The artist may develop motifs or iconography
that recur across their work (a visual style)
The band’s visual style is different, bright and they either
tell a narrative story in their videos or they stick to
performance videos.
They alternate between the two, but continue to use
conventions of the indie genre in them all.
‘Not Nineteen
Forever’ from ‘St.
Jude’.
‘Next Time You
Call’ from
‘Concrete Love’.
7. There are often intertextual reference (to films,
TV programmes, other music videos etc).
There doesn’t seem to be many intertextual references in
this video, however there does seem to be some type of
reference to a movie or existing video which is projected
onto the background of the performance space. This
links to the lyrics of ‘how good it was’ as it reflects an
older time in life.

15. Light It Up- Eliza and the Bear
‘Light It Up’ is a song by UK indie rock/pop band Eliza and
the Bear. It is taken from the band’s debut self-titled
album ‘Eliza and the Bear’ which was released in February
2016.
The song is an indie rock/pop song and includes
instruments like electric guitars, bass guitars and drums
etc.

16. 1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. (e.g. stage performance in metal videos,
dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).
Unlike the previous illustrative performance videos, ‘Light It Up’ is an amplification
video. This means the director is creative and mixes both performance and narrative
together. This isn’t necessarily telling the story, but it is an interpretation of the story
which is something pop videos include.
In this video, it shows two male characters doing jobs like cleaning and collecting
rubbish. In society, these jobs are seen as boring and ones people tend to avoid.
However, in the video it looks as though the character is enjoying his job as he dances
along to the song. This could be from the motivational lyrics ‘light it up… when the
weight of the world falls on your shoulders’.

17. 2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The
lyrics are represented with images. (either illustrative,
amplifying, contradicting).
When the lyrics ‘light it up’ are sung, the lighting
brightens and the performance space gets brighter;
contrasting from the darker space.
The male cleaner frequently dances in the video and he
does a walk over his should when the lyrics ‘when they
weight of the world falls on your shoulders’.
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The
tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the
music. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
The band play their instruments in time with the music
like a live performance. The editing is fast paced to
match the pace of the song and they choreography of
the two male dancers/characters is in perfect time with
both the lyrics and the beat. The lighting also matches
the lyrics and the music. The bright video sets a happy
and uplifting vibe.

18. 4. The demands of the record label will include the need
for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may
develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual
style).
There isn’t as many close ups of the band as there is in
the previous videos, however there are some. The
majority of the close ups are of the characters within the
video; possibly to keep the focus on them.
The band have similar themed videos to this which
suggests their audience like to see and they like to
produce them.
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking
(screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and
particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body
There are no references to notion of looking in the video
as the majority of the time the band keep their eyes away
from the lens and are normal; possibly to show the
realism of the performance. The characters in the video
also keep their gaze diverted away from the camera;
almost emphasising the saying ‘dance like no one is
watching’.

19. 6. The artist may develop motifs or iconography that
recur across their work (a visual style)
The band’s visual style is bright and lively. They mainly
have videos with both performance and narrative and
use conventions of both indie rock and pop.
‘It Gets Cold’
from ‘Eliza
and the
Bear’.
‘Lion’s Heart’
from ‘Eliza
and the Bear’
7. There are often intertextual reference (to films, TV
programmes, other music videos etc).
There are no intertextual references to films or TV
programs within the video. However the video is similar
to their previous videos so they could reference them.