Practice task 01

1. Music Videos Chosen
• Caution – The Killers 2020
• Back In The USA – Green Day 2017
• Four Out of Five – Artic Monkeys 2018
• Man of War – Radio Head 2017
• Dani California – Red Hot Chilli Peppers

2. Common Conventions
• Band performing with instruments
• Lip-Syncing
• Cinematic style production
• Usually filmed on set
• Retro styling

3. Mise en Scene
• Outfits are often based on formal wear and inspire by
clothing that was popular in previous decades (1960-
2010). This genre of music is often inspired by these
decades, so this is a homage to that. This is
demonstrated in almost every single one of these
videos, with the video that highlights this the most being
Dani California.
• Instruments used as props in almost all videos. This is
done to create a sense of watching the artist performing
the song. This is done in most of the videos with the two
exceptions being Four Out of Five, and Man of War.
• Setting are commonly formal, and old, similar to the
outfits, examples of this include hotels (such as in Four
Out of Five), museums or even small town (similar to the
one in Caution). These can be filmed on location, or on
set, usually depending on the complexity of the desired
location.
• Hair and makeup are similar to outfits, often being
inspire by popular hairstyles from previous decades.
These are often bolder than the outfits often being
stereotypically rebellious in style (such as the brightly
dyed hair in Cautio, and Back Iin The USA), although
this depends on the video, and its overall direction.

4. Lighting
• These music videos often feature bright high key
lighting. This is often done to fit with the upbeat,
hopeful, and energetic nature of these songs. This is done
well in the roof top scenes in Caution wear the scenes are
brightly lit in large spaces, making the main character
feel freed.
• Lighting often changes between shots contrasting
different setting, and highlighting changes in time, or
mood. This can often be very abrupt, for the sake of
dramatic effect, and to highlight the mood of the song
changing throughout its runtime. This nis well
demonstrated by the screencaps shown from man of war
where the scenes flicker between night and day
throughout the video.
• Lighting varies depending on weather the video is shot
on set or location however it is usually naturalistic in
style, with it conveying tone based on brightness and
light levels rather than by using surrealistic or
exaggerated colours, or through distortion. This is done
to try and keep a grittier down to earth tone in these
videos whilst still making them feel bright and exciting.
Four out of five uses a mixture of lighting styles, using
both natural, and artificial lighting with the shot bellow
demonstrating how this is done, whilst still
allowing the shot to have a grounded feeling.

5. Shot Types
• The shot types used in these videos vary, usually
ranging from long shots, to extreme closeups,
with mid shots probably being the most common
shot type, in the majority of these music videos.
The videos which use these shots the most
commonly are Caution, and Back In The USA
which both make use of closeups and mid shots of
the main cast to establish their importance, and
highlight their facial expressions, and emotions.
Dani California also frequently uses close ups of
the bands gear in each decade to highlight the
age of the equipment they are using.
• The shot angles are usually relatively static,
commonly being at eye level, however when
angled shots are used, they are usually from low
or high angles, rather than top, or bottom. These
shots are often used to make the character being
followed, feel bigger and powerful, or lesser and
smaller, being looked down upon, rather that up
at. Caution uses this on in its previously
highlighted roof top scene to once again create a
sense of freeness for the video's protagonist.

6. Editing & Camera
angles
• Slow editing style with shots usually lingering on
screen for longer periods, of time compared to
other genres of music videos such as pop, where
the videos jump between short lively shots. This
however does vary depending on the video and
the speed of the song it goes with, however even
in these videos, the scenes do not change as often
as they would in other genres, with multiple
shots taking place in each scene before switching.
Back In The USA stay in the same few places
through most the video, with the majority of the
shots taking place in the same few rooms, of a set
of a small, suburban house.
• These videos often cut between shots that
juxtapose each other for the sake of dramatic
effect, creating contrast, and building tone, with
setting, lighting, outfits, and even time changing
significantly. This is done the most in Man of
War and Dani California where both videos
frequently switch time dramatically between
shots, with one changing between night and day,
and the other progressing through different
decades, with both juxtaposing these time frames.

7. Representation &
Narrative
• •Most of the videos featured have a simple narrative, almost
always featuring the cast, often as characters inside this narrative.
The reason for the simplicity of these narratives is often due to the
short span of time these videos possess to tell a story and make an
impression on the viewer. The videos featured which demonstrate
this the best are Caution which depicts the life of and adolescent
girls, and her family in an American town; and Back In The USA,
which features a story about a small American family in the 1950s,
which features an attempt to assassinate the president, getting
involved with the band performing.
• The narrative in this genre often revolves around time and its
passing. With the videos usually displaying an exaggerated flow of
time, or a point of time in the past. This is due to the fact that this
genre of music has deep roots in these times, and also in some cases
was more popular then. The video that demonstrate this best is
Dani California, where the music video transitions between
decades, with the videos even being filmed with gear from the
decades featured. This is also clearly demonstrated in Back In The
USA, Four Out of Five, and Caution, where the videos are all set in
previous decades.
• Most of the videos feature few female characters, with the males
being represented as either, wild and uncontrollable, or powerful
and intellectual. The females in these videos although seeing
minimal representation are usually shown as either stuffy and
serious, or uncontrollable and rebellious. This is shown in, Dani
California, Man of War, and Four Out of Five, where in which the
mains cast are almost exclusively male. Cation also demonstration
the previously mentioned female stereotypes.