analysis of music videos

1. This is Foo Fighters single
‘My Hero’, a performance
video with a narrative to fit
the lyrics.
The video follows a man in a red shirt
who run though a house in order to
save people like babies from the fire
occurring. Then title ‘My Hero’ is about
this male as he helps others.
The male manages to get into one of the rooms after a
struggle, the camera pans to the guitarist sat in the chair.
The video includes many shots like these to keep the music
related to the artist and show a comparison to the action on
the fire and the band casually performing around the house.
The dog and baby that the man
saved had their eyes covered by a
sensor bar in order to keep
privacy and display the man as
more of a hero and they are not
connected to him.
It's one of the Foo Fighter's best
songs, and maybe their best
video. The concept itself is
surprisingly simple, but powerful
and effective. The house fire
provides an urgency to the
performance that matches the
song itself.
The lesson: The band don't have
to be the focal point, a
performance can compliment a
narrative.

2. The contrast of the outside
and lots of people gathered
around rather than going in
to rescue things like the
man, further displays his
heroism
The camera pans to this woman
as you can see that the man in
the red shirt appears stressed.
The crowd move to reveal a
woman holding the saved
baby, she mouths ‘I love you’ to
the man
The man goes back in
frantically searching for
something, he stops to pick
up a photo of the wife and
stokes it. He has successfully
saved what is important to
him
The man struggles to walk
and slips whilst trying to get
back out of the house. Once
he emerges, with a struggle,
the crowd gather round to
congratulate him
There are no cuts through this
video, so it is known as a one
shot. However the camera still
uses some techniques such as
shallow focus on the woman to
show her expressions

3. Here the close-ups do the hard
work so the band don't have to.
Each shot squares off a body
part; The Strokes were always
about image, and here the video
fetishises their bodies and
clothes accordingly.
The lesson: Great lighting and
cinematography can bring a
performance to life.
The Strokes use close up shots of
performance elements, with
contrasting backgrounds to help
the object on shot focus, such as
in this the black background
helps the hand stand out.
The background changes in this
shot as the darker clothing, that is
atypical with the genre, the red
top is another tool to help the
black drumstick stand out. The
video doesn’t just focus on the
lead singer it appreciates all that
goes into the band.
This background is a deep
red/burgandy which rather than
contrasts, compliments the
brown wooden guitar. The hand
playing still stand out though,
which keeps the band connected.

4. This is a close up shot of the lead
singers face it is at a different angle
which makes it a more interesting
shot, using all these different shots
from different perspectives allows
the video to remain interesting. The shot moves round to the back
of his head, each shot on the lead
singer moves round. As seen in the
last shot. The leather jacket is
visable, its clear the band had a
certain style
Still conforming to the genre the
black converse, popular for the
time, follows conventions. I like the
use of drums as they are often not
focused on as much as a
guitarist/bass player. Seeing the
beats of the drum is more
interestign than seeing a hand as
often is is too quick to actually see
how it is done. This is a favourite
shot of mine in the video.

5. Amy Winehouse’s single ’Fuck
Me Pumps’ follows her as she
walks though the streets. This
shot is the most frequently used
as it is used to show her
progression to different places in
the video.
The video cuts to a man
beatboxing as a beat develops on
the track. This is a nice cut as it
works well with the music
This two shot also fits
the lyrics, she sings to
both the man in the car
and continues using
direct mode of address
The man looks as if he is
objectifying Amy in this shot,
which is a parallel to the lyrics. She
is out of focus despite looking at
the camera
Performance videos can be
deceptively simple - these
examples show there are as
many ways to show bands
performing as there are bands
to perform. With a bit of creative
thinking, and a committed band to
film, performance can be a
gateway to an iconic video, and a
unique chance to show a different
side of a band to their fans.

6. The video ends with a black out
focalizing the shoes Amy took
off and the microphone she put
down, the shoes may be a
symbol for the role of women
she described in the song.
This shot is a narrative to the song,
the women are bickering, because
they ae drunk, yet in the end they
both care for each other as one is
seen holding the others hair. It
shows a realistic representation to
life and connects to the lyrics
The video cuts to this wire twice in
which is to show her journey
through the streets.