1. Lighting research:
In many different music videos, there are subtle or even drastic changes in
lighting; this is often done by the director to evoke emotions and create attitudes
in the audience. There are many examples of this in music videos,
Sex on Fire: Kings of Leon (Indie/rock)
One such example is the music video for Sex On Fire, by The Kings of Leon.
The use of the orange lighting creates a high energy feel and leads to anxiety,
this fits in with the song as it is about sex, thus the high energy that is created
by the lighting matches the songs theme. This use of lighting can not only be
seen at 0-20 seconds, but throughout the video.
Teddy Picker: Arctic Monkeys (Indie/Rock)
Lastly, the use of lighting in The Arctic Monkeys music video for ‘Teddy Picker’ is
goes almost unknown by most of the audience. This is because the director uses
natural lighting, this is significant because the genre is indie/rock, and therefore,
representing the ‘real’ world and the band in it is a key feature of this genre. This
is also a key feature of the band and there chosen representation of themselves
Single Ladies: Beyonce (R’n’B/Pop)
Another example of the use of lighting in a music video is the video for Single
Ladies, by Beyonce. This music video uses many different lighting techniques;
the use of flashing lights can be seen at 1:01, 1:05. Furthermore, the use of
fading in and out, with the lighting can also be seen at 1:50 – 1:56. Moreover,
the varying brightness of the lighting in the video is visible throughout its
entirety; a few examples of these can be seen at, 2:03 – 2:29 where there is
bright lighting in the fast, high pitched part of the song. But after this, when the
tempo dies down there is darker lighting, making the scene grey, at 2:22 – 2:32.
New York State Of Mind: Jay Z (Rap/ Hip Hop)
Furthermore, Jay z’s, ‘New York State Of Mind’ also uses lighting, but in this
instance it is used throughout the video, for example the first 20 seconds. Black
and white lighting is used for many reason, one such reason may be to allow the
music to take centre stage and the video to not deter from the lyrics in the song.
Another reason may be to show the audience how the song along with Jay-z, is
timeless and therefore colours are not needed in his expression in his lyrics.
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