2. Andrew Goodwin’s seven features of
a music video
In His Book Dancing in the Distraction Factory Andrew Goodwin points out
characteristics and features that can be found in music videos.
■ Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. (e.g. stage performance in
metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).
■ There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented
with images. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
■ 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 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 is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens,
mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female
body.
■ The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (a
visual style)
■ There are often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music
videos etc).
3. DYE
■ Juan de Guillebon, better known by his stage name
DyE, is a French musician. He is most known for the
music video for the single "Fantasy" from his first
album Taki 183. “Fantasy” became popular mostly
due to it’s bizarre music video; it was released to
promote the single. This video became viral,
attracting over 55 million views, 49 million of those
within two years.
■ Ever since DyE was 14 years old, DyE was
intoxicated with music and even created a little
project called 'One Week, One Track!' which saw him
upload a new track to MySpace every week.
■ DyE wanted to create a "sci-fi universe” with his
music which may explain his choice of producing
alternative music for his audience. Furthermore, the
video for Fantasy seems to be taking place in this
“sci-fi universe”.
■ I will be deconstructing DyE’s music video for fantasy
below, including analysing the lighting, camera,
possible meaning, techniques used, etc.
4. The video, after a short introducing
sequence, starts off with a girl with her
pants down and then tells us what the song
is and who plays it. The screen pauses at
this moment which tells us that the band
and music video is not afraid to show nudity
and push boundaries which may target to a
rebellious target audience.
Another shot is focused on another girl
with the boy in the shadows and the light
predominantly facing her. This tells the
audience who to focus on and signifies
her importance as a character. Her arms
are crossed and she looks unhappy. This
may tell us that she is uncomfortable or
that she feels different. Feeling different is
a common theme in alternative music
because it can correlate with how the
audience feels.
In this shot, the girl is presented as afraid
and alone. This s done by not being able
to see her face, her shadow being bigger
than her, and her being out of the shot
slightly; emphasising her difference.
General analysis
5. This shot is slanted to give a feeling of
uneasiness and she is presented as the
smallest one in the shot. This could
represent that she does not fit in with the
others because she is not equal with
them. Her face shows anger and is
slightly hidden by her hair which shows
distress.
Characters are deformed and are not
humans, this could show how different the
music video is which emphasises how the
band are not afraid to push boundaries.
Camera s slanted again which gives off
the impression that everything isn’t ok –
uneasiness.
Creature has human features which can
be used to represent how the band sees
certain humans as monsters. So, the
band makes their point by showing their
hate towards people which furthers their
desire to be different which, again, can
connect with the audience.
General analysis
6. Next shot features gore with sexual
appeal in it. These two things should,
notoriously, not go together but Dye
pushes ore boundaries. Creature attacks
human which an represent how the band
feels attacked and therefore different, or
that the band can attack others which
makes the band seem powerful.
All shots from now on are slanted to
emphasise the danger in the situation. Girl
has tears streaming down her face and
wants to get out, this can build up tension
because the audience will question whether
she will get out.
This shot is quick and soon pans off the
creature’s face which is a technique in
horror where they will not show all of the
’monster’ because they want to build
tension for the audience. Therefore, this
music video has correlation with the horror
genre.
General analysis
7. As the music video progresses, the creature
becomes more and more grotesque. This
technique builds up tension because the
audience wonders how much more
grotesque can the creature get, this makes
the audience keep watching and therefore
draws them in.
In this shot, we see our main character
looking at the horrific creature but there is
another creature behind, this builds up
tension because the audience doesn’t
know whether the creature behind her will
get her by surprise or not.
The creature squirms and is a different
kind of ‘grotesque’.
General analysis
8. The shot immediately after this features
the other creature attacking the main
character and this is made apparent by
Dye using a Pov shot which can make the
audience jump and frightened. It is
unconventional for an audience to be
scared by an alternative, synthesiser
based song as they are often quite
melodic and ‘nice’ to listen to.
Our heroine prevails and jumps into the
pool. The audience would feel relieved
because they would have connected with
the character earlier on in the video where
she was presented as ‘different’ and the
audience was meant to feel
compassionate for her. Shot is slanted
again.
This shot feature slow paced editing and
is presented as peaceful, this can be used
to give the audience a break from the
action and can be a sense of relief.
General analysis
9. In this shot, the main character is
represented as small and an insignificant
‘being’ this is made apparent by the fact that
she is slightly in the shadows and we
cannot see her face.
This shot is sudden and unexpected. This
gives the effect that the heroine is pathetic
or not the heroine we thought she was. This
gives the audience the question, who killed
her? Furthermore drawing the reader in.
This shot shows some of the character
pants which then makes her innocence
obsolete as she was represented at the
start of the video.
General analysis
10. Our heroine is seen slumped at the grounds of
what looks to be a monster the size of a god.
As the camera pans upwards, the screen
fades to white and we see more of the
“thing”. Fading to white has connotations of
purity, heaven, peace, god, etc. This can
mean that this creature is godly and ‘good’
rather than the evil villain which can also
mean that our heroine was not what she
seemed.
General analysis
11. Lighting The lighting throughout Fantasy is focused on the girl. This makes
it so she is presented as the main character. She encounters
danger and has to fight her way through ‘enemies’ so therefore
she can be classed as a heroine. Other characters in this video
are mostly in the shadows and are therefore represented as less
important, so the audience does not focus on these other
characters as much.
The lighting is almost always dark at the top of the screen and
often lighter towards the bottom. This creates an eerie
atmosphere for the scenes, therefore makes the atmosphere for
the ‘creatures’ to start attacking. For instance, if the atmosphere
wasn’t created then the monsters appearing would not have been
as effective.
The lighting is constantly coming from the pool in the video and it
then seems to be facing up at her the entire time. This lighting is
stereotypically used in the horror genre of film and TV.
Furthermore creating the right kind of mood for the creatures to
appear. Also, the dark at the top could have an effect on the
audience that something unknown is hiding in the shadows.
As well as this, the darkness reminds the viewer that the events
are taking place at night. Events that take place at night are
stereotypically scary, spooky, horror, etc. Dye creates this eerie
mood for the audience because this is what the video wants to do
to the reader.
12. Camera■ The camerawork throughout this music video is often
angled. For example, one of the shot pans past a face at a
fast speed, you can barely see the creatures face. This be a
technique that is often used in the horror genre; quick
camera shots that pan past a figure to create tension. It
creates tension because the audience and the people
watching do not know what the figure is. So therefore, this
video is trying to create a horrifying video for their audience.
■ Other shots are PoV (point of view) shots. There is one at
the start of the sequence and another in the middle when
the creature goes to attack. PoV shots are often used to
help the audience understand what the subject is feeling or
seeing. In this case, Dye helps the audience understand
what it’s like to have a creature attack your face which also
adds more of the horror theme in the video.
■ Another shot is looking up one of the character’s skirts. This
shows the Dye is not afraid to be explicit. This is at the start
of the sequence so it could signify that other explicit themes
will appear in the video. Therefore, this could target towards
Dye’s audience who are mature and that can deal with
explicit images. This may relate to how he wants listeners
of his music to be mature so they take his alternative genre
seriously.
■ Many of the camera shots are angled, as the images on the
right show. This creates an un-easy atmosphere for the
audience when they watch the video. Dye may have
wanted to create this type of atmosphere because of the
fact he wants to create a fantasy atmosphere.
13. Editing ■ At first, this video is rather slowly paced. Music starts calm
and slow. Editing is slow paced during these parts and
therefore adds to the calm atmosphere that the music
creates. This can be classed as ‘amplifying’ the music with
visuals.
■ During the action of the video, the protagonist has to deal
with a monster. It is a convention to have fast paced editing
during action because this amplifies action; it implies the
chaos and energy of the action.
■ In this instance (editing), the video fits with conventions.
Meanwhile the video’s visuals contradict conventions. This
may be the producers of this video trying to connect to the
mainstream media. If the video had elements of non-
convention throughout the production (editing, camerawork,
lighting, etc) then it may not have connected with a large
audience. However, the producers of the video have just
kept the visuals as the main non-convention which is easier
to connect to a larger audience. This may be the reason the
video gained so much hype.
14. Mise en scene
■ Mise en scene isn’t very predominant in this video.
Mostly because the characters are not wearing many
clothes or using props.
■ This represented protagonist is wearing a white t
shirt, symbolising purity. She is the only one wearing
a t shirt, this can also emphasise how she is pure;
others show bare skin
15. Brockhampton ■ “Brockhampton, stylized as BROCKHAMPTON, is an
American boyband formed in San Marcos, Texas in
2015.”
■ A group of individuals who create melodies and rap
verses called themselves a boyband because they
“wanted to redefine what that term meant”. The group
consists of 12 people from different backgrounds who
met through an internet forum known as “kanyetothe”.
This group moved to California recently and is
currently working on a trilogy of albums, Saturation,
Saturation II and Saturation III. Truly saturating the
music industry at this time, living up to the names.
■ Brockhampton’s music is mainly considered as rap
but songs also feature vocals from the group too.
Beats are old school, new wave, different, but mostly
sounding like the future of rap.
■ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGWY7TQOwEs
This video best represents Brockhampton.
■ I will be deconstructing Brockhampton’s “Star” video.
16. Almost all of Brockhampton’s videos start with a black and white title
of what their video is called and then transitions to colour. This
indicates the saturation in colour which refers to their album. So,
because they repeat this in every video, they are therefore saturating
this technique.
A lot can be told through an opening shot.
This shot features (presumably) members
of the band shaking on the floor. They are
wearing bright colours. This shot indicates
that the band are weird and different as
this is not a social norm to be flat on the
floor. This can attract an audience who
like abstract videos. What makes this
weirder is that it is silent, there is no music
which keeps the audience intrigued to see
what the song sounds like.
The colours are intense and saturated
which is a repeating theme in their videos.
Showing to the audience that saturation is
a key theme to them. This, in a way, can
also advertise their album because it can
remind the audience of their album,
General analysis
17. Someone drives a golf buggy up to
the camera and says “My name is
Roberto and I want to be famous” in
a different language. This is a
regular theme in almost every
Brockhampton video. Having things
happen in multiple of their videos
emphasises the ‘saturation’ they are
releasing.
This is also an unusual thing to
happen in a video and is
unconventional which keeps to
Brockhampton’s theme.
In these next shots, the beat kicks in and abstract visuals of Kevin
abstract painted blue on the back of the gold buggy. This is a strong
visual to open the song to because the colours are so saturated and the
blue and yellow are so eye catching that it grabs the audience.
The next shot is through a distorted fish eye lens of one of the members
playing with a giant pencil while also dressed in blue. Both of these
visuals are abstract and grabs the attention.
These shots make it clear to the audience that being painted blue will be
a repeating feature of the video which also keeps the audiences
attention because it makes the audience wonder what the others will
look like.
General analysis
18. Three members of Brockhapton are
then painted blue and one of the
members starts their verse whilst the
others dance to the beat.
One has a doctors mask on.
Brockhampton’s audience should
notice that this member is on the
cover of the ‘Saturation’ album. This
can be refreshing for the audience to
see how the album cover was created
without having to see the actual
process; it is a subtle but effective way
of telling the audience.
The verse carries on to this shot where
he is on the front of the golf kart going
backwards. This can cause the
audience to ask many questions
including, “where is Roberto?”, “who’s
in the pink cardigan”, “why is it going
backwards?”, “why is he on the front”,
etc. Having shots like this so an
audience asks themselves questions
is something that happens in many
videos. It is used so the audience
keeps watching in hoping that their
questions are answered.
The shot where the member is playing
with a giant pencil through a fish eye lens
recurs throughout his verse, littering the
verse with star images of him. This gives
the audience a break from the new and
abstract visuals that keep being
introduced.
This new shot features members of
Brockhampton in the background. Merlyn
Wood, a member, dances in a dress like
a ballerina. This shows to the audience
that the group features versatility,
different sexuality and openness to one
another. This should show the audience
the connection that the group has which
General analysis
19. The first few shots repeat themselves in different ways while the rapper is
doing his verse. This makes the audience feel familiar with the scenes and
characters in the video.
In this shot, he is bench pressing the pencil and one of the others jumps on
him with a baby mask on him. This is clearly a playful joke because we saw
him earlier in the video very free fully playing with the pencil. The baby mask
is weird and emphasises how the group is different and alternative.
Merlyn Wood jumps in the air with the
same dress as he was wearing earlier.
This shot is a more yellow toned shot
with the dress also being yellow. Yellow
can signify happiness, positivity, clarity,
energy, optimism and enlightenment.
This implies that Wood is happy and the
fact that he’s jumping in the air
amplifies this.
This can show some character to Wood
and have the audience connect with
him.
General analysis
20. Ameer Vann raps the next verse and starts
off in tin foil in the oven. This is weird, out
there and abstract. There is no reason for
Brockhampton to do this, it is just because
they wanted to which shows how they are
their own group. In a recent interview they
stated “there’s no producer telling us what to
do”. This may attract to the kind of audience
that like their artists when they are
independent.
This may also attract the kind of audience
who like weird and abstract artists.
Brockhampton defines themselves this way
as abstract artists. This is an element of
disjuncture because there is no reason or
relationship between this and what is going
In this shot, Vann wear a fat suit with a
pink cardigan. He drives the golf buggy
with other members sitting on it. The pink
could represent the femininity or the
freedom that the group has to express
themselves.
The fat suit is playful and emphasises their
non-seriousness towards themselves.
The shot is centred on Vann, however the
lighting isn’t good and he is shrouded in
the dark while the others are more present
which shows their colours off. This can be
a technique done purposely to show the
saturation or how they are shrouded by the
darkness that hovers over them. IT could
also be due to purely bad lighting done
The next shot tilts to the right first and then to the left.
It is done superbly with precision. The members in the
shot are lined up behind each other but you can see
them all. They should all be getting smaller as the line
goes on but they are at the same height due to the
tilted camera angle. This can symbolise how they
believe they are all equal and all as present in the
group as one another; emphasising the group’s
chemistry with each other. Building character as a
group can attract a wide audience because almost all
audiences like chemistry in a group they are listening
to.
Vann is present again with the doctors mask on with
the blue face paint just like on the album cover. He is
more present in this shot and should resonate with
almost all of Brockhampton’s fans.
Blue and orange are the main colours present in this
shot. Blue and orange is one of the most used colour
combination used in Hollywood film because of how
General analysis
21. In this shot, Abstract wears a yellow
jacket which choreographs with the
buggy and the gate behind them. This
amount of yellow is balanced out with
the blue. TV tropes state “Basic
complementary colour theory states that
when two contrasting colours are put
together, they "pop," so the natural
technique is to colour films to have a
strong, contrasting palette.”, this is why
orange and blue work together so well.
Vann still wears his pink cardigan which
is one of the only small pieces of colour
that is present in the shot and because
of it's intensity, it causes the cardigan to
be the highlight of the shot.
An anonymous figure wears a baby
mask with a blue jacket and an orange
top. Orange and blue is part of the main
colour scheme of the video and this
person’s outfit is clearly thought out and
done purposely to amplify the colours.
Vann sits down and this causes the
figure behind him to be the main focus
of the shot. This makes the audience
ask questions to themselves about “why
is he the main focus of the shot?” or
“why does he have the mask on?” this
keeps the audience invested in the
video and can cause them to carry on
watching the video until the end.
Vann is the star image of this shot. He
holds a microphone whilst wearing the
doctors outfit and has a gold grill on. It
is important to have star image in
videos because it shows the audience
who is performing. It is a convention to
show the performer so in this sense,
Brockhampton are keeping to regular
music video conventions. A gold grill is
somewhat of a convention for rappers
to wear too. However, Vann breaks the
mould by wearing a doctors outfit which
is unconventional for a rapper to wear
(although it has been done before).
General analysis
22. This is another star image shot.
However, this time it’s more close up
and pans across from a flustered
looking Matt Champion (other member
of the group). From the close up shot,
it looks as though the group is
crammed into a car together and
Champion is sprawled across a few
members. Vann is not bothered by this
and keeps performing. This can
emphasise the relationship between
the group and can further their
chemistry.
It turns to Abstract’s verse and the camera
cuts from Vann and straight onto a shot with
Vann and Abstract in the buggy. Abstract
starts with a hard hitting verse and keeps
going, then says ‘fuck’ three times and every
time he dos, he whips his face towards the
camera. This is a method of amplifying a
video with visuals. This is quite regularly
done in rap videos because quite often it is
part of an aggressive part of the song and
rappers like to show that in their physical side
as well to show to their peers that they are
serious about what they rap about.
The shot shows Abstract and Vann in the
buggy, the buggy is a recurring theme of the
video and therefore the audience recognises
this and can connect with the video.
Abstract then starts frantically jumping
and moshing with two other members of
the group. These two have both had a
verse in the song so the audience can
recognise that this is a shot of all the
contributors to the song.
Abstract jumping can amplify the video
but it also shows a little bit of
disjuncture because there is no reason
for him to start jumping as the song
doesn’t necessarily pick up pace at this
moment.
General analysis
23. Amplification is used in this shot when
Champion performs a trick on his
skateboard. Amplification is used when
something is happening visually and
creates a feeling for the audience when
listening to the music. The visual often
relates to the song. In this instance
Abstract states “my boyfriend in the
street, bitch”. This could possibly
indicate some kind of romantic
relationship between Abstract and
Champion That may keep the audience
invested in the group because they
may be interested in the group’s
relationships.
Abstract is clearly worn out in this shot
and takes the back seat. Dom
McLennon finishes his sentences off
even though, in the song, this doesn’t
actually happen. Throughout this
video, the audience is constantly being
reminded of the group’s relationship
with one another and therefore builds
chemistry. Most audiences will buy into
a group because of their chemistry
because they enjoy seeing people who
get along.
This is a perfect example of
amplification in a music video
because the lyric states “sucked off on
a highway” and Abstract acts out the
motion of this while riding on a
vehicle. The amplification is clear. The
lyric is tongue in cheek and
Brockhampton’s audience can
recognise this and play along with the
joke, connecting the audience with the
artists.
General analysis
24. This shot has occurred in the video
before. During this part of the video, it
goes a bit more fast paced and is littered
with different shots. This shot is repeated
but Abstract is now at the forefront
instead of McLennon. This is because
Abstract is now the one rapping. This is
amplification because it shows who is
rapping. This shot may not have been
used more predominantly because of the
unusual colour palette of red, pink, blue
and yellow. All of these colours are
intense so it doesn’t work because there
are too many of them. In the other shots it
worked because there was a maximum of
3 main colours and it worked. Merlyn
Wood’s red jumper or scarf messes up
the colours and could be the reason why
The song cuts out with the last line of
the song. The last lyric by Abstract is
“got the same last name as OJ” (Kevin
Simpson). This lyric is amplified by
another member of the group chucking
orange juice (OJ) over Abstract's face.
The shot lasts for a while and
amplifies how the song cuts out.
The fast paced editing before was
used to build up the chaos just before
the song ended to that there was more
effect when it ended.
The video then continues to another
shot of four members singing a
melody. Vann, Champion, Wood and
another members look into the
camera. The background is a burnt
orange colour with their clothes being
mostly greyscale. This shows how the
colour scheme has changed
completely. With the colour scheme
changing, implies that the song is
completely different.
Although, the colours are still
saturated so they still keep some of
their original theme.
General analysis
25. Abstract comes in and sings some vocals and it
then stays like this for the rest of the video.
Abstract has a blue hoodie on with the orange
background. This can refer to the overuse and
saturation of blue and orange in videos; mostly
Hollywood blockbuster.
General analysis
26. Lighting
■ In most of these shots, the lighting is mostly the same. It
is bright, colourful and pleasant. Especially is the more
“blue” shots (top two pictures as examples) the sun is
shining on them. The fact that they are blue with the
yellow sun shining on them makes them look pleasing
because of the blue and yellow effect used in most
blockbuster movies. This effect is where movie makers
will use blue and orange in a scene or throughout their
entire film to make it look more pleasing. Many have
speculated that it’s because blue bring out orange
highlights. It may also be to do with how blue and orange
are at opposite ends of the colour wheel. Brockhampton
uses this effect to further their saturation. Saturating their
video so much whilst using Hollywood blockbuster colour
effects can be seen as Brockhampton making a
statement about how the use of blue and orange in
cinematography is overused and therefore saturated.
■ Some of the shots, however, are not well lit. For example,
the middle left picture of Ameer in the golf buggy. As I
stated before, Ameer is in a shadow and other members
who are not as predominant in the shot are better lit than
Vann. This should have been the other way around with
members in shadow and Vann in the main light; a
convention of music videos is to have this. So, in a way,
Brockhampton may have done this on purpose to be
unconventional as they are an unconventional group.
■ In the second part the song (bottom left) the lighting is
softer. There is a glossy flare to the right of the shot which
suggests it has a kind, soft vibe to it. The song used is
slow and calm and this shot reflects this and therefore
amplifies it.
27. Camerawork
■ Some of the camerawork in the video for Star
is profound. Some is average.
■ An example of a profound camerawork is
during Vann’s verse (top right). This is good
camerawork because everything happening in
the background matches the pace and the
movement of the camera. Other members can
be seen in the back of the shot. When the
camera tilts to the right, just before the camera
stops tilting, the members line up perfectly
distanced from each other in unison. Anybody
watching (the audience) can recognise that
this is great camerawork, which can make the
audience more invested in the video and the
group in general because they would be
impressed by the group’s work.
■ At the start, when Roberto introduces himself
(middle right), the camera quickly pan away
from one shot to the shot of Roberto. The
camera is then tilted. This may have been
done to create a sense of uneasiness for the
viewer. This can give the viewer some
anticipation for what’s about to happen next
28. King Krule ■ King Krule, real name Archy
Marshall, is a
singer/rapper/songwriter/record
producer and musician who hails
from London.
