James Morrison – Wonderful World.
James Morrison is a well known song-writer who uses a light hearted style of music and gives the listener a 'feel good' element. In the video 'Wonderful World', the makers have obviously used 'happy' conventions such as use of colour and setting. The first component shown in the video was of the beautiful countryside in the background full of trees and grass which looks very aesthetically pleasing, added with gleaming sunshine which has been emphasized with extra lighting. This all shows that the song has a good-feel factor to it and also represents the tittle of the song, 'Wonderful World'. James Morrison's clothes also representing that his own life his perhaps 'wonderful'. He has been dressed casually but brightly and all contributes to the happy feeling that the audience are experiencing. We also gain the feeling that he is personally enjoying his life which helps portray the artist as happy, which could lead to further interest into him and possibly selling more records. The main setting of the video is surrounding a pool full of glamour including women in bikinis and a very expensive looking house. The setting has a large percentage of white furniture and brick work which indicates the wealth in the video and the fact that a lot of the props are the same colour makes the scene look very clean. Wealth is another reason why the video is represented as a wonderful world.
The night time shows fireworks and the women looking up to the sky which is an even further showing of the wealth and happiness of the people involved, however, this works as a narrative conventions as well as a generic one. The passing of time hints to the viewer that there is a storyline involved in the clip. Also the woman jumping around in the bedroom who is constantly shown in the video, appears to be involved in the storyline and could possibly have a relation to the singer who sings about love in his song. She is behaving very strangely and a doctor is concerned about her and contrasts to the women outside who have deliberately normal characteristics. Naturally the audience would take more interest in this character who is equally attractive but has more of a 'wild' personality which may show the artist prefers a woman with different characteristics.
The point where the women by the pool all simultaneously drink water proves how similar they all are compared to the odd one indoors. Another narrative convention is the pool that slowly turns black during the video. The changing colour is shown when the woman starts to go a bit crazy which and resembles a dis-equilibrium of the very normal life of the perfect looking setting. The woman going mad that the disruption of the normality is shown by a changing of setting, therefore the black pool manipulates the perfect image which we were shown at the start of the video.
The music video is full of factors that create Goodwin's six areas of analysis. The clip has a link between the music and the visuals, including the tempo of camera cuts used matching the tempo of the song. Also when James Morrison is singing high notes, a close-up shot of him is shown and appears to be zooming in on the singer. During the verses that are a bit slower and are quiet, the video seems to focus more on the developing storyline that involves the out of control woman. This is similar to the relationship between the video and the lyrics. None of the lyrics particularly link to any part of the video but again in the chorus the camera does focus on the singer performing by the swimming pool. The intertextuality involved in the video is perhaps from old-fashioned films such as James Bond which involves wealth and women. There is no obvious intertextuality for the video but it has a very typical view of living in luxury which is included in films and other music videos. The video sells the artist in a way that he is brightly clothed and has a wide imagination, as the audience has the feeling he is imagining this luxury. This luxury lifestyle that is shown within the production gives the video an element of voyeurism.
Kings of Leon – Sex On Fire
The video for Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon was released in September 2008 and the single reached UK number 1. The video maybe had a very big affect on 'selling the artist', and this was evidential in the charts. The genre of the song is a powerful, rock song which has a strong element to it. The video shows the ferocity of the song with dark colours and the theme of the clip which is based around an imprisonment scene.
The fast cuts and sharp movements in the video link brilliantly with the tempo of the music which makes the audience gain an adrenaline factor to it. The fast tempo cuts involve insert shots which give the idea that the characters in the video, the band members, are being tortured in their time in this haunted-looking prison. Constant shots of the lead singer being strapped to a bed show the darkness of the genre of the song and also props which are shown to us such as buckets and gloves. The shadows are an affect which further haunts the viewer which can increase their feeling towards the track. In breaks between the scenes of the video, the band are performing in a similar place to where the torturing was taking place.
The colours and lighting are the same and the clothing that they are wearing is very similar to what they are wearing during the drama. This could have been done to make the viewer try to believe that they are performing in a prison and the scenes which are shown to us feel more real. Some very interesting shots in the video are in the performance scenes, including zooming in on the band when they play their famous chorus which is loud. This is added to emphasise the power and spectacular feeling that the group are trying to create. A wide variety of shots are shown which gives us more detail on the band. For example, the lead singer is in focus when the drummer is out of focus, therefore underlining the superiority of the singer and his importance to the video. However the other characters and band members do have close-ups but are mainly used as insert shots to keep the cut tempo at a quick speed. The extreme close-up of the eye of the lead singer is an interesting one which shows his personal emotion.
The lighting in Sex On Fire is very limited because of the dark theme to the video. The clothing of the members are all black as well as the props being mostly a dark colour looking like metal. This tells us the danger of the prison and the darkness of the song and situation. The use of shadows is an added affect to that. Although, the lead singer, Caleb Followill is lighted with a golden fiery colour which could link to the song title, 'Sex On Fire'. This may because he is valued more than the other band members so is lighted a different tone. The other band members are lighted but not as shiny as him, they also wear duller clothing compared to the lead singer which further adds to the contrast between them. When the band perform you can see the contrast between the band and the surroundings such as the dark walls that appear to be pitch black and the presence of the tools spread around them is considered as non-existent to the viewer.
Mise-en-scen is important to this video as it creates the feeling that video is trying to generate. The costumes of the characters are old and ruined and further give us the impression they are being held and their facial hair and make-up say they have been held there for a long period of time. This in a way shows the strength of the characters and what they have experienced. The strength of the characters as shown in the make-up and costumes portrays the song and the feeling of watching the video. The props in the video are a key indication of the theme involved, giving the clip a haunted feel to it which includes big gloves, curtains and metal instruments such as axes and poles which gives the audience the scary element. The musical instruments shown when the band were performing were influential to how professional they looked. Obviously Kings Of Leon are one of the biggest bands in the world so they need to have a high amount of quality instruments to sell records and to fit in to the rock genre.
The relationship between music and the visuals in the video is proven throughout the production, starting with the pace of both of the factors. The louder the music, the more regular the cuts and the stronger images appear, such as the lead singer fighting against the torturers of even exorcists. This relationship is clearer than the link between the lyrics and visuals. Because of the nature of the song the lyrics match the music anyway, therefore the lyrics in the chorus would match the exciting shots that are shown during this area of the song.
The intertextuality involved is based around horror films such as possibly Hostel which has similar props and colours involved. The foreign prison idea has been used in James Bond, Die Another Day and 24, becoming a popular feature of an action storyline. Both of these use the idea of showing the audience the bravery of the main character which the music video also creates with the lead singer. There are many other examples of intertextuality in the production, although the audience gains the thriller film attitude towards the video which generates concentration from the viewer. The strict use of colour gives the video a very high voyeurism account. The black and gold remain the main colours throughout the clip and becomes a pattern of the video. The camera angles complexity in some ways creates a voyeurism of its own.
The two opposing genres I have compared use different concepts of mise-en-scen, lighting, colours, camera angles and themes to create the atmosphere that links perfectly with the song they are advertising. The happier James Morrison video used mainly bright colours with luxury props to create a happy feeling for a viewer of the video which represents the artist and his genre of music. The darker Kings Of Leon video in a way uses opposite techniques which generates a dark and powerful image with the audience. This uses darker colours with costumes which have tears and rips in sleeves, with props and a exorcist theme. The comparison shows a wide range of camera angles which link with the music and lyrics, both including basic close-up shots of the performance and the story line. This keeps the viewer to continue watching until a climax point in the video and also shows the band playing which also helps to sell their records and to raise their profiles. Both of the artists have gone on to make similar videos to these as people now recognise the relationship between technical features of the making of the productions and the recorded track.
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