- Video as technical development
- Video that reflects the image of the act
- Video director as auteur
- Video as parody or homage
- Abstract representation of music score
- Video using band in a creative way
- Painting a snapshot of a world or life in three minutes
- Linear narrative – the journey of something
- Non linear narrative – experimental storytelling.
- One shot video.
Taylor Swift - Love Story.
Taylor Swift is an American singer and songwriter born in Pennsylvania on December 13, 1989. She has been active with her label Big Machine Records since 2004. In this time she has won seven Grammy awards and seven Academy of Country Music Awards. When she was 14 in 2004 her whole family moved to Nashville, Tennessee. The reason for moving was because of her father's job however Taylor has said in the past that her parents were very willing for her to succeed as a country artist.
Taylor Swift released her second studio album Fearless on November 11th 2008. This album featured her lead single 'Love Story.' To this day six years later it is still her biggest selling single and most well known song. This album was also known as Taylor's break through album as it got to number 1 in the Billboard charts in the U.S and became the biggest selling country album of 2009.
Love Story was one of the later songs that Taylor Swift wrote on the album 'Fearless' Taylor wrote the entire song in about twenty minutes while sitting on her bedroom floor. Although the lyrics were changed round a little bit to what Taylor originally wrote. Although this song was likened to Romeo & Juliet it does have a slightly alternative ending to that with it having a happy ending as Taylor believed that it was what the characters deserved. The song was very similar to Taylor's experiences apart from the ending therefore she felt connected to the song.
The video was directed by Trey Fanjay who has worked with Taylor on a lot of her previous videos. I believe that this video fits into two of the above categories; video as a homage & linear narrative - the journey of something.
Taylor Swift is an American singer and songwriter born in Pennsylvania on December 13, 1989. She has been active with her label Big Machine Records since 2004. In this time she has won seven Grammy awards and seven Academy of Country Music Awards. When she was 14 in 2004 her whole family moved to Nashville, Tennessee. The reason for moving was because of her father's job however Taylor has said in the past that her parents were very willing for her to succeed as a country artist.
Taylor Swift released her second studio album Fearless on November 11th 2008. This album featured her lead single 'Love Story.' To this day six years later it is still her biggest selling single and most well known song. This album was also known as Taylor's break through album as it got to number 1 in the Billboard charts in the U.S and became the biggest selling country album of 2009.
Love Story was one of the later songs that Taylor Swift wrote on the album 'Fearless' Taylor wrote the entire song in about twenty minutes while sitting on her bedroom floor. Although the lyrics were changed round a little bit to what Taylor originally wrote. Although this song was likened to Romeo & Juliet it does have a slightly alternative ending to that with it having a happy ending as Taylor believed that it was what the characters deserved. The song was very similar to Taylor's experiences apart from the ending therefore she felt connected to the song.
Taylor Swift - Love Story.
The video was directed by Trey Fanjay who has worked with Taylor on a lot of her previous videos. I believe that this video fits into two of the above categories; video as a homage & linear narrative - the journey of something.
The story of this video is about a love interests of Taylor Swift' who didn't get on with her friends and family. Taylor Swift decided to relate the scenario to William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. This was also an inspiration for the setting of the music video by giving it a sense of a period piece with influences from the medieval, renaissance and regency era. The directors struggled to find a correct setting for this video with them struggling to find a castle in the United States however they eventually found one in Tennessee named Castle Gywnn built in 1973.
The video starts with Taylor Swift dressed in black jumper and jeans walking from the university campus where she spotted Justin Gaston (who played Prince Charming) sitting under a tree reading a textbook. As they make eye contact they get flashbacks to the earlier era assuming to be the 18th century due to the gown she is wearing and the seemingly period castle. Once Gaston enters the party and sees her wearing the gown and talking to a couple of other women he approaches her they engage in a ballroom dance along with the others on the dance floor. While dancing he whispers into her ears and later on she is seen walking down the woods with a lantern where she sees Gaston. They then take a walk, holding hands and feeding a horse. After that the two go on their seperate paths where Taylor is seen to be seen standing on the balcony where she sees Gaston and he runs towards her and she runs down the staircase where they then meet and hold eachother. Finally it ends with them transiting into modern day while also cutting back to scenes on the balcony.
I think this video fits really well into both of the categories however I do believe that it is mainly linear narrative the reason for it is because it is about the journey. This video has a beginning, middle and end which is incredibly important when it comes to a linear narrative. The video has a very simple structure that you are can easily follow this is important is this narrative because it is telling the story. Along with linear narrative I believe that it is also a homage to the 18th century. All the finer details in this such as the clothing, setting and acting all sets back to the 18th century. Along with this the lighting changes a little when it is the flashbacks to the 18th century as it goes a tad bit sepia.
Due to there being a lot of flashbacks there is a lot of cut away's. Along with this there is also a variety of close ups and long shots. The reason for this is because it is the best way to get the emotion of both of the characters across. Along with this the colour changes from the flashbacks to real time. This is so that you can clearly see the difference and when the era is. The director would have had to make this clear because a lot of Taylor Swift' fans and only young and probably don't know a lot about the 18th century therefore maybe wouldn't understand it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Story_(Taylor_Swift_song)Mad Moon Riot - Gorilla
Mad Moon Riot are an LA based rock n roll band. They are made up of Matt Hitchens and Ru Hazell who are originally from the UK but decided to move to Los Angeles when they decided that they wanted to start a rock band. Alongside them are Mia Swier and Pou Piam. Mia is also originally not from Los Angeles having moved from her native New York the previous year. Mad Moon Riot aren't currently signed to anyone as they are an independent artist working with songwriters and directors without a label. This is their second music video with their first one 'Running On Empty' having got over 20,000 views.
The second of three videos is a critique of Mad Moon Riot - Gorilla. Gorilla is one of their covers as it was first sung by Bruno Mars. The director for this video was Joshua Mork. I think that this video is a mixture between two different categories; Video as homage and linear narrative.
The video is filmed in Los Angeles with two different locations. The first one of the locations is in a house and the next one is in a studio. This is important to show the two different categories that the video lays between.
Gorilla - Mad Moon Riot
This video is a bit of a homage to Cadbury's. The video starts with shots of different parts of the room and then onto the gorilla. The next shot you can see a dairy milk bar with a picture of the person who sings the song in the advert. The gorilla which is the main part of the video due to the song being called 'Gorilla.' The video shows Mad Moon Riot performing throughout with small clips going back to the gorilla. The video is as though it is split into two parts with Mad Moon Riot performing being one side of it and the gorilla the other side. The next set of clips shows the gorilla. The gorilla is seen going onto a laptop and going onto a website that sells drums. This is another homage to the Cadbury's advert because the gorilla in the advert also plays drums. The gorilla purchases the drums and starts playing in the house. This is seen through clips of Mad Moon Riot performing. The gorilla is seen going through Mad Moon Riot's music sheet book. Afterwards the gorilla is seen turning up to open shows that Mad Moon Riot are holding, however the security turn him away as there is a sign saying 'No Gorilla's'. The gorilla looks deflated and sits down in a corner until he sees the poster saying that 'Gorilla's welcome' to one of Mad Moon Riot's shows in the Jungle Room, the gorilla turns up to the show making his way through the crowd to the front. The drummer in Mad Moon Riot then calls the gorilla up on stage and he performs the rest of the song with them. The video finishes with the gorilla following Mia the lead singer backstage.
It follows the conventions of the categories. I think that it is more of a homage because of the amount of references to Cadbury's along with that I also believe that the is a small linear narrative because the gorilla wants to play the drums for Mad Moon Riot and in the end this is what he achieves.
This music video also has a lot of cut aways because it switches between Mad Moon Riot and the gorilla, it feels as though it is two completely different videos until it comes together in one at the end. This is because the gorilla comes together together with the band, along with the cutaways there is also a majority of long shots to show the band performing together.
Locksley - Darling It's True
The third of my critiques is Locksley - Darling It's True. Locksley are an indie, four piece rock/pop band from Madison Wisconsin. Darling It's True was from their album 'Be In Love' which was released on September 22nd 2009. Non-linear story-lines offer unique opportunities to differ the order in which the events occur chronologically. Along with the way that they are presented in the narrative.
This video is about the band walking to practice in New York. This video was shot while in the light rain and the camera was put into a bag to protect from the rain. The director for this video was Chris Stocksmith and he is known for his storytelling and documentary style shooting.
Darling Its True - Locksley
I dm'ed Jordan Laz who is on the bass and vocals. I asked him if he could tell me the idea behind the music video and why they decided to do it essentially back to front. He said that while it had been a while ago since they done the video that they remember doing it because it was the one that stuck in his mind the most. I think that this shows how different this video was to the band as well as the audience. This video stands out in the bands mind because it was something that they hadn't seen before and therefore wanted to try it because it was a simple idea that when done correctly would look really great. He said 'the concept of the video was one continuous shot. So it ends at the start and starts at the end. 'It followed our every day walk from the train stop to the studio we worked at we filmed one long shot that took about 15 minutes, and choreographed to be singing/playing at certain points.' The idea was that the band was something simple to work with, the idea that walking to practice is something that they would do everyday. The idea was that because it was so simple it could be edited in a way that it looks incredibly different to any other walk.
The video starts off backwards with them already playing in band practice there is then a time lapse for three seconds which takes you back to the start. The next part of the music video is the main singer in the band walking down the road and another member of the band joins him and they walk into their band practice. After that there is another time lapse which takes them back into a shop where they all are. Once again there is another time lapse which shows the main singer and another member of the band walking through another street in New York and the two members walk into the same shop again with the other members already being in there. There is another time lapse of the main singer walking down the road again and into a shop where one of the members is getting fitted for a suit. Again another time lapse of them back in the shop again where there is another time lapse and they back at band practise again. Finally there is a time lapse of the entire video in 20 seconds and it ends with two of the members walking backwards into the subway.
I know that this music video has a non linear narrative because it doesn't actually make sense, there is no sense to this video because it isn't in order. The purpose of a non linear narrative is that it is the idea of an experimental storytelling. The difference between non linear narrative and a lot of other music videos is that it is about how abstract it can be in which compared to a lot of other music videos where they are simply just the literal storytelling. Alongside being a non linear narrative it is also sort of a one shot because it was all filmed in one very long shot.
While the filming for this music video would be incredibly simple I think that the reason why this music video looks so good is because of the editing. There is a lot of speeding up and putting the footage backwards.
http://www.boweryboogie.com/2009/09/locksley-on-the-lower-east-side/




