Overview: Textual Analysis

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I feel that I have gathered a lot of useful information in terms of music video production and the effectiveness of lyrics from the textual analysis I have carried out.

In both videos analysed, it came to my attention that the story derived from just looking at the lyrics was in-sync with the moving image that was the music video. I know from the questionnaire that the audience wanted to see a video that worked alongside the lyrics, and so watching how the producers communicated key themes through footage was useful. Every single line did not have to be paired with an appropriate image, it was instead more important that the message and beginning middle and end from the video, matched the overall message and beginning middle and end themes of the lyrics. I think this is important to note for the production of our music video. We do not need to detail every single lyric with appropriate footage, it is instead more important to look at the key themes communicated and establish a beginning middle and end to the storyline communicated by the song, and match this with the footage we get, so that the lyrics and footage both come to the same conclusion and suggest the same themes, emotions and ideas.

I think that I have also learnt a great deal about the importance of mise-en-scene such as props, setting, and lighting. Both videos I analysed were filmed indoors, however the lighting was very different to reflect the two environments. In the Two Door Cinema Club video, the lighting was very luminous and bright to begin with, but adjusted with the day/night which was a clever and under-stated way to suggest the progression of time. I also took note of the camera work in this particular video. The spinning motion also reflected the key idea of time, but it was simply done and easy to follow. Only one setting was used which I think was essential and a simple but effective way to show how this couple's daily routine changed and it was very effective in communicating the key theme of a deteriorating relationship. I also however, liked the musky colouring and effects in the Disclosure - Latch video. The lighting was again tailored to the storyline - it was about hiding something and so not only was the dark shadowy tones useful to suggest this, but it also went well with the genre of the song.  I think this therefore indicated to me that lighting is really important in reflecting a particular message, and also it is very important to match the lighting and camerawork to the message you want to convey so it is more obvious. Also I have learnt it is important not to over-complicate the storyline and introduce too many characters.

The storyline about one relationship worked well with just the male and female featuring in the video as the focus was on their relationship and there were no external factors. I think however that the casting of several couples to show the key themes in the Disclosure - Latch video was necessary as it was about wider issues, involving more than just one relationship, and by having these couples you could compare them to each other; which is what the producer would have wanted you to do in order to recognise that the love shown is the same regardless of the people in the relationship, regardless of race, or sexual preference etc. If our song does involve one couple's journey, I think we need to keep the focus on them and less focus on other people and we can do this by 1) casting the appropriate amount of characters and 2) using camerawork and editing to focus in on particular individuals as the music video needs to focus in on one storyline not several.

I think setting is very important as the audience need to be able to identify easily between different locations. We could chose to film indoors or outdoors but we need to make sure there's not too much variation in locations shown, as seen in both videos.

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