Analysis of Music Video

Analysis of A music video

Papillon by The Editors

The first video that I have chosen to analyse is Papillon by The Editors, which has only recently been released in the UK. Many thoughts and feelings can be depicted from the video and also the music, with the most prominent being religion. The song can be seen as arguing with religion, saying that we shouldn’t rely on a higher being, that we should take our own destiny into out own hands. The video to the song very much backs this idea and I am going to discuss how the director has shown this through editing, cinematography, and mise en scene.

One of the prominent ideas within the mise en scene is the constant disobeying of orders. For example we see the man in the video consistently running the opposite way to what the road signs say, and not even acknowledging them. This could be seen as the man is challenging religion, and God. That he is doing things his own way and not waiting for directions. This is shown in figure one below. Another way in which the director shows this is at the very beginning of the video, in which we see the man running through a tunnel. One thing that caught my eye is that the man is running away from what seems like a very bright, white light. This can be interpreted as the defying god as many people associate bright lights with God. This reoccurs throughout the video making it seem like a focal point. As we go on further we see the men running through road signs, which give the impression that they shouldn’t be there and that it could mean danger. However we still see the men racing through them, without any care, which once again makes us feel like they are pushing away from a higher being.

Throughout the whole of the clip we get a sense of rebellion, and a desire to push things in a different direction. The cinematography in the video also plays a role, with the director using different distances, camera angles movements to provoke a reaction. As the video begins we immediately feel like the man is travelling in a different direction to us at pace. This hits home that this man is different, that he does not follow the crowd and that he is going places. This once has an underlying issue that we should go our own way. As well as this throughout the video we see a high camera angle, almost above the buildings. This gives the feeling of an almost God like view, as if he were looking down on the men running. This portrays the ideology of the music to the audience further, showing us to go a different way. The director also uses close ups to show the mans determination to push forward, and what could possibly be seen as anger. Once again this is shown in figure 3. The camera shots are mostly tracking shots which are shaky and unsteady. This increases the verisimilitude as we feel like we are in the video with him, it gives a sense of rawness.

The editing in the film is very sharp and snappy. We see a motif during the video, were the shot cuts backwards, then cuts back again. This itself becomes almost a stylistic of the video, something that we recognise when we see the video. We also see the cut from ground level to up high, which reoccurs again and again. This could be us switching between the persons view, and Gods view. It makes us feel as if we are part of the person but then see what God is looking at. The video itself is continuity editing as we follow the man as he runs through the streets.

Editors - Papillon

History of the music video

In 1926 sound films and talkies were introduced, with many musical short films being produced. Vitaphone shorts (1926-30) produced by warner bros produced videos featuring bands, vocalists and dancers. A series named spooney melodies were the first real musical video series. The shorts were typically about six minutes in duration and featured art deco animations and backgrounds combined with the singer performing the song. This series can arguably be considered to be the earliest music video. . . . .

Music videos are a very important part of the artists promotion of there music, but go back thirty years and the videos played very little part in the artists success. The phenomenon of MTV (Music Television) gave the music video power and importance in the music industry. The channel began airing in 1981 in the USA and marked the beginning of the music videos ruling over the music industry. The first ever video showed on MTV was Video killed the radio star by the Buggles, which was shown on August 1, 1981 at 12.01 am and is widely parodied in popular media. The music channel continued to air music videos 24-hours-a-day creating a much higher demand for artists to produce a music video. It is considered that even Madonna’s career has been greatly influenced by her videos that presented a sexy, appealing look of the artist. Some experts say that Madonna has been inspired by the image that the actress Greta Garbo has used in her silent movies. MTV has been highly controversial among the fans, wth some believing that it was the beginning of an amazing, fresh, new era in music. Others believed that the channel marked the end of true musical talent, with artists becoming more appreciated for their looks rather than their true vocal abilities. One thing is for certain however, that the channel itself has changed the way we view music and has effected the music industry massively.

Previous to this massive phenomon an Australian TV show, premiering in 1974, played an important role in the development of the music video industry. The show was named countdown and showed the videos to promote bands who were going on the show. As the popularity of the vdeo clips grew, the music industry began to realise the marketing potential of these music clips. The most notable video from the show was the AC/DC hit "It's a long way to the top". During the 1980s the show was aired in 22 countries.

Below I have added the very first music video aired on MTV, Video killed the radio star by the Buggles. The video was revelutionary and very much reflected society at that time. It was bold and innovative with lots of new ideas being developed.

The Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star