Secondary Research

Secondary Research: Analysing a professional product:

Have a think a bout the questions posed on the website linked below before you start your secondary research.

http://www.storybookonline.net/breakinitdown/factoids/stereotypes.htm

You must watch a series of music videos and provide a short analysis of them using the relevant media language.

Ie: The colours are a strong signifier in the video as they attract the audience and help to keep the interest of the viewers. The primary target audience for the video is young teenagers and this is apparent form the animation used throughout.
The preferred reading of the video……………..







Lies Mcfly
The video starts off with low key lighting and an establishing shot of a sunset on a desert with a van in the distance. This is the location. It’s an enigma because there is a voice over that says “now we only have the memories ...” this immediately signifies that the video is going to have a narrative. ILow key lighting is used throughout the video to set the scene of power and evil. We now see a castle which anchors the rest of the video. We see the band and mutant people. Their appearance matches the one of the van and the surroundings, dark and mucky. Violins play in the background creating an eerie atmosphere, we see a low angled shot of woman but we don’t see her face. We immediately believe that she is bad because the camera angle gives her a sense of power us and the lighting technique supports that. Fire in the background creates a feeling of fear and the juxtaposition of the orange flames against the dark lighting connotes war and evil. The actors in the video are wearing army like suits and are mean to look like mutants. We now know that this is a fantasy, action video. The music starts just as a big explosion of fire shows. As the music speeds up the transitions are faster we and see a close up of a mutant person and a long shot of crowds of people walking into a sort of castle that is dark and foggy. Then there are shots that look as though the camera is in the crowd this makes us feel like we are there. . Red, blue and yellow lights are used and these colours stick to the low key lighting that we have seen so far.
We see close ups of band members and pov shots of the crowd. Special effects are used when the band appear to be flying in the air. They are used again when a fight scene is happening and it looks as though sparks are coming out of the band member’s hands.
A slow motion clip of a water bottle being thrown into the air is shown. This creates tension within the video because both parties want this bottle and when it lands we get to see who wins. The music stops until the bottle hits the floor where everything starts again. The video lasts for 6 minutes and is resembles a mini movie. It also has an equilibrium, resolution and disruption mirroring Todorov's theory.