Genre - British Electric Pop
What I Liked About This Music Video
The name of the song 'Nightcall' has direct correlation to creatures of the night, such as owls, bats, foxes and crickets. The connotations of 'Nightcall' can be concepts associated with darkness and mystery. This being because nocturnal animals are usually heard but not seen. Therefore, this could be an underlining message due to the lyrics 'I'm giving you a nightcall to tell you how I feel' - suggesting that they haven't been able to express their feelings until the night when they feel like they can express themselves without having to actually see them in person (Just as an owl 'hoots'.) Also, in this video, the continuous use of panning acts as a scene-changer. From the artists to the storyline and instead of a cut-shot, they use panning to create an eerie atmosphere. Almost like it's another person looking and watching - therefore including the audience as they are the ones watching. The eerie atmosphere is also integrated via the mise-en-scene due to the misty fog. There a many connotations for fog, fog occurs very frequently in horror films, especially at night to set the scene. I think fog is a clever use of mise-en-scene for this music video as fog generally scares people because it's the unknown and normally you can't see through fog very well. Therefore linking back to wanting to be heard but not seen.
What I Didn't Like About This Music Video
One of the things I did not particularly like about this music video was the fact that the band were stationary for the whole video. However, this stationary stance may have been used to give a mysterious atmosphere - as in they're not the sole subjects of the video but the things around them such as the caravan set-alight and the herd of horses. On the other hand, they could have been still as the song is very melancholic and steady - hence the use of slow-motion within other aspects of the video. One final point is that I felt the storyline wasn't very clear and didn't understand fully what all the different scenes were supposed to represent.
How I Would Be Inspired From This Music Video
For my own music video, I am planning to find a song such as a slow ballad or a song with a steady beat therefore, by watching videos like this one, I can understand the type of standard and expectation for a slow, almost psychedelic song. I also liked the simplicity of the video as there wasn't much mise-en-scene, therefore making it less crowded and solely focusing the audience on on main purpose within the scene.
2) A Day To Remember - Right Back At It Again
Genre - Post-Hardcore American Rock
What I Liked About This Music Video
To begin with, this isn't your usual conventional music video. This, however, is why I like it. Due to the animation mixed with real-life, it gives the video a fun, bright and happy atmosphere which is good as the band are singing about their success. There are many comical elements such as a band member surfing on noodles which is funny because they sing about when they were at school/college - it relates to a teenage audience because it's a stereotype that teens eat a lot of pot noodles. Therefore, they engage their audience with the funny element and also relate to them, hence making them like the music and the characters of the band. Compared to 'Nightcall', this music video has a lot of mise-en-scene which I thought worked well with the fast-pace of the song. I also liked the fact that it was solely story-based on their career, therefore every lyric matched every scene of the music video. Not many music videos do this but I thought it worked well with this context of song.
What I Didn't Like About This Music Video
One of the things I did not particularly like about this music video was the opening scene with the man introducing the video like an old-time storybook. I felt like this was slightly 'corny' and 'cheesy' and strayed away from the band. Therefore, due to this, for my music video, the opening scene would be the first beat of the song to get the audience fully engaged.
How I Would Be Inspired From This Music Video
If I were to take anything from this music video, it would be the comical factor. However, I do not plan to do a song as up-beat as thing one. But I do think the pace of the editing really suites the song's upbeat melody. Also, I like the idea of a music video being solely a story I feel like it would be clever to storyboard a whole situation accompanied (not necessarily word for word) with a soundtrack.
3. Taylor Swift - Shake It Off
Genre - Pop
What I Liked About This Music Video
One of the main things I liked about this video was the continuous use of lip-sync. Taylor acts out her song therefore instantly making the song about her. The use of mise-en-scene within this video was crucial as things such as costume change and character change were so frequent. I felt like this was good as she was singing about not caring who/where she was, but just having a good time without the burden of critics. She portrayed this well via different choreographed dance groups which is a major convention for pop music videos. I also really like the fast-paced editing and cut-shots to different scenes which always keeps you engaged with hat's she's doing on screen.
What I Didn't Like About This Music Video
Sometimes the video can be slightly inappropriate due to the female dancers who 'twerk'. Therefore, in this section, she isn't appealing to her target audience that are slighter younger ages of 10 years and such.
How I Would Be Inspired From This Music Video
This is very inspirational for my music video due to its constant costume changes. I think that the more costume changes in music video, the more interesting it becomes. By having frequent costume changes, it makes it easier to differentiate a scene from another. Like Taylor's 'Shake It Off' video, there is a plain grey background in each scene, therefore, the mise-en-scene solely relies on the costume changes of the actors and artist to change from 'Ballerinas' to 'Contemporary'.
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