Textual Analysis - Past Student

To analyse this students final music video production; I will be applying Andrew Goodwin's theory.

Ben Norris (G324)

Lyrics

The music video was quite unconventional in the sense that there was no lip syncing whatsoever which meant the video did not evidence the students editing techniques. One line from the song "coming home to you" had significance in the video as we follow the character walking; eventually finishing with him arriving home.

Music/sound

The music's tempo was slow and the visuals in the video reflected that as the editing was in keeping with the tempo. Thought beats are a good way to show off your editing skill level; these were not used in Ben's video.

Genre

From the video, I came to the conclusion that the song was of the alternative genre as it appeared to be niche. You could also argue that it is singer-songwriter due to the videos simplicity.

Cinematography

There was a wide range of angles used but the shots used were mostly the same. The use of a handheld camera left an unstable and shaky finished look throughout which may have been done purposely to reflect the sad mood and tone of the song. This is reinforced with the dull low-key lighting. Ben attempted to use blurring but he did so too much and the camera became out of focus which made the video look unprofessional. He did however use wide and master shots effectively.

Editing

I found his editing to be quite simplistic and boring as he used simplistic, amateurish transition such as the cross dissolve which were not needed and consequently this made the video look unprofessional. Moreover he subverted from a huge music video convention by not lip syncing; this can be done for effect but I do not feel missing this convention for him proved beneficial nor effective.

Intertextuality

He definitely took intertextuality into consideration when filming this video. The first instance of this was the ringtone at the beginning which referenced an old retro arcade game. When he unlocked his phone and we could see him access his texts, we can see his background is a film poster for the film Rabbit proof fence. We also see him press play on the song from within the Spotify app which is a reference to postmodernism and streaming.

Narrative/performance

The video was a clear narrative as there was no performance. The narrative was easy and clear to follow, however is proved to be quite boring.

Star image/brand

From the video, this is unclear. There are no close-ups which means we don’t know who he is. Furthermore, there is no direct address as he doesn’t look at the camera very much.

Voyeurism

From an external perspective we can relate to the position he is in, making him relatable and therefore more likeable; we may even feel empathy towards him.

Representation

Representation in this video is that of a white, middle class, male, teenager.