These are various different album covers that the Counting Crows have used. For our digipak, we have to create an album cover ourselves, so it is a good place to start by looking at the common features of the original albums.
A fairly easy feature to pick out is the consistent use of the colour orange. It is a colour that goes well in with the indie genre, and relates to the light heartedness of the majoriyt of the songs the band does. Obviously there are a few exceptions where the band has gone for a slightly darker approach, but that isn't relevant to us.
Generally, the album covers are fairly simplistic. This is something we would like to try and emulate ourselves. Indie is a fairly simplistic genre in terms of the sounds and styles, so it is appropiate to do that again.
This is video is a good source of inspiration for the performance element of our own video. We originally had it so that each performer (the singing, the drums and the guitar) did their bit in different places. However, we decided that we want to change it so that they are all in the same place, and this video is a good example of how a band works together whilst performing. It also features all the usual music video close ups and mid shots of the band and their instruments.
This video features off beat editing throughout, which perhaps eludes to the genre of music (alternative rock), by trying to be different to how you would expect it to be. The lengths of the shots themselves are faily short throughout, and the editing in places uses jump cuts, as they cut a second or so out at a time to make it slightly disorientating. It also gives the video a light hearted feel for the most part, matched the action on screen, which is quiet silly in places, for example where one of the people on the bridge steals the bicycle. The lyrics themselves don't always give a good feeling, as in places they are quite reflective as opposed to be cheerful. They also don't present a meaning that is shown in action of the video; instead, the visuals present their own meaning.
Like most music videos, this one has a vast majority of close ups and mid shots, with the occasional long shot thrown in (for example, the shots of the man dancing on the bridge with the umbrella). Again, matched with the fast editing, it gives a good feeling throughout. The video is a narrative based one, and features no performance shots at all in it. The narrative doesn't actually follow the lyrics, and instead follows its own path between a man and someone else who appears to be his conscience in the form of another man.
In relation to Andrew Goodwins theory, the video's narrative generally ignores the meaning of the song (disjuncture). Also, their is a degree of voyeurism, where the guy up the tree is looking into the womans house from outside. This part is played on heavily, as the next shot shows the guy doing an exaggerated expression of pleasure, and making a kissing motion also. This part also fits in which Laura Mulveys Male Gaze theory, because the only purpose of the woman in this video is to look at her in a sexual way.
We chose this music video because it goes vey well with our genre because it has the movie characters that are in Shrek in it.
The editing is on the beat. The music is quite upbeat and happy which matches the mise en scene. It has a clear narrative, which has images that match the lyrics. For example when the chorus starts with 'then I saw her face', three times someone turns their head. The scene, when the lead singer is singing down into the camera, is repeated quite a few times throughout the video.
Using Andrew Goodwin's theory.
There are quite a few shots of the band but there are more sshots of the action, which shows that there is quite a bit of relationship between the lyrics and visuals.
The singer keeps going after this woman to give something back to her. This illustates the choruses lyrics.
Each chorus has a new scene but the message it is trying to put across is the same.
This music video has a narrative with the lead singer telling the story through the lyrics.
The editing is on the beat. In the verses the shot lengths are quite slow and are quite long but when it is the chorus the shot lengths get quicker and become shorter because it matches the tempo of the music. There is hardly any use of tracking dollies. The meaning is presented more through visuals. The music is quite upbeat and happy which matches the mise en scene, such as the bright colours of the house. This video is performance based featuring lip syncing. It has a clear narrative which has images that match the lyrics. For example when the child puts an L to his forehead.
Using Andrew Goodwin's theory.
There are of lots of close ups of the band which shows hardly any relationship between the lyrics and visuals.
The singer plays an 'all star' role by saving the dog and saving the girl under bus which illustrates the choruses lyrics.
Each chorus has a new scene for 'you're an all star' and 'you're a rock star'. So although the scenes are different, the messages are the same, which amplifies the message. This music video has a narrative with the lead singer telling the story through the lyrics.
Throughout the video there are key scenes that illustrate points from the lyrics where the band members are involved. For example the L.
Also every chorus has a different little scene to illustrate 'you're an all star' and also a scene to illustrate the line 'you're a rock star'.
There are some intertextual references when there is the limo scenes. Rock stars often go around in stretched limos.
This video is mostly performance based, with a small narrative via intertextuality. If you are famaliar with the music videos for the charity "Band Aid" songs, you will notice there is a copy of that style, with various well known childrens T.V characters turning up to sing a part of the song, instead of celebritries. This reflects the videos target audience, which consists of mainly children of the 80's to the present day, as the characters all come from those eras. The action and the cuts are all syncronised to the beat of the song, and the shot types themselves are generally either close ups or mid shots, and a lot of the shots have either a small zoom in out on them. The duration of the shots are fairly drawn out, as each character sings their part of the song, so that we can see them and have time to realise who they actually are.
In relation to theory, this video has disjuncture, which is part of Andrew Goodwins theory, because there is no relation between the lyrics and the visuals. This is mostly because it is a medley of various songs, which makes it difficult to show a relation, so the video is mainly performance based. Another theory that fits in is John Stewarts theory that the music video has aesthitics of a T.V commercial, because it makes the viewers feel nostalgic through use of intertextuality, through use of all the childrens T.V characters.
