http://youtu.be/NWUF2oiWe2I
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My chosen music videos to analyse are ‘Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)’ by My Chemical Romance which is from the album ‘Danger days: the true life of the fabulous killjoys’ and the directed is Vocalist and writer of the band Gerard Way and ‘That Golden Rule’ by Biffy Clyro which is from the album ‘Only revolutions’ and the director is unknown. Both videos fit into the genre of alternative rock/post hardcore. ‘Na Na Na’ has a blend of styles which are performance and narrative. This implies that the band are very creative and enjoy making them, as they have created the idea and have made a visual masterpiece. Whereas ‘That Golden Rule’ is purely a performance music video. This implies the band love performing live, to the point that this video is only performing.
The narrative of ‘Na Na Na’ (video A) is about a gang called the Killjoys (Gerard Way as Party Poison, Mikey Way as Kobra Kid, Ray Toro as Jet Star, Frank Iero as Fun Ghoul and a young girl portrayed by Grace Jeanette, who are being pursued in the badlands around Battery City. In between battles with Better Living, the gang are indulging in pornographic magazines, fast driving, and hacking vending machines. At the end of the video, after a Mexican standoff, the Killjoys lie defeated on the ground, and the girl has been captured by ‘Korse’ and the ‘Draculoids’. Korse tells the Killjoys to "keep running." The music video for the later single "Sing" is a companion piece and continues the story of the Killjoys. ‘That golden rule’ (video B) contrasts with video A because it doesn’t have a narrative because it is a different type of music video. We simply see the band performing in a variety of rooms/set.
The purpose of music videos vary a lot and the videos that I’m analysing are no different. The ‘Na Na Na’ video (video A) is to make the viewer aware of the story the band intend to tell and the concept of the whole album by the art form and also to sell the song which is their brand new single from the band, therefore the video needs to be visual amazing to support the bands hope for getting a strong reaction. On the other hand ‘That Golden Rule’ (video B) is to advertise the album- Only Revolutions, through mise-en-scene. Both videos have the similarity of being made to offer pleasure for fans and to maybe attract people to listen to the band if they haven’t heard of them. Video A is a complete contrast to previous videos as the band tend to produce videos that fit in the theme with the album which are always different, but songs from the ‘Danger Days’ album are visually the same/have references to the theme of album. Video B contrasts other videos of the album as they are all different from each other. Both bands have a different image that they are conveying. My Chemical Romance come across fun that is shown by the narrative that consist of ‘villains vs. hero’s’ and the use of bright costumes and the pace of the lyrics are fast and energetic. Whereas Biffy Clyro present the image of being strong and dark which fits in the conventions of the stereotypical ‘rockers’ in the genre type. Keeping in the mind the idea of an image the band are expressing, both bands have iconic motifs and iconography that support the image they want to show. Firstly, video B has iconography; which is outfit the band are wearing which is simply skinny jeans. This is significant to how they are perceived, moreover by them being dressed like this in a variety of music videos and in gigs they create an iconic look and expressing the aspect of freedom. On a smaller scale, the band have tattoo’s which are classed as motifs. By them having this it carries on the sense of them being ‘rockers’. To be very specific, Simon Neil (lead singer) has a tattoo of a puzzle piece which has references to the bands fourth album ‘puzzle’, along with other tattoo’s with reference to his love of music. Video A also has motifs; the most noticeable being the spider image that is seen on various moments of the video such as the vinyl and a car, significantly the motif appears on the cover of the album artwork. Similarly, video B also has visual links with the album as the colour of the background wall is red and blue which are the same colours as the flags on the album artwork.
In Video B, the visuals comply/fit in with the lyrics of the song. The phrase ‘that golden rule’ means ‘one should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself’ which is Greek philosophy. Therefore, I believe that by having a set of temple pillars tie in and shows the bands attitude to support this theory. On the other hand, video A does not really have any obvious links between visuals and lyrics. The only link I found was the lyric ‘thought you was batman’ relates to the costume and concept of comic superheros. It seems the director wants to concentrate more on the narrative which follows into other videos rather than matching and creating links between these aspects.
On the editing aspect, Video B’s pace of the video fits into various parts of the song. Firstly it begins with a heavy drum section which is full of quick straight cuts so we get the sense of pace and rock. The amount of cuts then decrease when the singing section begins. When the chorus is sung (which is sung slower) the video almost becomes slightly done in slow motion which completely juxtaposes the beginning. This is to create different paces; making the video more captivating. This structure continues through the rest of the song making the video not too random and has continuity throughout. In terms of camera frame, there are a variety of angles and types of shots used. For example extreme close ups of Simon Neil singing and wide shots of the whole band in action. All through the video the foreground elements (instruments) are presented. This is key because the video is a performance they need to show the instruments otherwise it would simply be bizarre. Video A really contrasts Video B a lot in terms of editing. Firstly to begin with, the build up of the song (the talking part) consist of normal straight cuts at normal pace. In this part we see the killjoys prepare their self to face the badlands and their enemies. Just before the ‘Na Na ‘Na’ lyrics are sung the frame is quickly cut into four frames of cars driving. This technique of split screen appears in the video several times and is significant to the narrative and concept of the video. Furthermore, this relates to the idea of comic superheroes as this format has connotations with how comic strips are presented (divided/cut page). This idea could be intertextuality, as it could have been inspired by Gerard Way’s comic books that he has made, significantly the one called ‘The fabulous killjoys’. Moreover, the video has the same pace throughout as this allows the viewer to understand the narrative of the video that is being told. But on the drum section before the first verse the pace builds and there are fast past straight cuts which fit to the beat.
Both bands in general fit under the genre of rock, but these videos present different takes on rock. Through mise-en-scene, the band Biffy Clyro (video B) shows the darker side to rock by the dim lighting. On the other hand, My Chemical Romance (video A) shows a new style to present rock as they show the fun side to rock. This has been done by the bright costumes and natural lighting. It seems Biffy Clyro want to spread the message of power and strength whereas My Chemical Romance spread the message of joy and adventure.
In conclusion, I believe that both videos have been effective in fulfilling their purpose. Video A is a great beginning to the narrative that they progress and tell in other videos. It introduces the ‘killjoys’ (gang), it is action packed from the start, the use of framing is interesting and overall it made me intrigued to learn the narrative that is being shown, as well as being entertained. Video B not only sells the song but it sells their album to people who may be unfamiliar of the band. The preciseness of the video cutting to the beat and the use of slow motion in some parts is brilliant and overall it has been edited very well. Both videos could be seen as works of art and not only be credited for their purpose that they fulfil.