Music Video Analysis

Analyzing art, namely a visual broadcast is usually taken to mean how one might go about 'reading' a series of images presented in a consecutive order. For example to 'read' a music video, someone who studies film, or other subjects in that area, first must understand the importance that visual images hold. A large part in how humans learn can be taken from visual aid. The constant reinforcement of viewing images can show how people may react to certain images, or context. As people view media - TV, music videos, movies etc, they can take away meaning that is there for them to portray in their own way, how they see it. Each individual can assess their own meaning from a single bit of material presented to them. As they derive the meaning of the message, they can better understand how influential images can be and how the images can make people think about the context of the material in a atypical way of thought process. Furthermore images can present to people the idea of almost any topic in any manner of speaking. The subject chosen for the context can develop from anything the artist designates, and is distributed for the audience to capture and rebound either the meaning meant by the artist, or more commonly can be dismantled for a new meaning understood by the public. To do so (to correctly ascertain a full meaning from a piece of film) there are terms meant to assist in capturing the basic moments displayed in the film. These terms are noted as: the auteur (the director), the diegesis (objects, events that are not explicitly mentioned in the film - hidden subtext), editing (the way that clips from the film are put together), the usage of flashback / flash-forward (a jump backwards for forwards in diegetic time, commonly associated with memories), the focus (the way that light rays, and camera angles are shown), genre (the type of video - usually either noted as narrative; in which the video tells a story, or stylistic; in which the video refers more to artistic style than a plot), the mise - en - scene (things that are  'put in the scene' like: setting, decor, costumes, and lighting), the story / plot (used with narrative genres where the audience can infer  a plot from the video), the scene / sequence (usually refers to a narrative film with the same character, time and place - a piece off ongoing film linked together), and the shot (A single stream of images, uninterrupted by editing). However some terms are not present in all forms of film, but rather are hinted at in the description of material, or are not there at all. For example some music videos where most terms can be established are: (M83 - midnight city, Sail - awolnation, Ed Sheeran - drunk, Jonas brothers - year 3000, The Lumineers - stubborn love,  Da funk - Daft Punk, The last to say - Atmosphere). In the music video "midnight city" the 'plot' is where some children escape from a facility and go out into the world to test their powers. the 'shot' can be seen towards the end when the light is behind the children - which could also serve as a 'mise - en - scene' for hope. In Sail by awolnation the 'editing' could be the use of lighting (when the main character is being chased), or the 'scene' could be the transition between rooms -while the main character is playing piano, then is outside. In The Lumineers video stubborn love, the 'flashback' could be when the girl remembers the last time she saw her father. The 'focus' in the video could be represented as the feather that keeps showing up - which might serve as a remnant of her memories. In the video Da funk by Daft Punk the video features a man with a dogs head, and follows him as he travels around late at night. The 'diegesis' could be that no matter who you are, or rather what you look like people may treat you differently or rudely - whether it be based on appearance or some other factor. For the Jonas brothers year 3000 the 'genre' would be alternative, or narrative as is follows the band members into the future in the video. In The last to say by Atmosphere the 'auteur' or director would be Issac Ravishankara. Or in some other cases the auteur may be the band - as the artist who put in some personal touch to the video. All of these terms are used to further understand the making of film and design, and are there to help put into words the power and description that images hold.