Singer - Anthony Kiedis
Genre - Funk Rock
Label - Warner Bros.
Writers - Flea, Fruciante, Keidis and Smith
Producer - Rick Reubin
Relationship between visuals and lyrics
The relationship between visuals and lyrics in "Dani California" are indirect. The characters in the music video are members of the band. We can denote that each performance that we see is a different era represtented by the costume and makeup. The song is about a girl called Dani California in which the singer (Anthony Kiedis) wrote about a young southern girl who died young and ended up living in California. Kiedis stated that the girl in which the song is about is a composite of all the girls Kiedis dated over the years. Dani featured in a few other of the Red hot Chili Pepper's songs throughout the years. Dani California is about how Dani travelled from Mississippi to California and ended up getting killed by a man "gunnin" from North Dakota. The visuals don't have a direct connection with the lyrics. We can denote that the RHCP's are changing costumes throughout he video. The RHCP's are dressed representing important figures and movements in the history of rock music. The band mainly focussed on the different eras of rock music. The audience were able to denote this through the mis-en-scene. Therefore the visuals and the lyrics were focussing on different subjects.
Genre Characteristics
The genre of the RHCP is rock/indie. Typical rock genre conventions are that the band perform their song instead of a narrative performance. the shooting material appropriate is that they chose to suit the typical rock conventions. The audience are able to connote that the RHCP are a rock band through the use of the performance and also due to the fact they are performing representing rock through history.
Intertextuality
The RCHP use intertextuality all the way through the music video. Intertextuality is shown through the use of the mis-en-scene. The RHCP dress as different acts and themes of rock music in history. The RHCP represent era's such as; rockabilly, British invasion, psychedelic, funk, glam, punk, Goth, grunge and hair metal. They also represent rock artists such as; Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix, Cream, Parliament-funkadelic, David Bowie, Sex pistols, Slade, the Misfits', Glenn Danzig, Poison, Nirvana and the Red Hot Chili Peppers themselves. these are all people who played a part in making rock music what is it today and what it was in 2006 when "Dani California" was recorded.
Performance
All throughout the music video it is a performance by the RHCP. There is lip syncing throughout. However it is made to look like the RHCP's are performing live in different era's. In the initial scene there is static movement of the camera and the shots are in black and white. They then use a brighter hue to give the atmosphere of the 80'.s All the different era's are shot on the same stage in the same place. However the props and costume change with every era or representation of a rock act. With every change of era or act the shot is directly in front of the RHCP and is a medium shot; giving the audience chance to get the full image. the camera is directly across to make the audience feel like they are the audience live. The instruments are plugged in and they are electric towards the end. In the first scene there are instruments applicable to that time. We see Flea playing the cello instead of the bass. The band are mainly rocking around the change in an un practiced fashion.
Mode of address
the singer (Kiedis) never loos directly at the camera. He is performing in different era's as if there is an audience; therefore he doesn't look directly at the camera be' (ut mainly focuses on performing "live". there isn't a direct connection with the band and the audience.
Star Treatment
All the shots are of the band. There is no other shots of the audience of other people. However there is star treatment in the way that the RHCP's are playing era's and rock artists through the years. they are idolising people like Elvis and Jimmy Hendrix. In the end of the song 'Dani California' there is even a guitar solo that is a different verion of Jimmy Hendrix's guitar solo in the song 'Purple Haze' (wikipeadia). By the end of the video we see the RHCP's as themselves. They finish as themselves.
Audience
The audience in their video is shown because they are performing the song as if there is an audience watching them .The stage is in there same location all the way through but the props are changing therefore making it look like there is a different audience each time. By the RHCP's dressing up as famous rock artists in history they are signifying that their audience will know who these artists are and possibly be fans of them as well as the RHCP's themselves.
Representations
The representations of the rock genre are presented as being inspiration for rock music today. The RHCP's are dressing up as certain rock era's and artists. Everyone who that are dressing up as are being represented as being powerful and leaders of the rock music genre. The music video end with the RHCP's themselves and the music artists that they have been dressing up as could represent what inspired them to become what type of artist they are to this day. The British band "The Sex Pistols" were represented through the costume and makeup (much like David bowie was). They were also represented through the close ups and the fast paced movement of the camera shots. the 1980's (glam rock) was also represented by the band singing on stage as if they were playing live rather than in an music video. They all wore sleeveless tops with black hair. This helped the audience connote that they were playing to the era of glam rock and this applied to the typical rock conventions. The 70's era was represented by the band members wearing floral shirts and the hue of the shots was increased, this emphasised the colours and made them appear brighter to the audience. These effects were common in the 70's. Anthony appears to be playing prince at this point. The audience is able to denote this due to the costume and makeup. He is wearing a black wig and is wearing clothes that prince is likely to be associated at the time. The second scene is were the RHCP's represent the Beatles in the 1960's. They were a very popular band in the 60's.
Pace
The music doesn't change pace throughout, however the speed of the camera shots and the variation changes with every era or artist. In the first era we see 1950's rock music. The video is in black and white and the camera movement is static and has few different shots. this was common in the 50's to have little variation in the speed because it cost a lot of money to create a video. whereas in the "Sex Pistols" section the camera pace increases and the shots are shorter. This is authentic British music video conventions in the 70's. This helps the audience denote the era in each section. The audience is able to denote each era through costume and through the camera work. for example in the glam rock era. We are able to denote it being glam rock due to the fact that the RHCP's are performing the song as if they are live, which is a typical convention of glam rock. The camera angles help us as the audience connote that they are singing as if they are live due to the low angle shots of them playing the instruments and the crane shots. the shots are fast and mainly focus on the instruments and the artists faces and hand movements.
Shot variety
The shot variety changes throughout the music video. There are 22 different era and artists that the RHCP's represent. The shots vary throughout. For example in the first scene there it is 50's rock and the shots are long and they are static. The transition with a harsh cut. There is a black and white filter to make it look as if it was set in the 50's. Minimal transition edits are applied to this section; this enables the audience to be able to denote the 50's theme. The second scene is supposed to represent the Beatles. They presented this by the video also being in black and white however the intensity has been lowered and there isn't as much contrast. We then denote the prince scene. the camera movements are coming in and out of focus. There is a lot of shots of Anthony's shoulder in focus and then the background drummer or guitarist is out of focus. With in the same shot the focus changes. The shots are transitioned by a swipe effect or an fade out. We then see the glam rock; in which Anthony is dressed up in a white suit. The shots are static zooming out of him initially. There is also low shots of the guitarist. This allows the audience to denote the glam rock theme and how the RHCP's are performing live. There are shots of therefore and multi-coloured lighting much like in the 70's. There are also shots that multiply the musicians. This reminds the audience of there band queen. We then see the representation of Bowie. Anthony is dressed in a shiny blue suit and his dancing is denoting Bowie and his extravagance. There is then the Goth stage in which the shot variety is face paced and there is different angles of the artist every 0:02 seconds. This is fast paced and the shots are generally close shots. There are side and direct shots of their faces and instruments.
Effects
There are different effects in each era. Each effect applies to the era making it look authentic to the audience.
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