Mr Brightside analysis

Mr Brightside - The killers 

Singer - Brandon Flowers
Genre - Alternative Rock 
Label - Lizard King
Writers - Brandon Flowers, David Keuning
Producers - The killers 

Relationship between visuals and lyrics 
The relationship between visuals and lyircs in the music video are weak but they do have a direct connection. There is a lot of shots of the band performing and playing in time with the lyrics. There is also a narrative of a love triangle. There are performance and narrative shots. There are common conventions of a indie/rock genre. The common convention of the killers performing and then the indie convention is the narrative and the extravagant colours and clothing. The video and the lyrics are both about to men a female in a love triangle. These characters are played by actors and then the lead singing himself Brandon Flower. The visuals show us that the female kissed another male and that Flower is getting jealous. The lyrics "jealousy turning snakes into the sea" reflect this. The narrative doesn't directly have a relationship with the lyrics; however it the narrative reflects the lyrics meanings and ideas. 

Genre Characteristics
The genre of the song "Mr. Brightside" is indie/rock. The typical conventions of a indie are usually unique and abstract. The song writer and director created an artistic and abstract video out of something small and simple. Typical genre characteristics of an rock would be for the music video to show some performance in the video instead of being a simple narrative. Pop music usually sticks to the narrative; whereas rock either mixes or just performance. the majority of the camera shots are close ups of the bands faces or instruments. These are also typical genre conventions of rock music. The face of the band is flower himself therefore most of the camera shots (whilst they were performing) are focused on his face.

Intertextuality
The music video has taking inspiration from the film "Moulin Rouge". It is similar to "Moulin Rouge" in the way of the love triangle and the mis-en-scene. There are also a few references to "snow White". In the first few seconds we denote the female protagonist gets thrown an apple and she is dressed in all white. The red apple is symbolising poison and the story of Adam and Eve. The apple is causing destruction in the means of temptation and mistakes. flower chucks her the apple and then she goes to kiss another man. He is pushing her away and towards other men with his possessiveness. We are also able to connote Flowers possessiveness through the lyrics; "I want it all".

Performance and narrative
The first thing we see in the initial wide shot is a stage and the killers standing on the stage performing. Gradually throughout the video we see the performance and the narrative having interlocking shots. There is a "Moulin Rouge" setting, the location is all set in one place however it is a large location with multiple rooms. The rooms allow the multiple relationships that are going on to be shown in private. Even though most of the time the couples are running into these private rooms alone, the other member of the love triangle ends up being there and seeing what is happening. This is another representation of how jealously can effect a person in love. The audience is able to connote that the song and the visuals are about jealousy in a relationship and how it can become toxic due o the jealousy turning into possession. There are also shots of the instruments and they are plugged in; making the performance authentic. This allows the audience to denote the band is playing live to this "Moulin Rouge" audience. The girls are dancing to this song therefore making it even more authentic and realistic.

Narrative
The narrative is about a man that falls in love with a women that is already in a relationship. We denote that Flower and the female protagonist are dancing together, this could signify that they are having relations. The other man in the relationship finds out about Flower and the female protagonist, therefore finding out about the affair. Both Flower and the other man argue over her and flower looses her. Flower doesn't stop seeing her. Overall the narrative is about adult relationships; however we connote that they are playing childish games. This can attract to the younger audiences. There is a closed non linear narrative. The close narrative occurs due to the fact the audience can denote in the beginning that there is a love triangle and Flower is jealous and pushing the female protagonist is being pushed away. In the middle of the music video we can see the action occurring. Initially we denote the band performing on the stage; then in the middle we see the action occurring, both Flower and the other man are with the female protagonist. Finally the last shot we see the other man in the love triangle walk away from her. We can connote that Flower and the female protagonist end up together. However the narrative is also non-linear due to the fact that there are performance shots interlocking with the narrative shots. Propp's theory can be applied in this music video. We can denote that there is a 'hero' that is Flower. There is also the villain that is the other male in the love triangle. The audience can also denote a princess. That was the third wheel in the love triangle. the hero is the character that seeks something; that something being the female protagonist. We can connote that the other male is the villain due to Propp's theory stating that the villain in  the music video is the person that gets in the way of the hero getting something. Finally we can apply Propp's theory to "Mr. Brightside" by calling the female protagonist the princess. She acts as the reward for the hero. The hero (Flower) ends up with the female protagonist. One of Barthes codes can also be applied to the music video. The proairetic code can be applied. We are left wondering throughout the video what is going to happen next and who is going to end up with the female protagonist. The tension is building up throughout the video; the killers do this by the audience viewing the females and the males love affair. The man she was originally with is gradually figuring it out. This is building tension because as the audience we are unsure as to what the male is going to do. We can also apply Levi-Straus' theory of binary opposites. We can denote that there is a love triangle. We can denote the other male in the love triangle, being a negative character. We connote him being evil and the male protagonist (Flower) being the hero. This shows the binary oppositions of evil vs. good.

Mode of address
Flower does look directly at the camera whilst there is a close shot of his face in the beginning. This is breaking the fourth wall. It is said that Flower was looking at the camera because he was the face of marketing for the killers at the time. With Flower looking through the camera it is making a direct connection with the audience and it makes the audience feel like he is looking at us. The gratifications theory would state that Flower is building a personal relationship with the audience.

Star Treatment
The lead singer of the killers is singled out throughout the video. He was known as the key marketing angle for the killers. In many of their music videos there is close shots of Flower looking directly into the camera at the audience. Therefore in "Mr. Brightside" when he looks directly at the camera we are able to connote that he is the star of the music video. We are also able to connote this through the fact that he is playing a character in the love triangle. Not only is he involved in the performance with the rest of the band; but he is also deeply involved in the narrative, instead of getting another actor they use him, so that the audience is able to get involved in the love triangle and are able to connect with him and the love triangle.

Representations
The imagery has strong intertextualty references to Moulin rouge. the girls are seen wearing provocative clothing. The audience can denote the girls being controlled by the men in the music video. Over the female gender is represented as being an objects of pleasure for the men. The colour red also represents lust and love in the music video. Also red can represent the emotion anger; we can connote that the men in the room may be feeling lust for the women, Flower may be feeling love for the female protagonist. Then the women may have a sense of anger towards the situation. As the narrative proceeds the audience emphasises with the male protagonists (Flower) wanting him to get the girl in the end.

Male Gaze
There is voyeurism in the music video. The main female protagonist is displayed as a prostitute and is being controlled by another men. There are shots of the girl lifting up her skirt among with the other girls. This is showing the voyeuristic side of men and how they observe women as an object of pleasure. The females in the music video are mainly shots of their body. There are close shots of their legs and they are lifting up their skirts to show more leg. This relates to what Carole Clover stated; saying that women are showing their bodies in order to imply that they wish to express their sexual confidence.

Pace
The overall pace is fast. The drum beat is fast and all the visuals are fast moving.

Shots
The shots are 80/20 narrative to performance. We denote the performance of "The Killers" is occurring to break up the narrative. When the audience denote the performance we can see that there are more close shots of Flower himself and then medium shots of the rest of the band due to the fact that they are not as important to narrative as Flower himself. Because Flower is the protagonist in the narrative the shots in the performance are mainly on him and the instruments. The audience can connote that Flower is more important than the rest of the band members. The shot variety in the narrative are more varied. The audience can connote in the narrative that the video is focussing on both the female and male protagonist and the male antagonist. Overall the shots are focussing on the main characters and the mis-en-scene. There is one location throughout; however the location has several small rooms, enabling the two protagonists in the love triangle to run off together and then have the antagonist following them. In the narrative there are generally wide shots of the characters; this allows the audience to denote the Moulin rouge theme in the music video. We can see the females dancing and lifting up their skirts in a provocative way. The medium long shots are also used to enable the audience to denote that their are three people in the relationship. Also there are shot reverse shots of the female protagonist and male antagonist and protagonist. This is allowing the audience to infer the relationship between the three characters. went tre is shot reverse shot, they use close shots to enable the audience to see the characters facial expressions. The facial expressions allows the audience to connote the emotions that are occurring between the three. For example when we see Flower looking at the male antagonist, we can understand there is some hatred and jealously occurring in the eye contact. Then when Flower looks at the female protagonist; we can connote there is a sense of love and want to be together.

Effects
There aren't any visual effects added to the music video. The theme of the Moulin Rouge and the colour red are strong and it represents love, lust and anger. There are mainly quick cutaway transition shots. They are quick cutaway shots so that the audience don't notice the cut away shots and the narrative is coherent and fast paced.

Mis-en-scene
The mis-en-scene was heavily inspired by the film "Moulin Rouge". The location and the room was designed heavily in the colour red. The colour red can represent the feelings of love, lust and anger. In the film Moulin Rouge the girls are portrayed as being items of pleasure and they are dressed in provocative clothing much like in the music video. Moulin Rouge is about a young writer to comes to Paris to the drug and prostitution lifestyle. "Moulin Rouge" is about an underground night club in which the rich and poor men are able to visit and have a good time. Things then take a turn for the worst when the main character has a love affair and becomes in danger. He is in over his head. The audience in the music video can connote that Flower relates to the main character in Moulin Rouge. The room is red and the costume designs are over dramatic and the female characters aren't wearing a lot of clothing. The men's costume's are three piece suits, therefore the audience can connote that they are of higher status.

Dani california analysis

dani california - Red hot chili peppers 

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.

WHERE THE HELL ARE MY FRIENDS - analysis

WHERE THE HELL ARE MY FRIENDS - LANY

LANY are a three piece alternative indie band; the band consists of Paul Jason Klein, Jake Goss and Les Priest.
Klein is the lead vocalist, Goss is the drummer and Priest is the gutairist, keys and vocalist.
The director was Nadia Ozten.
The main performer in the WHERE THE HELL ARE MY FRIENDS is Klein.

Relationship between the visuals and the lyrics

In the music video directed by Ozten, the character that is played by Klein is stumbling around a large building, and from the audience's point of view he is looking for something or someone. Throughout the video the relationship between the visuals and the lyrics could be directly connected. It is a non-linear music video. There are cutaway shots of Klein performing the song in a room by himself. Then it continues to tell a story (in which Klein is also involved in) where Klein is stumbling around a large house with a group of people at a party and occasionally we see him sing the song to the lyrics. The lighting plays a large part in this music video. When the lights change to red Klein is frozen and the people around him move and dance. Then the lighting will change to a cold blue and we can denote that Klein is now moving and searching whereas all the people surrounding him are frozen. This enables the audiences to infer that Klein is isolated even though he is surrounded by people. Then the cutaway shot we see Klein performing the song without the other band members. This suggests he is still playing the role of the person in the house party searching for something. Therefore overall the visuals do match the lyrics due to the main lyric being "where the hell are my friends" and Klein looking around for (what we can assume) are his friends; however this is an impossible task because everytime he would freeze they would move on and he was following an empty trail.

Genre characteristics
The genre of the music video is indie. We can denote from the music video that there is a red, blue and white colour scheme. This is letting us as the audience connote that the music video is indie. The stopping and starting of the colours and the linear movement is following indie conventions of having a stop-start linear film.

Narrative
WHERE THE HELL ARE MY FRIENDS has a non-linear narrative. Throughout we see the main character stumble around a large area; there is then cutaway shots of Klien singing in a large white room. Initally we can denote that it is a linear narrative from following Klien around the building; whilst the colours change and Klien stops and stops. We can connote from the intial linear narrative that Klein is 'looking for his friends' and he feels alone and isolated.

The next linear scene is the room change but we follow Klien into the nex room through stopping and starting shots. We can denote that it isn't through the editing it is through the actual movement of the actors in the music video, we can denote this because we see the actors slight movements in the shots.

We first see Klien from behind over the shoulder the lighting is red and it is a freeze frame, there music then builds up and the lighting changes to blue and Klien starts the run up the stairs which we can see in the background.

It then cuts to Klien in a white lighted room singing to the song. Then a quick change to the blue lighting in the room, Klien is surrounded by other young people on the stairs. The colours change to red and Klien freezes and everyone around him begins to move. This is allowing us to infer that Klien is on a 'wild goose chase' to find what he is looking for.

We then see a perspective shot through the curtains; the lighting is blue and we see a wide space with poeple who are fozen in a dancing position. The we see Klien walk through the curtains. Into the room this is a close shot of Klien. He is winding through people and then the lighting changes to red and Klien freezes; the people around him start dancing. Klein grabs their clothes to hang onto; implying that he is desperate and possible struggling to stay standing.

Klien then sits inbetween two men and looks directly at the camera; this is breaking the fourth wall. It is also an extreme close shot we can only see his face and the two men in the far distance behind him.  The colours change to blue and Klien freezes; the two poeple then start to talk and Klien resumes movement when the colour changes, he stands and then gets frozen as well whilst holding up the ceiling.

Klien then kneels down to a girl sitting in the chair. We can see her but not him (the face). We can't see his reaction this is creating enigma.

Audience in the video
There are many other people in the video; they could potentially be representations of the audience. However indie has a wide range of a target audience. Indie was most popular in the 90's. However LANY only became a band in 2014. Therefore their main target audience may be people in their late teens, early 20's. The people in the music video were in their 20's. Denoting that there is some representation of LANY's audience. From what we can see from the music video; Ozten has used Klein because he is the youngest member of the group and he fits in with the age of the party goers int he music video. Ozten has also used Klein becuase he is the lead singer therefore is able to lipsync to the words of the song throughout.

Star treatment
From the video we can connote that there isn't any star treatment occuring in the video. Klein in wondering around on his own looking for something. Everytime he moves evryone around him stays still, visa-versa. He isn't getting anycloser to what he wants. We are denoting a struggle and a sense of isolation from the star. We then see Klein perform the song, however instead of following typical conventions of a performance in a music video; with a large crowd dinging along. Klein is on his own in the room with no representations of audience or that he is a star. The clip of him performing alone and not communitcating with anyone throughout the whole video allows the audience to connote that there isn't any star treatment and that actually he is alone and not getting any attention from the poeple surrounding him.

Representations
As a viewer what i have been able to infer from the video is that Klien is representing the facct that even though he may be a star; that doesn't mean he gets all the attention and gets where he wants and who he wants. From him stumbling around and freezing we can denote a struggle for Klien. This could represent the struggle he has had in the music indstry and in his personal life. The video links with the lyrics through the use of the main like 'Where the hell are my friends'. This suggests that he is looking for his friends. We can also denote from the video that he is looking for a particular person or thing amongst all these people. He could have as many friends as he wants but he is struggling to find the real friends through his personal struggle.
 Because Klien is at a party we can also assume that he could be intoxicated and the music video is about what it is like to be intoxicated. Stumbeling around and feeling isolated. Not being able to connect and communitcate with others.

Male gaze
Throughout the video we see females and males partying. Most of the people are in their mid 20's and they are dancing or talking to one another. This allows the audience to connect and relate to the people int he music video because most people have been to a party and can relate to what it is like. We can also realate to Klien looking around and feeling lost and isolated.

Pace
The video is fast pace and has many cut away shots and the variety of shots are vast due to the quick colour scheme changes everytime Klein or the people surrounding him move. The fast gittery pace lets the audience denote that it is all happening in a short space of time but we get the impression that it feels like Klien has been looking forever and eventually finds his way out. The camera shots are harsh and most are tracking or panning shots of the room or of Klien looking around. This allows the audience to feel involved and as if we were in the music video. We see a short story of Klien looking for people and by hte end he finds a way out and we see the wide shot of him walking out of the room. The pace slows and instead of stumbling out of the room and swaying. He slowly walks out with his shoulders high and the audience is able to connote that Klien is relived. Instead of looking for people he may of been looking for a way out of this situation that he felt trapped in.