Music Video and Advert Analysis: the Futureheads

Music Video Analysis: Christmas was better in the 80's

The video uses a circular structure as it starts with a black and white old school Christmas song music video as which also overlays the band members over each other. This adds depth to the video as it shows that even though they are young they are taking their music seriously but more importantly and specifically the lyrics of the song in which they have written. The black and white colour code instantly shows to that colour and lighting is significant having the flash backs of old footage of Christmas as well as old photos in colour but allowing the colour to not be as bright showing that they are old.

The performance elements of this specific video are singing and ‘dancing’ mainly using mid shots of the individual singing. The only instrument featured within the video is at the very beginning and at the very end with the image of keys on a piano being played but all you can see are the hands making a very artistic shot. With the band crossing over the two genres of punk and indie they use elements of both conventions within their location choices. For example the desolate are with old metal pylons and the way in which the band are positioned in the mid ground within it is a very indie vibe however the connotations of isolation which the location gives sides with the punk genre as it’s different and stands out. Body language from the four and the costumes also lean towards the indie genre as they seem very relaxed and more like normal people instead of insane punk rock and roll stars however the greyness of the location gives it a gothic edge.

The positioning of the band throughout the video changes but the main one which stands out is the lead singer standing in mid shot whilst the rest of the band are slightly out of focus looking small in the background. This shows that the lead takes more screen time within indie and punk rock music videos and is relatively simple to recreate the convention.

The narrative element to the video is memories of Christmas time and family being together especially when the children are young. To achieve this in a realistic way the footage of the past for these flashbacks comes across as armature film snippets from a range of different characters because of the occasional grains appearing on the screen on top of the footage as well as the contrast of the colour looks a little bit groggy or grey. This again gives the video a minor gothic edge especially this image of an adult figure wearing all black shovelling the snow in what appears to be complete isolation.

The video as a whole product uses the lyrics well to make the video link perfectly to the song by picking out the main lyric ‘Christmas day in the 1980’s’ as their inspiration. All the characters costumes show the typical and memorable costumes of that era with the large multi coloured jumpers and mix and match patterns within outfits. The props they use for the characters mini films which have been cleverly edited together as multiple montages which supplements the performance element of the band. All the editing as a whole is at a fast pace but matching the changes in tempo of the song’s jumpy rhythm created by the guitars and bass.

Advert Analysis: The Futureheads

This being the band's first studio album launch explains the multiple use of the band’s name on the poster in the top third as it repeatedly reminds the consumer who they are. The image being of each individual member of the band is also significant as it develops the consumers’ awareness about the band itself allowing them the possibility to explore them further.

The poster as a whole is very bright, light and indie as they use the space sparingly and include bright colours for the text, like the bright pink. The colour itself gives a fresh face to alternative rock and contrasts there music.  The text itself also contrasts the genre of music as it is semi rounded however the image which is also used on their album art has graphic elements to it but in more of a youthful and bright manner making it more sketch-like, this attracting the younger audience.

Music video and Advert Analysis: The White Stripes

Music Video Analysis: Icky Thump

The video uses a lot of close ups combined with point of view shots from the first moment that the main character is dropped off at the gates of Mexico as if the person telling the story of the narrative changes. This specific close up shot is the second one used in the video and immediately highlights the sinister/gothic nature that the band and the director are trying to convey. In doing so it highlights the individual nature that The White Stripes have created for themselves over the years by always doing their own thing. 

Red and White are the videos two colours which are used in the colour scheme running throughout for every character including the band, except for the male lead who is wearing black. This is because the colours are the White Stripes’ band colours. Also the red and White colours are used to show the significance of love/lust merging to innocence and along with the main man wearing the colour black makes it all have negative gothic connotations. This is because when mixing innocence with love/lust just leads to danger or bloodshed which is the message they try to insinuate throughout the video.

Icky thump explores the risky matter of prostitution through the narrative which is something we couldn’t possibly think of insinuating within our own music product as it would be deemed as offensive. However the way in which director came across this idea because it is mentioned in the lyrics, so when we become creating the narrative for our music video we will look for inspiration within the lyrics. This as a whole allows the song to link to the visuals which you are seeing on screen as part of the narrative element of the video.

The Performance element of the video is split up and breaks up the narrative at regular intervals. It uses mid shots to show the general playing, wide angles to show the elaborate style of playing which they are used to and close up shots for when the song itself comes to a point of significance for a particular instrument and then it proceeds to jump to it. The shots are used in a montage together but all carefully selected to fit with the timing of the song. 

The props and costumes in this music video are very significant as they create the creepy world in which the lead male appears to be stuck. As well as the sinister looking skeleton puppets everywhere the low lighting and near black and white elements of the video give it a very gothic theme. This is added to by the jerky camera movement and the soft focus used on the band at random times.

Advert Analysis: Icky Thump

The poster continues the band’s colours which are also conveyed in the music video by using simple shapes to create a simply designed poster. The black in the background gives the poster an easy background which links both to the genre as well as allowing the colourful text of the album title to overlay on top without becoming unnoticed. The text of this poster is all simple and sharp with the album coming before any reference to the band allowing to make reference to how well known the band actually is. The way that they use just the month of release of the album instead of a specific date makes the suspense go on for longer which is similar to the way distribution companies advertise films.

The main image has no direct reference to the band at all except that it is coloured the band colours therefore it entices people to read the poster’s information by giving them something random and abstract to look at that makes no obvious sense. In doing this they make majority of the background red which if people catch it out of the corner of their eye they will take a second look as the colour triggers ‘danger’ in their mind.