Saturday 1 October 2011

Video Analysis - Arctic Monkeys Brianstorm

Brianstorm is directed by Huse Monfaradi and the video initially cuts between performance, dancers and black and white TV clips of medical experiments, which look roughly from the seventies. The scene opens with a long shot of the band in the distance, almost silhoutted in dim lighting, which has a sepia tone to it, which could be used to create an 'old fashioned' illusion, linking with the old television clips.

The beginning instrumental of the song is fast paced, therefore the video uses lots of short cuts to create a past pace within the video. The song 'brianstorm' could be mistaken for 'brainstorm', which is a quick, fast thought process, therefore this could signify why the video is so fast paced.
Close ups of the instuments are featured throughout, although the performance of the band is filmed from behind, therefore there is no clear visual of the band members' faces.

The video highly emphasises lighting. A mixture of medium shots and close up of the dancers changes from blue and red lighting. The backdrop behind the band and the dancers changes throughout the video, from neon colours to black and white pixels, which keeps the video interesting.
The costumes in the video are simple, with the dancers wearing shorts and white vests, which does not detract attention from the actual dancing. The band wear casual attire, although their outfits can't be seen clearly in the dark lighting. This is to maintain the 'simple' concept of the video and maintain the focus on the music only.

The video has a relationship to lyrics and visuals. In the song, when the word 'jacuzzi' is mentioned in the lyrics, the video cuts to a picture of people in a jacuzzi. The word 'thunder' is followed by a shot of an actual thunderstorm, and in the lyrics the line 'kick you', the dancers kick their leg out, which illustrates Andrew Goodwins theory.

There is also intertextual reference throughout the video, cutting to black and white clips, which could be from a medical experiment television programme or film. The video is primarily performance based, although defies the notion of genre characteristics. The genre of the song is indie, although the dancers' costume and style of dance would usually be seen in an RnB video.

This video will influence my own project as i will use the fast cuts of performance to reinforce the fast pace of a song, and the use of lighting in my own music video to create different illusions and effects. I will also consider the simple but effective mise-en-scene used in the video.

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