Jake Bugg- Messed Up Kids (Music Video Analysis)

Messed Up Kids is a song featured on English indie rock artist Jake Bugg's second studio album Shangri La. The song is the fifth listed track on the record which went on to become no.3 in the UK's albums chart.

The video immediately starts with Bugg voicing over the track and giving additional detail to the audience about the purpose of the song say that he was not a 'messed up kid' but sees people in his birthplace of Nottingham who are. The first images we get from the video is it is all filmed in black and white so as to not highlight any individual person in the video and detail how anyone can be messed up not just one specific person. The camera straight away demonstrates three close-ups of different characters in the video all of whom look like young thugs due to the way they are represented as they wear chains, biker helmets, hoodies and have earrings all of which mark the stereotype of an inner-city teenager. This pairs with the first lyrics of Bugg's song which is 'Johnny deals a bit of blow on the side.' This is of course slang for drug dealing thus linking the stereotype with the lyrics of the song as the characters in the video are shown as drug dealers which is the connotation that is made with inner-city youths.

The next shots that the camera uses is a slow pan to the right revealing Bugg on the outskirts of the people he is describing clearly separating himself from the group of people he views as 'messed up'. The use of editing is also important in the music video as slow motion is used extensively throughout the music video this is so the audience can easily see various events taken place within the group of people which show almost every stereotypical aspect of inner city life i.e. teenage parenthood, drug dealing, what appears to be prostitution not only does it slow down these scenes but also use the reverse tool to go back and then zoom in on these events to make sure the audience sees what is occurring and also to take in this is a common sight in inner city housing estates.

The use of shots in this music video is very reminiscent of other media pieces such as the movie Kidulthood (2006) which touched on very similar issues which are shown in Jake Bugg's video such as drugs and unplanned teen pregnancies/parenthood. Both of this pieces of media help to support the idea that this is what the inner city society is truly like.

The use of speed is another aspect of the video that makes it stand out as well though. Unlike the rest of the video the pace of the song does not match the speed the camera movies in the music video as the camera is often in slow motion this contradicts the upbeat and fast tempo of the song this is one of the only contradictions in the video however as the lyrics for the most part time in with the events happen on screen such as 'they sell their time, they sell their drugs, they sell their bodies.' All of which can be seen in the images above which help to mirror the lyrics with the narrative of the video so as to reinforce this image to the audience watching. 

Star Profile

Examples of Voyeurism, Exhibitionism and Male Gaze

 Male Gaze- In the video for 'Blurred Lines' the male gaze is used completely throughout the music video so the male audience has something to focus on as they stroll around in the video almost naked.

Exhibitionism-Lady Gaga is as classic demonstration of exhibitionism as she frequently demonstrates here body to the audience in a powerful and artistic way.

Voyeurism- In this video for Rihanna's video 'Stay' it can be argued that she is like Gaga and exhibiting her body but the clear division between men and women in this video is so clear cut with Rihanna in a bath displaying here body to the audience while Mikky Ekko is fully clothed and covered showing how the audience shown just look and stare at Rihanna.

AUDIENCE - why and how do you consume music?

AUDIENCE - why and how do you consume music?

How do you consume music?

When? do you have a daily music routine? Is some music more suitable at a certain time of day than another?
I listen to music whenever I am doing a miscellaneous task to fill in gaps of boredom or if I am walking anywhere I will more often than not have my headphones in. I use it for the most part as a distraction from mundane environments such as driving I will put on the radio or play music from my phone to keep me entertained.

Where? clubs, bedroom, gigs, car?
I listen to music when i'm walking anywhere or when i'm in a car.

Who with? do you share your music or is it an individual experience?
I listen to music is very much an individual experience  for the most part I listen to my own music with my headphones in by myself and rarely share my music with my friends because they often have diffrent music preferences however when i'm in the car with them and listening to the radio or at parties and festivals then we all do listen to the same music.

How? radio, computer, ipod, tv, live, dancing, homework, getting ready ie doing other things - background wallpaper
I listen to music via YouTube and my phone when I do listen to it as YouTube gives an endless variety of musci which I then download onto my phone so it is more portable. I listen to music when i'm doing homework and chores around the house to fill in background noise.

Why? What are the pleasures associated with music consumption? What does it offer the audience and what needs does it gratify?
I use music to make me feel good by listening to an upbeat song or to be able to relate to something else by listening to a sad and meaningful track.

Examples of female gaze, homosexuality and strong dominant females

Marina and the Diamonds- Female Gaze

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In the video by Maria and the Diamonds the use of a female gaze is seen throughout the track as various men are seen in shots with the main singer showing off their bodies to the female audience.

Beyoncé- Strong Dominant Females

In Beyoncé's video she can easily be seen as a strong female figure as she is rally women who have been mistreated by men or those who were foolish to let them go, by being thou kind of symbol Beyoncé can be seen as a dominant female figure.

Lady Gaga- Homosexuality

In Lady Gaga's video several homosexual scenes can be seen in the video most notably a shot of Gaga herself kissing a fellow female inmate in the video clearly to appeal to a homosexual demographic

Rock Music Representations

Slash feat. Fergie-Beautiful Dangerous
This music video for Beautiful Dangerous displays Fergie as voyeurism figure as it places here on a  bed in little clothes by herself for the majority of the music video which displays here easily to a male audience by constantly using editing to display sexual parts of her body such as her cleavage and crouch. By using editing in this way it displays women as sexual objects as Fergie is seen in promiscuous positions throughout the video by quickly shifting between shots rapidly.

In these shots it is easily to see voyeurism in place. By focusing on the sexual parts on Fergie's body the male audience is more likely to continue to watch the video and primarily uses the male guy.



 

 In these shots Fergie and Slash are clearly meant to be shown in compromising positions to lure in the male audience for the music video giving a male gaze.

 

 

In the music video for 'Beautiful Dangerous' sexuality is used heavily to attract an audience it does this in a number of ways such as: focusing on Fergie's chest and crouch, Fergie remaining sexual eye contact with the audience as well as having Fergie and Slash in sexual positions.

 

The 'Rock' genre typically shows the artist of song in their own music videos while at the same time being shown in extremely provocative and in sexual positions as its conventions.

 

Dry The River- No Rest

In todays class we were tasked to close our eyes and listen to this selected song and imagine a music video that could accompany.

When I imagined the video for the video I imagine a sad and broken man slowly walking down the street with his lips syncing in with the lyrics to help fit the tone of the song which is sad and emotive. The video would then have shown flashbacks of the couples relationship as the song built up to were the crescendo formed the camera would then focus on the singer who would show raw emotion when singing to emphasise the meaning of the track.

However when I watched the video I was disappointed as it did not make much sense and was not in keeping to the lyrics but instead chose to focus only on the band members whist spraying water and throwing stones at them which left the audience confused. This video was completely different to how I imagine it to be and I did not particularly enjoy it.

What music means to me

Childhood

Robbie Williams-Let Me Entertain You

As a child a quickly grow attached to this song due to it being continuously played in the car on long drives and being used repeatedly in school discos. The electric guitar that was used throughout the song always allowed me and my friends to channel our inner rock stars by playing air-guitar during our schools dances and for that reason this will always remind me of my childhood and gives great nostalgia whenever it comes on the radio.

Early Teens

Panic! At The Disco- I Write Sins Not Tragedies 

I discovered this song when a friend played it on his CD player in his car and instantly feel in love with it and asked for it to repeated and replayed whenever we carpooled together (much to the delight of his mother) within a week I went out a personally bought the album the first one I had ever bought and played it constantly in my room on my personal CD player, sadly Ipods were not common place at the time. The mix of an upbeat tempo with loud and enthusiastic singing is what I think led me to enjoy it so much which followed the themes of the aforementioned Robbie Williams song.

Present Day

Foo Fighters- The Pretender

I had previously at one point heard this song but never really gave it much regard however one day I was browsing through Spotify and decided to click on this song. At the moment this song is ranked within my top 5 favorite ever songs mainly for the pure energy and meaning it gives when I hear it. Dave Grohl the frontman and main singer for the Foo Fighters produces such raw emotion in this song which helps to give a message within his lyrics that is extremely applicable to modern day life. Because of this song I listened to many of the Foo Fighters past albums and charts toppers and has since become my all time favorite band because of it. The use of heavy electric guitar and drums mixed with moments of near silence help to greatly enhance to rifts of the song and help make it a truly phenomenal track, and has quickly become my favorite song to belt out in the car when i'm on my own.

Banana

During this creative filming and editing task I learned how to use the cloning effect in Adobe Priemier Pro CS8 to good use to help create a better music video for the audience. The use of the clone effect was the an aspect of the video that I was most happy with. However there are parts of the video that I am unhappy with and if given the chance would redo and correct one such thing was the depth shot as it out of focus and does not piece together with the rest of the film very well.

Music Video Conventions

Andrew Goodwin's interpretation of music videos is something that has lead him to create his own music video theory. In this post I show how aspects of his theory can be seen in various modern music products to better understand how to create my own music video. Goodwin believes that six methods are found in every music video.

1. A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, which illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics.
2. Thought beats: seeing the sounds (the relationship between the music and the visuals, which illustrate, amplify or contradict the music.)
3. Genre-related style and iconography.
4. Multiple close-ups of the main artist or vocalist: the creation of a star image to promote a recognizable brand image.
5. Voyeurism.
6. Intertexual references to other media texts may be present.

Vance Joy- Riptide


Vance Joy's 'Riptide' is a song which links its music video very closely with its lyrics throughout the media product an example can be seen immediately when the lyrics state a fear of the dentist and a close up shot is shown of a women in a dentist chair and braces. These comparisons continue in the video with almost every line of lyrics begin shown in a visual way. By doing this the video illustrates to the audience the meaning behind the song as they can physically see it being played out in front of them. The official video for 'Riptide' as does well to amplify the songs lyrics by constantly enforcing them with a visual interpretation of them so the audience can both hear and see the song being played. The films continued use of illustration for the music video is seen further when the lyrics are actually displayed on the screen at 1:41 to further help the audience understand the messages of the song.

Voyeurism can also be seen in this video as in one scene an unspecified women can be seen in a medium shot becoming undressed showing only her back to the audience showing further conventions in this music videos as the audience will be staring at a half naked women which again fits in with one of  Goodwin's methods.

The genre of the song is classified as 'Indie' due to its upbeat and joyful tempo which is highlighted by the use of a ukulele which in itself is classed as indie, the music video fits in seamlessly with the genre of the song, through it clearly being that of a low production value which is normal associated with indie films. This can be seen by using the same actors throughout the video as well as indie iconography such as there being a classic old styled camera set up during the video.

Pompeii-Bastille


The music video for the Brit award winning band Bastille is one that does not link its lyrics with its video instead illustrating a story about a civilization who has fallen to an unknown illness that cause peoples eyes to turn black, this however in know way links to the lyrics of the song so it can be said that the video contradicts that of the song. Another method outlined by Goodwin within the video is that there are numerous close-ups of the bands front-man Dan Smith. This is due to the fact that the song is their debut album and by doing this the audience of the video can instantly recognize the band this is extremely useful considering the current 105,727,814 views it has on YouTube greatly enhancing the bands image.

Evidence of inter-textual reference can also be seen within the video as the premise is around horror being that an entire city has been infected by fictitious disease, certain scenes run parallel with other great horror movies most notable from Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shinning' as a pair of twins are used to instill terror into the audience a scene that is then copied into Pompeii's video as shown below.

 The comparisons between the two shots can easily be seen here.

Robin Thicke- Blurred Lines

Although voyeurism has been mentioned, the video for Robin Thicke's 'Blurred Lines' cranks it up to extreme with the majority of the video consisting of three attractive women interacting with the singer while dressed in only bikinis, short skirts or at some points only using their arms to cover themselves. To add further to this an uncensored version of the video was shared on Vimeo were scenes previously shot with the women's clothes on were removed instead with were they were predominantly naked throughout the video highlighting even more voyeurism of women in the hopes of attracting a large male audience by tempting them with attractive women in this music video.

 Voyeurism clearly shown throughout the music video.

Intertexual references to other media texts are also present within this video as throughout its four minute run the words '#Blurredlines' is repeatedly shown as well as '#Thicke' which is clearly linking with the social media site Twitter which is famous for trending new topics by using hash tags the obvious message that is being given is the hopes of the video becoming viral to better market the song to which it achieved much success as evident by the 320,000,000 views on YouTube as well as the media backlash it gained from its supposedly sexist video which again shows the voyeurism of women in the video to try and gain a larger male following.

 Evidence of intertexual references to other media texts.