Unit 29: Music Video Production (Task 2 'You're beautiful')

Analysis of music videos

Mr Brightside by the Killers was realised in 2003 and became the hit single for there debut album Hot Fuss in 2004. It peaked at number 10 in the UK and US charts in 2004 and has since gained a cult status. In the US it sold over 3 million copies and in the UK it is one of the top fifteen most downloaded rock songs ever, with XFM and Absolute Radio naming it song of the decade. The video was produced by The Killers themselves before they were singed to a record label.

The song is classed as Indie/Alternative rock. Many of the videos characteristics could be associated with the genre, especially the costume and make up that the actors and band members wear in the video. The band members all wearing flamboyant suits with make up and 'guy liner' a popular choice for bands in the late 90s and early naughties. The use of the make up and so called 'guy liner' were to make the band seem edgy like the type of music that they produced it gave them their own image and showed people that they were not afraid to be different. The video is a narrative music video as it tells a story.

The song and lyrics are about the protagonist (The lead singer Brandon Flowers) chasing a girl who is already married to with another man. The protagonist and the love interest both have feelings for one another, however the protagonist knows that he can never be with the girl and its all he can think about. The lyrics relate to the video as it tells the story of the protagonist getting with the girl at a party, only to have her dragged away again by her boyfriend. There is a brilliant scene of the protagonist and the antagonist (the boyfriend) playing chess together, this is a metaphor for the the two fighting over the girl, with antagonist winning the chess game the protagonist then flips the chess board in frustration as he comes to terms with the fact that he will never be with his love. The visuals also link with the lyrics as throughout the video it cuts back to the stage at the party where the band are performing the song, as well as this as Brandon sings 'it was only a kiss, it was only a kiss' it cuts to a scene of him sat with the girl, as he looks embarrassed trying to explain himself to her and hide his true feelings. As well as this the lyrics also link to the visuals as when it says ''But she's touching his chest now, he takes of her dress now'' the love interest is performing a dance cutting between her dancing with the protagonist and the antagonist. The dance along with the lyrics conveys the notion that they are having sex which knocks Brandon sick as he sings ''And I just cant look its killing me' whilst covering his face.''

As the instrumental kicks in there is a mid 2 shot followed by a close up of Brandon and the love interest on a balcony with fireworks in the background as they move into kiss, however the happy moment only last for a little and as the instrumental is ending she runs of as she remembers her other lover. At parts including from 50 seconds to 54 seconds in the video cuts with the beat of the drum in the background before cutting back to the drummer himself playing the drums. The video is fast paced with lots of cuts and lots of shots and doesn't changed pace until the last instrumental 2 minutes 58 seconds in before the last verse where there are less cuts and shots that last longer than most of the others as the protagonist and antagonist play chess.

The music video gives the band the image that they are quirky and out there. This is portrayed as everyone in the video is wearing big flamboyant old fashioned outfits including the band them self who are dressed in suits and made up in such away that your suppose to know they are wearing make up, even though there men. This tells us that they don't care that its not conventional for men to wear make up because they're different! The whole cast look like they may wearing clothes out of a pantomime or some sort of theatrical performances, this conveys the theatrics of the story that is going on in the video. As this was the bands first music video it established there image  (which changed over the years) showing people what they were about and how they wanted to look. The record company can sell the track using their image of being different, people want to hear something different or quirky and can relate to band that may not be seen as normal or mainstream. The producers has also tried to sell the artist by using close ups of them performing on a stage during the music video, this display there work and the band members themselves. It also show cases the lead singer allot making him the front man of the band, someone fans can relate to and associate themselves with.

The notion of looking is referenced in the video. The audience doesn't feel that artists themselves are being over sexualised or used however like I mentioned before the dancing and costumes play a part in the sexual nature of the video. The dancing is a metaphor for sex and the old fashioned costumes that the girls wear are similar to old burlesque dancer outfits. There is no intertextual references in the music video, the video is just about getting the bands image out there whilst simultaneously telling a story.

To conclude, the video is a narrative music video as it tells a story but it does this mostly through the use of performance within the video and the songs lyrics. The video uses performance such as dance to convey the story through the use of metaphors and analogy's. This is best shown when it is implied that Brandons love interest is sleeping with another man through the use of dance and the lyrics. The video is edited with fast pace as it rapidly cuts from shot to shot, sometimes in unison with the beat of the song.