Music Video Analysis - Early Grave

Mise-en-scene

Band - The background where the band is playing is completely black and there are a few lights behind them,(the floor where the band are stood is also white), contrasting them strongly making them stand out. The only props used are the bands equipment.

Narrative - The character in the narrative side of the video also stands out, not because of the colours used but because of his costume. He is wearing a suit and has bandages wrapped around his face. He wears two different masks in the video, a humans face and a dogs face. This half of the video is set in a number of different locations such as; a pier, a bar, a bathroom, in front of a warehouse, the streets & in a forest.


Editing

Band - Very fast, shots only last a second or two. Fast editing reflects the fast pace of the music. There is a shot of the band playing where instead of cutting to a new shot, the shot is just flipped upside down for a fraction of a second. This is quite disorienting and keeps up the speed of the editing and adds a level of distortion to the clip.

Narrative - Fast editing remains but because there is little to no movement in the shots, the sequences seem a lot slower. Some of the shots are in slow motion but still only last a few seconds. Like in the bands half of the video, this half also uses editing to create some 'confusing' shots. There is a shot where the man is walking from the right hand side of the screen to the left and when he reaches the half way point of the screen he 'teleports' to a sitting position then continues walking from that point. Also, in the bathroom there is a shot of the man disappearing and reappearing very quickly, both of these edits are unconventional and add to the enigma of the video.


Cinematography

Band - Fast moving shots, the camera is rarely still, quite alot of shots circling the band and zooming in. The camera is quite low throughout the video and most of the shots used are low angle to make the band seem superior.

Narrative - Mostly still shots, not much movement going on in the shots. Alot of long and medium shots are used so we never really get to close to the character. Fast shots used when he is running to the forest but he is still behind fences and tree branches so we can not really get close to him. Towards the end of the song during the cresendo the shots increase in speed along with the pace of the song. During the end section of the song, the camera shots become alot like the ones used for the band (circling the character, extremely close)


Sound

Band - The band themselves are the focus of the video and are the ones making the music, so the music is technically diegetic although it is added in post-production.

Band performance

As my video involves a band actually performing, I thought I would make their performance look as real as possible. The band 'Architects' are well known for their energetic and passionate live stage presence and I want my band to reflect this in the music video. I had the chance to go and see the band live on November 1st and their live performance was just as the videos made me expect. I am going to make a list of the 'moves' the members perform and that I would like mine to reenact. As none of the things I want my band to perform are actual names for things, this part of the blog is mainly for the band to read over to familiarise theirselves with what I expect them to do.