Video Inspiration & Research

Here I will begin discussing and pulling apart a few videos I enjoy, most likely music videos as I tend to follow alot of musicians and have some favorite videos which come to mind... :) I will be looking at techniques used as well as narrative, mood etc.

This video is really evocative to me and suits the music well. You get an almost ethereal vibe from the editing which mostly uses a lot of soft fade from scene-to-scene rather than any sharp cuts. Several different scenes are overlaid in parts to create an eerie, ghost like vibe. The filters on the video, glow of lighting and use of symmetrical balance all conjure up an element of magic and they give Grimes and almost elf-like quality throughout this video. Some parts (like the candle being blown out) are even shown in reverse, and this is during a part where the vocals of the song have also been reversed. The plot in the video depicts young adult (mostly unclothed) people in a forest among leaves, dirt.. it's a really primitive feeling. It's fitting of the primal beat which thumps throughout the song. What I get from this video, is that she is depicting the animalistic and carnal nature of humans. There is a very naturalistic almost shaman like feeling, and different elements are represented, earth, fire, air. In the end of the video, glowing egg-like objects are seen hidden in the forest..like magical seeds. The meaning of the video is a little ambiguous but that was clearly the intention, an element of mystery.

Not a huge fan of this chick by any means, but this song is quite catchy, and the video is a really good example of a video with a clear and strong narrative and how video can be emphasized by the music.They play with dept of field a lot in this video, often with things backing up the story/scene in the foreground to help further set the aesthetic. They also use a lot of panning shots displaying the lovely mansion/scenery the video is shot in (this video benefits a lot from the landscape layout), and close ups are used frequently to display the mood of the characters throughout the video/song. The use of character in a video is really important in setting a narrative and that is why I wanted us to use that in our video. Anyways, when the beat of the music picks up, the rate of cuts in the video increases. These are all solid cuts, no fades and this works because of those beats. The timing of the cuts or action within the scene appears to more often than not match up exactly with the beat of the song and it's really effective. The camera work goes from being stable to being shakey/handheld once arguments begin in the video, and the lighting and color also becomes darker to reflect the mood change. Abstract scenes are used nicely later in the video, she toys with an apple and the guy is shown simultaneously feeling pain as if it were him she was digging her claws into.