Analysing Ed Sheeran's 'You Need Me, I Don't Need You'

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The lyrics for You Need Me, I Don't Need You' are illustrated many times in the music video by Ed Sheeran. The actor uses sign language to show the lyrics to the audience, which is a unique way of portraying the lyrics in a video.

At some points, items are used to further illustrate the lyrics. For example, when the words ' Times at the Enterprise when some fella filmed me' are mentioned, an old-style camera is used on set, filming the dancer. In addition, a sofa is shown when the word 'Coutch' is sung, and this shot is repeated when the word 'Out' is sung on the next line, which reinforces the rhyming pattern.

Overall, I feel that the music video effectively compliments the lyrics of this song, helping to reinforce certain important points that perhaps the audience may not be able to understand because of the pace of which the words are sung.

Chasing Tigers - Idols & Upsets - Lyrical Analysis

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Impact of Genre on the Music Promo

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Mumford & Sons - I Will Wait

Camera Work: The video uses lots of mid shots showing the performers on the stage. This is intersperced with close up shots, allowing us to see details of the musical instruments, along with long pan shots, which gives an indication of the size and scale of the audience. Shots from behind the stage are included, showing the audience what it must be like to perform on stage. This also gives the impression to the audience that they are privelliged people, who have been given a personal relationship with the band. In addition, soft focus shots are used, which gives the impression that the filming of the video is spontaneous, and has not been planned.

Editing: Fast-paced editing shots are used, with cuts made in time to the music. This allows the video to build up pace and gather momentum, although in the slower parts of the song, slower cuts are used. Shots that show audience reaction are also edited in at some points throughout the video, and this breaks up the action, making people want to watch the band even more. High angle pan shots are also cut into this video frequently, and this gives the audience perspective on the scale of the performance.

Mise-en-Scene: As this video is based on performance, the video is set in an arena or large outdoor music venue, which appears to be in America. Microphones, staging and instruments can all be seen, along with large TV screens that are used to show the live on screen action to the audience that are watching. The band are dressed in clothing that is synonomous with this genre.


Performance: This video focuses heavily on performance, and their relationship with the audience in the stadium. Many shots are included that show the band performing with their instruments, which show that the performers have musical talent. Many shots also show the crowd enjoying the performance and dancing

Typical Naratives: This video is based solely on the performance, and so does not include any narrative. I feel that this is an effective technique for the video, as it allows the musical talent of the band to come through. Also, this encourages the audience to focus on the lyrical content of the song, as the story is told through this medium.

Oasis - Wonderwall

Camera Work: This video uses a variety of different camera shots to present the song effectively. A mixture of  mid, close up and extreme close up shots are used to show the performers and their instruments. The variety of shots makes the video more interesting, and adds to the enjoyment for the audience. Zoom shots are also used in this video, and these draw the attention of the audience onto a specific subject or item in the video. Although this video was produced in 1995, it is made to appear older, as the shots tend to be quite static, lacking any artistic flare.

Editing: In some parts of the video, the editing is quite fast paced, and shots are in time to the music. However, in other areas, cuts tend to be slower, allowing the audience to focus on the performers in the video. Cut away shots are used between the narrative and the performance, and at some points, the graphic match technique is used to link between the two scenes.

At one point, the shot has been edited so that the body of the guitar is blue, whilst the rest of the shot is in black & white, and in another scene, the same technique is applied to a hat. This technique has perhaps been used to draw attention to these objects, highlighting how these objects are more important than the other ones in the shot.

Mise-en-Scene: The performance element of the video is set in a rather neutral environment, which appears to be a factory or industrial building, whilst the narrative is set in many locations, including a cafe. Many props are used in this video, including a guitar, drum kit, staging and chairs. It appears that little artificial lighting is used in this production, which represents the band's heritage, showing that they have come from a deprived background, and where their budget for filming a music video was limited. The costumes that the performers wear in this production is fairly stereotypical with the indie-rock genre, with clothing tending to be fairly ordinary, which again represents the bands history, and makes them more popular with their target audience.

Performance: This video features a mixture of performance and narrative. The performance features the band performing in a studio, with the lead singer positioned in a chair some way in front of the rest of the band. This suggests that he is more important than the other band members. Many close up shots of the instruments being played are included, demostrating the musical talent and ability of the band.

Typical Narratives: This video uses disjuncture to tell the narrative, with seemingly random shots of clowns and darts being used to link to the narrative. This technique works effectively, as it captures the imagination of the audience, encouraging them to keep watching the video, as ultimately, all of the 'random' activities lead to the overall story, which is about the difficulty in reaching a loved one - a subject that indie-rock music commonly touches on.

Our Chosen Song - Chasing Tigers: Idols & Upsets

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We have chosen to use Idols & Upsets by Chasing Tigers as our song for our music video. Chasing Tigers are an unsigned band from Norwich, and are made up of four members - Laurence Brooks, Dylan McCarthy, Jay Wiltshire & James Maas.

They are known for their Indie Pop/Rock music, seeing them sell out all of their gigs last year.

Indie-Rock Genre Analysis

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The 'Indie-Rock' genre was created in the United Kingdom & United States of America in the 1980's, as genre of alternative rock. The term was used to describe bands who retained an 'outsider' perspective as bands became more mainstream in the 1990's. This is also related to the Indie-Pop genre that developed in 1986.

Many famous indie-rock bands have developed over the years, including Oasis, The Arctic Monkeys and Mumford & Sons. These bands have been highly successful, using their brand and identity to help them sell records. These bands use their alternative, laid-back style to give the genre an identity.

Mumford & Sons used unconventional instruments and performance style in their music video of 'I will Wait', which defines the Indie-Rock genre. In the video, Banjos and  Acoustic Guitars are used, which are perhaps not instruments that people would associate with a popular modern song. Also, the performers are presented in a somewhat 'rough and ready' style - unshaven and wearing open-neck shirts and jeans, which is perhaps not style that people would associate with successful bands. In many ways, this adds to the appeal of the genre for many, as people feel that it allows their core values and beliefs to come through.

Many messages are conveyed in the lyrics of songs in the Indie-Rock genre, and that is highlighted below in the lyrical analysis of Roll with It by Oasis.

Indie-rock bands typically comprise of males, who are often based in either the United States or the United Kingdom.

They represent people who come from 'ordinary' backgrounds, and often choose not to live the lifestyle of artists who have been incredibly successful, in the way that bands such as Take That or One Direction may choose to do.

 

Indie-rock bands often dress in a casual way, which is how many people in their target audience may also choose to dress. This helps them to fit in with their target audience, and also represents their background and history.

 

Members of Indie-Rock bands are often middle aged - usually in their 30's or 40's - meaning they have enough real life experience so that their audience believe in their message. This perhaps means that fans have more respect for the members of indie-rock bands than they would for a younger 'boy band', and this adds to the appeal of the genre.

 

Indie rock bands tend to be fairly 'in' with the current fashions. They always dress in fairly conventional and normal clothing, usually casual, therefore not being completely unique like punk bands or creating their own new fashions like emo and heavy metal bands tend to do. Pop is usually fairly similar to indie rock costume but pop sometimes tends to use extravagant costumes and unique ideas to convey the morale of the song or just generally the artist of the music. For example, Lady Gaga is one pop artist who dresses in a very strange way regardless of her audience or what the lyrics of the song she is singing are. This leads to her having a fairly true identity and being unique within the pop industry.

Indie-rock lyrics always seem to be about life in general, they sometimes talk about things to do with relationships but they can also talk about other more random things like Foster the People do with their song 'Pumped Up Kicks' which basically relates to the life of a young person within society who obviouysly isn't as fortunate as other children that surround him.There are lots of indie-rock bands who sing about more random yet still common ideas like Foals, Empire of the Sun and Passion Pit. Although most indie-rock bands do wear traditionally fairly normal casual clothing, Empire of the Sun are one particular group that do not follow these conventions and in some of their muysic videos, they dress very strangely, especially in their video for 'We are the People'.



The conventions of an indie-rock promo:

- Location - tends to be fairly perfromance-based and if it isn't, it usually relates to the moral of the lyrics or the title of the song, indie-rock bands never really use disjuncture as it just isn't conventional for the genre.
- Costume - is usually quite casual and normal in relation to society's norms.
- Props - band perfomance-related props are used quite often in this genre as it portrays to the audience the atmosphere of a live-perfomance as well as shows off the talents of the band members.
- Camerawork - Lots of movement shots as well as mid-shots that are used effectively to show the band members faces as well as them playing their instruments, again promoting the talents of the band to the audience.
- Editing - Fast-paced editing adds to the atmosphere of the music and maintains the audience interest by using a good variety of shots and effects to 'spice up' the overall promo.

There are 2 different types of CD covers for indie-rock bands and performers.

The first of these is band covers; These generally show the members of the band in a fairly normal environment but in a humorous or traditional manner. For example, the Mumford and Sons 'Sigh No More' album cover shows the 4 members of the band standing in a shop window highlighting that they are a casual band. The album covers also sometimes show the band members in fairly unique or unconventional surroundings. Foals are a good example of this with their album cover for 'Total Life Forever' which portrays the band members in a surreal environment (underwater) and shows their carefree style of music by the fact that they are deep underwater without any equipment or breathing apparatus.

The other types of album cover and magazine advert for indie-rock bands is an abstract view of the band or artist. Yet again, Foals are another good example of this with their album cover for 'Antidotes' which shows a drawing of a man with his mouth agape and a type of stained glass window image held within his mouth.

Also, they tend to be quite colourful so that they stand-out to the audience as well as being quite complex or random which shows a good understanding of the genre as I would describe indie-rock music as being catchy and definitely highlighting a carefree and fast-paced way of life. For example, Empire of the Sun and Foster the People highlight this randomness as well as the colourful abstract type of CD cover.

 

 



Choosing our Song

We are currently in the process of choosing a song by an unsigned band to use for our music video.

When looking for songs, we used www.unsigned.com, which is a database of artists and bands that are currently unsigned, along with YouTube, which allowed us to search for bands that were unsigned, giving us a feel of their reputation and following.

We decided that we like songs with a pop/modern feel, with enough pace to the track to allow us to encorporate a variety of shots into the video. After listening to many songs, we have shortlisted three tracks. Links and lyrics can be found below:

Beechwood UK - Recipie for Love (http://www.unsigned.com/beechwooduk)

Walking down the street your eyes are shining

Shining like the stars from above

When I see you smile

It makes it all worthwile

That’s the recipe of love

When the whole world round you sees me smiling

It’s clear that you’re the one for me

It’s there for all to see

That you’re the one for me

That’s the Recipe for Love

Ba b aba b aba b aba ba baa …..

That’s the recipe of Love

Take the pinch of your big eyes are shining

Mix it with the stars from above

Leave it for a while, and serve it with a smile

That’s the recipe for Love

Looking at your face fills me with wonder

A face the whole wide world is dreaming of

No other can compare

To the beauty that is there

That’s the recipe for Love

Ba b aba b aba b aba ba baa …..

That’s the recipe of Love

(Instrumental Solo)

 Ba b aba b aba b aba ba baa …..

That’s the recipe,

That’s the recipe,

That’s the recipe of Love

Twenty One Pilots - Guns for Hands (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmv8aQKO6k0)

I know what you think in the morning

When the sun shines on the ground

And shows what you have done

It shows where your mind has gone

And you swear to your parents

That it will never happen again

I know what that means,

I know

That you all have fun

And you never put the same thing on

And you all have plans

To take, to take it, to take it take it take it

Im trying, I’m trying to sleep

Im trying, I’m trying to sleep

But I can, but I can’t when you all have

Guns for Hands

I’m tryinig, I’m trying to sleep

I’m trying, I’m trying to sleep,

But I can, but I can’t when you all have

Guns for Hands

Let’s take this a second at a time

Let’s take this one song, this one rhyme

Together, let’s breathe

Together, to the beat

But there’s hope out the window

So that’s where we’ll go

Let’s go outside and we’ll all join hands

Join to and you’ll never understand

That you all have fun

And you never put the same thing on

And you all have plans

To take, to take it, to take it take it take it

I’m tryinig, I’m trying to sleep

I’m trying, I’m trying to sleep,

But I can, but I can’t when you all have

Guns for Hands

Hey hey hey hey ya ya ya

Chasing Tigers - Idols and Upsets (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PczwzftrhYk)

For two hours I thought you were never safe

You shocked my heart that way.

Give me chance to make my mind

You left me crying, hurting inside

 I never stop loving you till I die

You got it wrong we said goodbye

So I can’t be who you want so much

The person with the golden touch

Don’t give up on me now

Keep fighting for our love

Don’t give up on me now

You pick me up

You put me down

You pick me up

You put me down

You pick me up

You put me down

You pick me up

You put me down

I’m lying awake I’m aching for you

Please say it’s not true

We can’t change to make you right

Don’t give up without a fight

Don’t give up on me now

Keep fighting for our love

Don’t give up me now

You pick me up

You put me down

You pick me up

You put me down

You pick me up

You put me down

You pick me up

You put me down

(Instrumental)

 You pick me up

You put me down

You pick me up

You put me down

You pick me up

You put me down

You pick me up

You put me down

We have now emailed all three bands, to ask for permission to use their music in our project. Once we have heard back from the bands, we will then make a decision as to which band we like.

Music Video Conventions

Let me Entertain You - Robbie Williams

The music video for Let me Entertain You by Robbie Williams uses many interesting techniques to both challenge and conform to convention.

A variety of shot angles are used in the video, including many close up and mid shots of both the artist and his band. Robbie crouches down at points during the video, and a low angle shot is used to make the audience feel more involved in the video.

A black & white editing effect is used throughout, which is an interesting technique, especially as the video was produced in 1998, when colour filming was increasingly popular. I really like this technique, as it gives a raw, fresh feel to the video, also making it feel more secretive, which results in the audience wanting to learn more about the video.

Robbie's unique style of dress in this video gives it an interesting feel, perhaps suggesting that he is imitating a wild animal. This shows how much of an impact clothing has on the video, and is something that I will consider when we are producing our own music video.

In Bloom - Nirvana

The music video for In Bloom by Nirvana also uses some unusual techniques to capture the attention of its audience. The video is filmed from the perspective of the audience who are watching the performance on stage. This video challenges convention, as the shots tend to be fairly slow-paced, and the types of shots do not vary greatly.

The video is given a 1960's feel, as a black and white filter, along with one that gives a blurred, grainy feel, has been applied in the edit. The video reminds me of some of the first music videos to be produced, as they had a very basic feel. This feeling is amplified, as there is no narrative included in the video, which is very unusual. However, the video uses crowd shots, which is very unusual, but perhaps suggests that the narrative comes from the fans following the band's progress, and how people enjoy watching the band so much.

This video challenges stereotypical convention for a music video, and introduces some ideas that I may be able to encorporate into our music video.


Red - Taylor Swift

The music video for Red by Taylor Swift is in many ways similar to the Nirvana video mentioned earlier. This is once again a performance-based video, but this time the narrative is set in more modern times, so a wider variety of shots is accompanied by faster editing. Point of View shots are often used in this video, to give the viewer an impression both from the position of the audience who are watching the performance and from the artist who is on stage.

This time, coloured lighting is used frequently, with a wash of red often being used, perhaps to make a link to the title of the song. Furthermore, smoke and laser effects are occasionally used, which gives an added element of drama and production. This video uses editing more creatively, with slow-motion shots often being included.

Although this style of video is probably not achievable given our production budget, this video has shown how effective use of lighting and special effects can make a big difference in a production, and these elements could potentially be used to our advantage in our music video.