Casting and Model Release Forms

Comparative textual analysis

Symphony by clean bandit ft. Zara Larson

I encountered this mix of performance and narrative illustration pop music video through YouTube’s recommended feed. The narrative is simple and follows a theme of lost love which appeals to the audience as they can easily relate to it. Due to me watching this through YouTube I wasn’t surprised that I interpreted it this way – music videos are designed to interest the audience and be memorable enough that they watch it repeatedly (which is achieved as the audience can relate to the protagonist).

Furthermore, the 16 – 25-year-old audience is attracted to this video as it follows the typical conventions of a pop music video – during the chorus the setting changed to the performance where the setting is grander (in a performance hall) and the lighting is more high key. During the verses the setting changes to the city where natural light is used (daytime in flashbacks and night time in present – reflecting the character’s emotions). During the bridge near the end the pace of the song slows and is more upbeat – the narrative and performance joins where it is revealed that the character is composing the song. Because of this it could be argued that this music video follows Roland Barthes theory of the ‘grain of voice’. This also follows the conventions of the artist fitting in to the narrative. Other typical shots such as close ups on the performer, over the shoulder shots, cuts on the beat of the song and fast paced editing is also used.

In contrast, the music video doesn’t follow all conventions. Typically, in pop music themes of safety and happiness are portrayed throughout. Although, this song is upbeat and the flashbacks and ending create a happy mood – the context of the narrative is emotional and focuses around the death of someone close to you. This means that it is hard for the audience to have different interpretations of the video which is also not a typical convention – music videos tend to have a loose narrative to appeal to multiple people who can interpret it in their own way therefore making it repeatable. This also means when paired with the upbeat song the audience find themselves ‘reading against the grain’ of the text. Furthermore, the two main settings are located in completely different places – conventionally locations are close to together. Moreover, the location of the city at night appeals to a certain audience who live in the city and can relate – the video makes assumptions about your class, gender and ethnicity as it focuses around two males in their 20s who are working class. In contrast, to this the performance part of the video focuses on the female singer who is wearing expensive clothing and is in an extravagant location (performance theater).

Treat you better by Shawn Mendes

Similarly, to ‘Symphony’ this music video is also a performance and narrative illustration pop music video. I encountered it through the ‘up next’ feed on YouTube – similar instrument and pace are used to ‘Symphony’. Both of these music videos are focused around themes of lost love which appeal to a 16-25-year-old demographic. Furthermore, frequent shots of close up and tracking shots of Shawn Mendes are used – following the conventions of pop music videos. Other conventions include camera pans, point of view shots and the use of acoustic instruments. This is done to appeal to a mainstream psychographic audience because the point of this music video is to advertise the song and/or album. Moreover, due to this, assumptions of audience could be white, middle class and young females. However, similar to ‘Symphony’ both of these video narratives are set in the city and portray a negative tone. Specifically, this narrative focuses on an abusive boyfriend paired with the lyrics ‘I could treat you better’ suggesting that the audience are working class and live in the ruff part of a city (in order for them to relate to the narrative). Or, this portrayal of a narrative could be for the audience to sympathise with Shawn Mendes. This proves that this narrative is open to different interpretations and therefore shows repeatability.

Furthermore, this video doesn’t share all convention of a pop music video. There is very little use of bright colours in both the narrative and performance aspects of the video. This contrasts with ‘Symphony’ which has brighter shots in the performance and doesn’t appeal to a mainstream audience who watch pop music videos for the happy tone. Also, in this video Shawn Mendes is shown to be in a close location to the girl in the narrative which also contrasts with ‘Symphony’.

Rather Be by Clean Bandit Ft. Jess Glynn

Unlike ‘Symphony’ and ‘Treat you better’ this is a disjuncture narrative pop music video. This narrative is very loose and open to interpretations – fitting with the pop music video conventions and appealing to a mainstream audience. In addition, it could be argued that the song is used as diegetic sound because it is what the girl in the narrative is listening to. Other conventions that this music video follows are: featuring the band in the video and having bright colour with natural light in a busy city location. This is similar to the other music videos as they are both set in cities, however, this city is brighter and set in the day. It also shows a clear Japanese culture. Because of this assumptions of the audience could be international as it would appeal to both a Japanese (due to iconography), UK and US audience.

In contrast to the other pop music videos this video shows a happy tone throughout and is useful in acting as an advertisement as it features the main character as enjoying listening to the song throughout the day as she does a daily routing – allowing the audience to relate. However, this video doesn’t follow all conventions. For example, there is no change in pace or editing of the song.

Conclusion

Similar conventions across these three pop music videos are shooting in similar location, features of the artist, variety of camera shots. Every video began with an establishing shot of the location and their facial expressions are usually them smiling or laughing (with exception of Shawn Mendes’s song). In addition, all of these videos features product place or contain references to brands such as Nike (intertextuality).