Foo Fighters - All My Life

The music video for All My Life by the Foo Fighters is a prime example of the classic music promo becuase it uses it's video to advertise themselves and their produce. For example, the video begins with an establishing shot of a classic box office sign that reads 'Foo Fighters in Concert Tonight' it then pans right to a collaseum type stadium. This obvious peice of advertising informs the audience who the band is and it promotes that they're are/were on tour.
It then cuts to a MS of the band walking towards the camera, there are various shots showing the band members and how they dress, how they walk, their guitars and even amplifiers at the side of the shot with the bands name on. These are all typical self-promoting techniques because it displays the iconic features of the bands appearance. Plus it also represents them in the same way most bands are represented which allows audiences to relate to the familarity. Meanwhile in the bacground, the intro to the song has begun and the intro is a soft but steady beat on the guitar which sets the pace of the song, and their walking mirrors this rhythm. As the band walk out onto the dark stage, the lead vocalist steps into the spotlight which is on the microphone. Throughout the entire introduction sequence, we were seeing the band from a backstage perspective, this gives the audience of the video an insight to behind the scenes which the audience at a gig wouldn't see. As Dave Grohl, the lead vocalist, begins singing he is shot in BEV with a crane camera, he is also marginalised in the centre, and the rest of the band are in darkness, this is because Dave Grohl started the band as a one man project. The camera pans down and gets closer, and the rhythm is still stays the same until half way through the first verse when there is a big outbreak of sound, which is when the lights come up, we see the band and there are various shots of drum slamming, flashing lights, fast guitaring, head banging and sweat, all iconic to the rock genre. Also, a curtain then falls from the back to reveal a giant poster illastration of a heart, which is symbolic of the Foo Fighters as it is the album cover for their fourth album 'One by One' which this song is from. Further on in the song, this poster falls to reveal the single cover, and then even further on it shows the 'FF' symbol which represents Foo Fighters, this is another example of self advertisement.
The pace of the editing is depicted by the pace of the song, during the instramental parts which are fast paced, the shots are constently changing and not staying on one for more than a second. Also, when the lyrics re-enter, Dave Grohl is seen when singing, and then for each riff inbetween each line it cuts to 2 or 3 various places on the stage to fit with the song.
Later on in the song, it returns to the same rhythm as the intro, by this time the band are all worked up in the song that the director, Dave Grohl himself, decided to use slow motion to slow down the pace of the video to fit with the rhythm of the song. It shows an arrangement of slow motion jumping, spinning, falling, and all their aggresive facial expressions which all in all is what creates the rock genre.

Music Video Analysis

Dykeenies - Stitches



This music video visualises a song called 'Stitches' by a primarily indie rock band called Dykeenies. The video, produced by Dave Eringa, emcompasses the original style of music video in which the band is shown playing live. Meanwhile, still incorperating a modern day music video narrative in keeping with the topic the lyrics in the song put forth. The video portrays an uplifting look back to one of the band members childhood stuggles, and in conjunction with the anthemic motivational song, it shows how he overcame it.
The extract begins with a collaboration of shots composing the band and small boy in similar shots, for example; the first MS is of the lead vocalists feet/legs standing by his microphone, the following shot is of a childs legs walking onto a playground. This juxtaposition suggests that the director is conveying that the little boy is the lead vocalist as a child. The variety of shots are neatly timed to the music, it starts as a slow pace and gradually builds up, the first shot of his feet is held for one whole measure, then the next few shots of the band and the boy walking are held for half a measure making the pace of the editing seem faster, and then shorter shots still andd then the boy kicks the football and it hits the fence parallel to when the music sounds a loud beat.
This conjunctive music to action continues through the intro until the singing begins, when the use of lip-syncing creates further connections between the song and the narrative in the video. At 0:27, a CU shot is used to show a girl appears walking towards the screen as she begins to singing in sync with the song, it then cuts to the vocalist singing the same lyrics. A S.R.S. presents a CU of an examiner/judge writing, then to an LS of the girl singing on stage shot over the judges shoulder, and then back to the judge giving a disapproving glance up to the girl singing. This represents an audition for something, connoting the pressures and stuggles of childhood relating back to the content of the song. The following shot displays an ECU of the girl head with the boy shot in the background, head down and playing with his hands conveying that he is nervous, which suggests he will also be auditioning. As the girl finishes and walks off stage she looks at the camera, putting the audience in the eyes of the little boy, this allows the audience to relate with him because everybody has felt scared or nervous and can sympathise with the boy.
The boy stares longingly at the girl as she walks off and then at the stage, then it cuts to the band as the music quietens and the drums soften and form a heartbeat like tempo, then the lyrics "It's not out of reach" are sung repeated, increasingly louder. As the boy walks onto the stage in MS, he appears blinded by the lights and anxiously stands and sings whilst cutting frequently to the band singing as if to motivate him. They sing "burst those stitches" which i believe is a metaphor for being brave and taking chances. As the judge is shown CU again looking even more disapprovingly and shaking his head, the apprehensive boy throws off his tie and runs for the door. A series of shots focus on him running away outside until he falls over and smack his head on the ground, this is when the song slows down pace again and so does the pace of editing, it has one shot showing the boy lying face down and then the girl appears and lip-syncs "It's not out of reach" and kisses him on the forehead.
It then begins to rain as he looks up, blood pouring down his face, the vocalist is shown singing "Don't, don't run away dear". To which the boy is shown walking back to the stage, covered in blood and singing whilst smiling to the judges disbelief. The song builds up to its climatic ending and the vocalist is shown with wet hair and blood stained shirt as a graphic match to the boy who is seen doing the same.

Brief

My chosen brief is:
Brief 1-
A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, no longer than five minutes duration, together with:
a cover for its release as part of a digipack (CD/DVD package)
a magazine advertisement for the digipack (CD/DVD package)

I have chosen this because i am more interested in music media as apposed to film, therefore i feel i will have more fun with this brief. Plus i wanted to try something a bit different to usual.