Notes for Analysis of Concept Based Music Video 1

Music Video Title: Call me in the afternoon

Artist: Half Moon Run

Duration of Music Video: 3:08

Shot Count: 84

N.O of shots per minute: 26 (average)

Beats per minute: 68

Lyrics and Visuals –

Examples of the visuals complimenting the lyrics:

- “Call me in the afternoon” visuals show hands shaped as mouths opening and shutting as if they are calling out. The hands represent the people.

- “You confuse me with your riddles” visuals show two eyes in the sky looking around in confusion.

- “Take one if you need it but you really shouldn't be out this late” this lyric is repeated several times through the song and shows a typical Alice and wonderland type girl in a forest and being caught up in different unpleasant experiences e.g. references to death, getting lost, fire. Implying that she is somewhere dangerous.

- The forest coming to life.

Music and Visuals –

Examples of the visuals complimenting the music:

- The mouths in the sky moving when the artist is singing the lyrics.

- The editing cuts to the pace of the music

- Hands moving/dancing to the music

- Girl jumping on the skipping rope to the beat of the music

- Hands clapping to the beat of the music

- Teeth chattering to the beat of the music- Balloons pulsing to the beat of the music- Insects crawling up a tree to the beat of the music- Hands moving round the tree- Eyes opening and closing to the beat

Genres Exist –

The genre is conceptual based music video.

Generally the genre includes:

Concept Based videos are normally unusual or unique and are based around one idea. The majority of the time they concentrate on a particular technique e.g. editing.

The main concept of this music video is the use of the forest to create a supernatural/weird atmosphere to a natural setting/location. Combining natural and unnatural. The narrative of the lyrics is someone getting drunk or/and high and this is what happens when they do.

Examples of the natural:

- Trees- Grass- Animals- Sea- Insects- Corn field

Examples of unnatural:

- Hands singing- Body in a bag- Fire- Smoke blown through a tree- Mouths singing in the sky- Eyes in the sky- Skipping rope being spun by hands

Also there is a theme of opposites and mirror images which infers the girl might have two sides to her perhaps the ‘good and the bad’ or the ‘sane and the insane’. This is inferred also through the lyrics of the song; “Take one if you need it but you really shouldn't get this fucked up”; Swallow till you go blind and find a little company”.

Artist Close Ups –

Examples of close ups:

- Unusually the only close ups are of the artists mouths and eyes rather than the artist themselves. Here the artist’s role is the advisor/guardian angel/ friend of the girl who is trying to get through to her that her drugs/drink problem is wrong and should stop.

Star Iconography –

Examples of branding or unique selling points highlighted:

- Unique point that the artist is not featured in the music video at all.- The artist is portrayed through the concept of the narrative.

Voyeurism –

Examples of voyeurism (location):

- Inside the mind of someone addicted to drugs or alcohol

Intertextuality –

Examples of intertextuality:

- Slight intertextual reference to Alice and wonderland through the girl’s costume, the animals in the video (deer, rabbit) and the location of a forest. As well as the personality of the character (girl) being playful and adventurous.