Textual Analysis of a music video:
The Streets – Blinded by the lights
The song was a big hit for the streets and is from the album ‘A Grand Don't Come for Free’, and was produced by the label ‘Vice Records’. It was released in 2004 and hit the high end of the British charts. I have chosen to analyse this music video as i think it links well with the narrative and genre of the song that we will be using to create our music video. The Wild Eyes – Breakdown clearly has many meanings behind the lyrics, the main one clearly being drugs and addiction. The Streets – Blinded by the lights clearly has drug usage in the video and the lyrics back this up. The lead singer Mike Skinner is on a night out at what is shown to be a wedding reception, and is clearly under the influence of alcohol and drugs. In the lyrics, the audience hears him say that he is going to the toilets to do drugs, and that he can taste hairspray. Later on, he states his need for water and his feeling of paranoia, which reminds the audience of his drug usage. Camera work also plays a big part in showing and reminding the audience of Skinners intoxication as it is very disorientated and point-of-view like at times. The video was directed by Adam Smith.
The Streets songs usually fit best into the ‘grime’ genre, and Blinded by the Lights is no exception. However, this song is slightly different to what the streets had previously done, as it is more upbeat and could almost fit into a dance music genre as well. The fact that the dance theme is in this song as well, means that it has being incorporated in the music video so that the audience adapt to it well and understand the narrative of the video and the message that that song is telling a lot easier. This is portrayed in the video with a close up the protagonist (Mike Skinner) on a dance floor. Not only is he in this setting, but depth of field is used, meaning that the background is out of focus. This suggests that what the character is seeing is also disorientated and out of focus, this along with the fact that the characters face is shown clearly in a close up allows the audience to make connotations that he is intoxicated. There is low lighting in the room, but flashing lights are being used, showing that he is at a party but also suggesting his state of mind. Most videos of the grime genre have drug and alcohol usage, and young stereotypical teen features, personalities and lifestyles. This is sometimes on the streets or in a party, club bar etc. Grime music can be shown in many different ways, whether it is almost intimidating with low lighting and an eerie feeling, or whether it is with hyperactive party atmosphere. Misé en scene plays a huge part in this, and editing camera work and lighting all back this up. Also fitting into this genre is the slightly violent closing the video, as grime is stereotypically linked to juvenile ‘thuggish’ people, with a lot of reference to drug usage, violence and strong language in the songs. Most videos of the dance music genre have the party element in them. This is sometimes in a night club, or at a house party or living a glamorous lifestyle in limousines and on stage. Dance music is usually shown in a hyperactive way, but can sometimes go other ways when it corresponds with lyrics or characters state of mind instead. Again, misé en scene plays a huge part in this and editing, lighting and camera work increase the effectiveness of the visuals.
In this particular video, alcohol, cigarettes and drugs are almost used to tell the story, and are major props. This is similar to a lot or grime and dance music videos, and are linked with not only these types of music but the people lifestyles that come with them. In this video, these elements are not only shown through images and shots of the substances themselves, but through the use of camera work and editing also. Things like slow motion, speeding up, jump cuts, disorientation and depth of field help in the video, as it shows what the character is seeing, his state of mind, and the effects that the substances have taken on him. In this video it is shown to a huge extent as the particularly intoxicated character is the protagonist and is known to be the main man from the band The Streets.
To start off the video there is only dialogue, with no backing music. It is the protagonist who is speaking and he appears to be on the phone to his girlfriend, this conversation is a very strong opening to the song and music video as it sets the narrative. In the conversation he mentions that he is supposed to be meeting her, this is significant as the audience is shown throughout that he never actually meets her. Throughout the video the character and the song makes reference to what is being shown in the video. This . The lyrics and the visuals are linked well, as he states he 'there’s no reception on the phone' which the audience would have guessed or known to be true as when he is trying to contact his girlfriend he is cut off. Later on, he says 'people keep pushing me' the camera movement and editing back this up, as it is a point of view shot of the protagonist being pushed. He is holding a tablet/pill as he describes what the drug looks like, 'these look well speckled, a bit green and blue' without the visuals from the music video you wouldn't understand what the artist is talking about and the lyrics wouldn’t make as much sense to you. When he talks about the taste of the drugs a close up shot of him taking the pill is shown, and as before, without the visuals the audience would not necessarily know what he is talking about.
You can make tell that the protagonist is very nervous and feels as though he has a conscience, as he states, 'i wish the bouncers would go away' and then there is a shot of children under a table holding a video camera, which could suggest that the bouncers aren't really watching him, its just children and the other people at the party, but he is nervous because he knows he is doing something wrong.
The protagonist then walks to the entrance of the party and the lyrics 'i hate coming to the entrance, just to get bars on my phone' are followed, which can be easily linked with what was said before about him having no reception, this again helps the audience understand what the visuals are supposed to be, as the camera shots are mainly mid- close up shots of the protagonist so you don't really get an establishing shot of his surroundings, but you do get a strong sense of his emotions, the lyrics help with this, making sure that the narrative flow is consistent and strong. 'Where are you and Simone' is said by the protagonist, however he is not shown, instead there are visuals of what the audience can make easy assumptions to be the protagonist's girlfriend in a cloakroom with another man, the audience can make connotations that the characters are having an affair. We also know the man is the protagonists friend, as he receives a text message from him.
The lyrics and visuals also link well with each other when the protagonist is stood at a bar and the lyrics: 'brandy or beer? Waters a good idea. I wish the bar lady would appear, and come serve over here' follow, to show that the protagonist is waiting to be served, even though the audience know that the character is already highly intoxicated. A jump cut to the protagonist walking down the corridor with the camera tracking him, show that he is sweating and looks like he has taken drugs yet the lyrics are 'I'm still not feeling anything, this has got to be a dud' this is to show the characters mental state, and that he is in denial as to how intoxicated he really is. The camera is tracking at a slow pace, so it looks like the character is walking in slow motion, then there is a jump cut to another male character who has been along side the protagonist taking drugs, with a point of view shot, to show what the protagonist is now seeing. The characters seem to be having a conversation however it is unclear, due to the tracking and camera shots used to show the mental state of the two characters, yet they continue to take more drugs. The camera work in this is used to reflect how intoxicated the characters are. The protagonist then enters the bathroom in which his girlfriend is in the next cubicle with his friend, creating dramatic irony 'these toilets are a piss take, Queue's bigger than the door...glad I'm not a girl in this place, they'll be here till dawn' Simone then leaves with the man she was with in the next cubicle, and the protagonist continues to take more drugs, the lyrics are: 'maybe i shouldn't have done the second one, I feel all fidgety and warm' this shows the effect of the drugs and that he is finally feeling it.
'Everything in the room is spinning' this is in relation with the visuals of the protagonist being tracked in a circle, meaning the audience and the protagonist are experiencing the same disorientation. Flashing lights are in the background, as their has just been a cross cut from the toilet he was in, to the dance floor he is now on. His face is sweaty, and he is very pale and looks washed and spaced out, showing his mental and physical state. The lyrics then continue to be in relation with the visuals of the protagonist 'tripping out' the camera movement continues to track the protagonist in a circle motion, there is then a cross cut to shots of other people at the party watching the protagonist, and talking about the state he is in, a fight then breaks out once there are no more lyrics and just a beat is playing, that has been continuous throughout the song, which then fades out, and a close up of the protagonist bloody face is shown, from this the audience can tell that the music fading out signifies the end of the night out, and how it has ended badly due to the drugs taken.
There are lots of close-ups of the artist, including tracking and extreme close ups, however he is not portrayed with star image motifs, the audience witness his experiences with drug takings and how they affect him at a wedding reception. The wedding reception does not look particularly expensive, and there are no familiar faces within the audience of other guests in which you can see. You do not think of this artist to be famous or even well known, but more like a working class man, who takes drugs and is involved in fights.
The music video is a mixture of both narrative-based and concept-based, as the instances of shots of drug takings, and fights allow the concept of drugs to be explored, however the fact he has no signal on his phone at the beginning and throughout and he is trying to get hold of his girlfriend, yet she is at the same party, just with another man, creates a narrative flow and allows the audience to understand the purpose of each character.
