SECTION 3 - Personal Analysis of Relevant Music Videos

MEN WITHOUT HATS - SAFETY DANCE

ASPECTS OF PERFORMANCE/MODE OF ADDRESS
There is an indirect mode of address, as the actor is playing a part in the narrative rather than addressing the audience, but still appears to play the main role. However, there are parts of the video where a direct mode of address is used, as if he is singing to the audience. While there is no visuals of a band playing, there is numerous scenes with various actors dancing as part of the performance, although this is also part of the narrative.

HOW DOES THE VIDEO CREATE AN IMAGE FOR THE STAR/ARTIST/BAND?
The video creates an unusual, bizarre, lively and youthful image for the singer, due to him dancing around constantly through fields and through the village as if he's a child, portraying the idea that it's "ok to dance" even though the video itself doesn't make much sense.

NARRATIVE
The narrative appears to be linear, although the narrative structure itself is vague. The man appears in the beginning to be dancing and running through a field, gathering people as he dances to join him until the whole village is dancing.

HOW DO THE VISUAL ELEMENTS RELATE TO THE SONG?
The visuals appear to vaguely amplify/illustrate the song's lyrics, purely amplifying and illustrating the mention of dancing in the lyrics into spontaneous dance scenes.

MISE EN SCENE
The setting appears to be in the English countryside, near and around a small village perhaps set in medieval times due to the clothing used by the actors on the scene. Everyone appears to conform to this, with the women wearing long dresses and the men wearing ruffled brown waistcoats and other clothing in that era. Morris dancing is also featured, along with a vague element of a choreographed dance.

EDITING
The editing doesn't appear to be in time with the music, and appears more to move along with the narrative rather than the music itself. Lip synch is used throughout the scenes as he sings during the narrative.However, there is fast paced editing at the last few seconds of the video, cutting through a number of black and white static images very quickly in time with the beat.

USE OF CAMERA
A long shot is used with panning as two of the characters run through the field. This is followed by a two shot of them as they sing to each other. A tracking shot is used also as he walks along singing. Arial zoom shots are also used to give a birds-eye view of the village as it zooms in closer.

REPRESENTATION
Everyone in the video appears to be depicted as lively, happy, yet somewhat loopy due to their constant dancing and "too happy" attitude. The smaller man however is wearing a jester's costume, which could represent a negative stereotype, portraying him as something to laugh at.

SPECIAL EFFECTS
There are no special effects that appear to be used in this video, apart from possibly in the first few seconds with the possible UFO in the sky in the first scene.

AUDIENCE
The audience for this type of music video would appear to be viewers of retro 80's music but also modern culture due to it's loopy nature, shown on music channels such as VH1 Classic. It is vibrant with a strong beat, suited for a young audience.

GENRE
The genre is very distinctly 80's pop, as the beat identifies this clearly. The target audience would be anywhere from 16-50, due to the distinctive, catchy sound that appeals to a wide audience.


A-HA - TAKE ON ME


ASPECTS OF PERFORMANCE/MODE OF ADDRESS
There is an indirect mode of address, as the actor is playing a part in the narrative rather than addressing the audience, but still plays the main role. The man in the comic book is in the band, but plays an important part in the narrative whereas the other band members do not appear to have any significance to the narrative other than to provide a performance for the viewer.

HOW DOES THE VIDEO CREATE AN IMAGE FOR THE STAR/ARTIST/BAND?
The video creates a heroic, romantic image for the singer in the band, due to him protecting and fighting to be with her, even though he only exists in the comic book world, which could also depict an image that he's "too good to be true".

NARRATIVE
The narrative appears to be linear. There is a clear structure to the narrative, as there is a woman reading what appears to be a comic book in a restaurant, when a character from the comic pulls her into his "world". He walks with her inside his world, singing to her. Meanwhile in the real world, a waitress notices the woman is missing, and assuming that she left without paying, scrunches up the comic book and chucks it in the bin. This appears to cause other "scenes" in the book to blend together, resulting in bikers with wrenches attacking the main characters. The two flee, but reach a dead end. The man opens up a hole in his comic book world, allowing the woman to escape back into reality. She hurries back to her home with the scrumpled up comic, and discovers him trying to escape from the comic book world to be with her.

HOW DO THE VISUAL ELEMENTS RELATE TO THE SONG?
The visuals appear to vaguely amplify the song, describing the man's struggle to be with her despite the problems he faces and his short-lived life in a comic book.

MISE EN SCENE
The setting is inside restaurant during open hours. There appear to be normal people in the background, yet all are dressed in 80's clothing which was then modern. The two main characters in the video however stand out from the rest, as they appear to be more pysically attractive to highlight the romance between them.

EDITING
The editing appears to be fast paced at the beginning, depicting the scenes in the comic book. Lip synch is used as the actor is singing to the woman inside the comic book world. Match on action is used between the sketch and "real" shots. The video appears to be in time with the song, and is quite fast and "active".

USE OF CAMERA
Several extreme close ups are used in the beginning to show the scenes of the comic as they unfold. This is combined with zooms to create the impression of movement in a static image. This is followed throughout the narrative by close and extreme close ups to show the expressions on the characters faces. A point of view shot is used as the woman reads the comic, panning from page to page. Two shots are also used throughout the video as the two main characters move around together in the comic book world.

REPRESENTATION
The woman in the video appears to be shown as a "dreamer" due to her interest in comics at an older age. Her imagination however appears to turn to reality, with the man (artist) displayed in the text represented as heroic, dashing yet purely a fantasy character. The others shown in the real world don't appear to have any special qualities, represented simply as normal people, unable to understand her adventure.

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special effects are heavily used in the form of animation combined with real imagery to create the "comic book world" which is shown throughout the video.

AUDIENCE
The audience for this type of music video would appear to be viewers of retro 80's music, shown on music channels such as VH1 Classic. It is vibrant with a strong beat, suited for a young audience yet also liked by older people.

GENRE
The genre is very distinctly 80's pop, as the beat identifies this clearly. The target audience would be anywhere from 16-50, due to the distinctive, catchy sound that appeals to a wide audience.