The first video i will be looking at is 'Blinded by the Lights.'
The song is from the album: A Grand Don't Come for Free
Label: Vice Records
Director of the video is: Adam Smith
Mike Skinner is waiting to meet his girlfriend at a wedding reception, but she is late and he is getting irritated. He starts pounding the booze and other intoxicants to a point where reality disappears.
The song is from the album: A Grand Don't Come for Free
Label: Vice Records
Director of the video is: Adam Smith
Mike Skinner is waiting to meet his girlfriend at a wedding reception, but she is late and he is getting irritated. He starts pounding the booze and other intoxicants to a point where reality disappears.
Genre Characteristics:
This particular song by the streets has elements of the dance genre in, therefore this is portrayed in the video with the use of a close up of mike skinner on the dance floor with an out focused background and flashing lights to show he is at a party, and the closeup helps you make connotations that he is on drugs and is tripping as the out focused background is his point of view. Most videos of the dance music genre have an element of partying in them, either it is a club in Ibiza or a house party; dance music videos are able to focus on one individuals experience at a particular party, through use of out focus/in focus, lighting, and camera angles and movement.
Alcohol, cigarettes and drugs, are props used throughout this video, these items happen to appear a lot in dance music videos, as they are linked with the party lifestyle. The importance of them in this video, is that through use of camera shots and movements, and editing transitions such as: slow motion and jump cuts, you are able to see the effects these substances have on an individual which happens to be the protagonist in the music video and the front man of the streets Mike Skinner.
There is also a build up to a fight at the end, which is associated with the 'grime' music genre, and as Mike Skinner is an MC, his music is often associated with this genre. The fight is between all men at a wedding reception, and a close up of a bloody face, is the last shot of the video.The reasons you can make connotations that a fight is linked with the genre of grime, is because the people that make grime music are often stereotyped as 'thugs' who cause trouble, or are in a gang, and usually working class, so they may live on a council estate, and they're lyrics are often about violence and crime and contain swearing and slang.
The relationship between lyrics and music with visuals:
There is dialogue at the beginning with no music playing, by the protagonist as he is on the phone to his girlfriend, the phone plays a vital part in the narrative as it shows you the name of his girlfriend 'Simone' and where they are supposed to meet 'in the corner' this is important as he doesn't end up meeting his girlfriend. The lyrics and the visuals are closely linked, as he states he 'no reception on the phone' which we have early connotations of due to the fact his phone cuts off when he is trying to talk to his girlfriend. When he says 'people keep pushing me' the camera movement tracks the protagonist being pushed. He is holding a pill as he describes what the drug looks like, 'these look well spekley, a bit green and blue' without the visuals from the music video you wouldn't necessarily understand what the artist is talking about.
You can make connotations that the protagonist is anxious 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.
When he talks about the taste of the drugs a close up shot of him taking the drug is shown, and as aforementioned without the visuals the audience would not necessarily know what he is talking about.
There is also a build up to a fight at the end, which is associated with the 'grime' music genre, and as Mike Skinner is an MC, his music is often associated with this genre. The fight is between all men at a wedding reception, and a close up of a bloody face, is the last shot of the video.The reasons you can make connotations that a fight is linked with the genre of grime, is because the people that make grime music are often stereotyped as 'thugs' who cause trouble, or are in a gang, and usually working class, so they may live on a council estate, and they're lyrics are often about violence and crime and contain swearing and slang.
The relationship between lyrics and music with visuals:
There is dialogue at the beginning with no music playing, by the protagonist as he is on the phone to his girlfriend, the phone plays a vital part in the narrative as it shows you the name of his girlfriend 'Simone' and where they are supposed to meet 'in the corner' this is important as he doesn't end up meeting his girlfriend. The lyrics and the visuals are closely linked, as he states he 'no reception on the phone' which we have early connotations of due to the fact his phone cuts off when he is trying to talk to his girlfriend. When he says 'people keep pushing me' the camera movement tracks the protagonist being pushed. He is holding a pill as he describes what the drug looks like, 'these look well spekley, a bit green and blue' without the visuals from the music video you wouldn't necessarily understand what the artist is talking about.
You can make connotations that the protagonist is anxious 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.
When he talks about the taste of the drugs a close up shot of him taking the drug is shown, and as aforementioned without the visuals the audience would not necessarily know what he is talking about.
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 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, the lyrics help with this causing a smooth narrative flow.
'Where are you and Simone' is the lyrics used to correspond with the visuals of the protagonist's girlfriend in a cloakroom with another man, the audience can make connotations that the characters are having an affair, as we know the man is the protagonists friend, as he receives a text message from the protagonist.
'Where are you and Simone' is the lyrics used to correspond with the visuals of the protagonist's girlfriend in a cloakroom with another man, the audience can make connotations that the characters are having an affair, as we know the man is the protagonists friend, as he receives a text message from the protagonist.
The lyrics and visuals correspond 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. 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, as people are often in denial of how 'trashed' they are when they have taken intoxicants. 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 lyrics and the visuals become ironic, when the protagonist enters the bathroom in which his girlfriend is in the next cubicle with his friend, 'these toilets are a piss take, Que'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 drugs, and how you do not know when to stop, once you are under the influence.
'Everything in the room is spinning' this is in relation with the visuals of the protagonist being tracked in a circle, with flashing lights in the background, as their has just been a jump cut from the toilet he was in, to the dance floor he is now on. He face is sweaty, and he is pasty, which shows his mental 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 jump 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, you can make connotations 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 effect him at a wedding reception, therefore you do not think of this artist to be a 'star' 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.
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.
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