Music Video Analysis (Tame Impala - The Less I Know The Better)

"The Less I know The Better" is a disco-inspired song by Australian psychedelic rock act Tame Impala. The act has garnered significant popularity in recent years leading up to the hit-success of their most recent album, Currents. The accompanying clip to the song (above) was directed by Spanish production company CANADA. It builds upon the teenage love-struck lyricism and combines it with reflexivity to deliver a surrealist view of high school heartbreak. Largely shot from the male protagonists perspective; it is a as though we're watching a psychotic breakdown unfold in retro style and flare.

According to the founder and lead singer/producer, Kevin Parker, the song was heavily inspired by disco music. Many intersexual references to this genre and time-period are hence present throughout. The first noticeable throwback to this era is the 4:3 "television" aspect ratio. This ratio has since been phased out by the TV broadcasting industry in order to achieve a more cinematic quality to television. The vintage pastele colour palette is also very evocative of the 70's/80's. Born in '86, this stylisation of film is perhaps somewhat nostalgic to Parker's early youth.

Thematically, a blond woman being taken by a gorilla of some sorts holds obvious parallels to King Kong; especially considering the initial literal larger-than-life size of the gorillas' hand in one scene. Not-so-subtle references to The Empire State Building solidify this acknowledgment later on in the psychedelic paint animation sequence. This sequence adds to the psychedelic nature of Tame Impalas recent music, artwork and overall aesthetic. The is also very reminiscent of The Beetles' "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" and 1960's pop culture in general.

Codes/conventions
No performance by the band.
There is a narrative
Visual concept suites the psychedelic nature of the bands music
Does not include iconography of the bands image - apart from the psychedelic nature
Includes dancing and sychronised choreography - a staple of the pop genre of music videos.
catered towards a young teenage audience as per the ages of those in the video?
Styling of the actors is very early 80's

Intertextual references
Opens up with people walking as the camera tracks them from behind - evocative of the Bee Gees opening to Stayin' Alive. The characters in this film are also predominately situated in the centre of the frame as per the conventions of the genre.
Empire state building is shown towards the end- reference to the YMCA video?
Reminds me of the dream sequence in The Big Lebowski - bright colours on a black background - slow motion + surrealism.
The black sculpture-like figure that gets the paint poured on it is doing the same position of that of the sculptures in A Clockwork Orange.
The sequence is possibly inspired by "Heathers" 1988.  The girl in the clip is also called Heather.

Costume
The girl wears an all pale yellow suite at one point - evocative of a banana - showing that she belongs to to Trevor (the gorilla). She also has a gorilla hand around her.

Cinematography
Very stylised
the characters movements are dramatic - almost cartoonish - echoed by the water-colour animation at the end of the video.
The colours are bold and bright on a low key setting. Neon lighting. Tinted.
Trevor and the guy are never in the same shot together.

There's a "T" on her t-shirt - signifying she belongs with Trevor

Primary colours in the ending sequence

Illustrative
Shows the mascot of the team (Trevor) of whom he mentions Heather falls for
We see a man dressed in a red cape - reference to the "superman" lyrics at the end of the song
We see the conversation between the pair thats mentioned in the second verse. Miming of the lyrics as per the pop/disco video conventions.

Theres a target in the middle of the basket ball court - where Heather dances.

Trevor does a Victory celebration in front of our protagonist in the hallway. The "Jock" takes his frustration out on the "nerd" mascot who has his girl.
Its possible the Trevor thing is vaguely racist - Trevor has become urban slang for a black male who is under the influence of/ has taken on a white culture.


Voyeurism
Many shots that would be considered as "the male gaze" - showing
A lot of looking directly towards the camera

Editing
Numerous jump cuts are made
Match on action cuts
Shot-reverse-shot
Temporal overlapse as Trevor is hit by the basket ball.

Slow motion

Amplification:
The visual change to the pouring of the paint matches the change in the audio during the first chorus.
The gradual pouring and dripping suites the legato notes of the keyboard/bass.
Slow-moption is utilised to match the long notes of the music
The last beat of the song is accompanied by a cut to black
The drop of the instruments before the first verse is amplified by the gorilla landing on the floor.

Music Video Planning: Gantt Chart

Music Video Planning: Shot List

Music Video Shot List
The following is a shot list for my music video production. 

Music Video Analysis ("BLKKK SKKKN HEAD" by Kanye West)

This explicit music video is directed by acclaimed fashion photographer Nick Knight. The song has anti-establishment, anti-ideology and anti-racism themes. This music video both rejects and embraces the conventions of hip-hop and pop music videos.

Notes:

The video is a CGI animation. It was created using 3D scans of Kanye and then manipulating them to make him move and appear in different forms.

The first scene within the video is of what appears to be three people dressed similarly to the Ku Klux Klan. However in contrast they appear to be black people in black headpieces.
The fourth wall is also broken in the first scene by the masked people one by one opening their eyes and gazing into the camera in front of them. By doing so it indicates a self-aware perspective. The star image is removed.

The video starts reality as per the lyrics which evoke the media's distortion of reality.

There's irony within the songs title: skinheads have often been associated with neo-nazi and white supremacy groups - hence the opening scene being black skinheads per-say.

Kanye has been accused of being racist towards whites so he has therefore taken this and used it as an ironic title for this anti-rasim song.

The visuals illustrate the lyrics by showing wolves (kanye says "I'm aware Im a wolf") and by cutting to an entirely black shot as the word "black" is mentioned.

There are two distinctive white triangular shapes that partially confine the video. These could represent fangs and hence amplify the songs theme of oppression and dehumanisation.

You can't see his face in some shots - choosing to not be seen - he expanded this idea on tour by wearing masks. Daft Punk also produced this track and perhaps its a reference to their hidden personas - a longing for perhaps? - intertextuality
The iconography of his face is removed.
also this shows Kanye removing the voyeuristic elements from the piece.

many horror conventions are incorporated as if it were a heavy rock music video.

The literal boundaries (aspect ratio/borders) of the video are skewed - in some instances the video some imagery is confined to an square aspect ratio and is then juxtaposed with imagery that is not. Kanye is visual showing us him breaking boundaries - ignoring the status-quo.

No females are shown in tbhe video - going against the popular hip-hop video convention of showing scantly clad females

The video is entirely black and white. infact a strive for as much contrast as possible is made by the background being completely black.  - signifying a distinction between races.

His expensive jewellery is emphasised with high key lighting - a convention of hip hop music videos of showing expensive assets.

The editing emphasises the crash of the cymbals by cutting away from Kanye to a shot of something in smudge motion blur as we hear the cymbal.

Narrative & Performance

Andrew Goodwin's "Dancing in the Distraction Factory"

The book analyses both the medium of music videos and the business. Goodwin gives detailed analysis into the social and political significance of music television at the time of the books publishing.

Goodwin's theory identified seven key music video features:
1. Typical characteristics of music videos relating to music genre.
2. A relationship between music and visuals.
3. A relationship between lyrics and visuals.
4. Close-ups of the artist and artist branding as required by their record label.
5. Development of an artists visual style in their music videos over time.
6. Voyeurism within music videos and the male gaze.

In the book, Goodwin explains as to how music videos often demonstrate genre characteristics. An R&B video will often feature voyeuristic images of scantily clad women and have an emphasis on wealth

Illustration is one of the three ways the music and lyrics relate to the accompanying visuals of the text, according to Goodwin. When the visuals illustrate the music for example, there may be a cut on a beat in order to add emphasis to such or to ensure the visuals keep up with the pace of the music. By illustrating the music, a stronger engagement of the audiences' focus can be made. Visuals can also either literally or metaphorically show the audience the meaning or emotions of the lyrics. The artist/s may also be illustrated by showing them performing or dancing to their music.

The second major way the music and lyrics relate to the visuals is through amplification. Amplification, as Goodwin refers to it, is the ways in which the visuals add more to the music and lyrics. For example, a fictional narrative related to the lyrics may be established to add more meaning and context through the visuals.

Disjuncture is the remaining third method of relation. When the imagery is in disjuncture to the music and lyrics, this essential means that they have no recognisable relation to one another. This method may be utilised to add a sense of irony to an otherwise happy song for instance. A popular example of disjuncture in a music video is Justin Bieber's video for 'Sorry', of which only features females dancing in a choreographed sequence. The lyrics of the song do not relate to dancing in any way. However, in contrast the choreography and editing does in fact illustrate the music.

In closing, Goodwin reasons why he believes music videos should be viewed as more than just postmodern pastiches and also criticises taking a postmodern approach to music television analysis.

Visual Mood Board

Here (above) I have created a visual mood board depicting possible sources of influence for my music video production. The board showcases a variety of influential cinematography ranging from music videos to films and still photography.

Secondary Research: Andrew Goodwin

'Dancing In The Distraction Factory:
Music Television and Popular Culture' is a 1992 book published by media theorist Andrew Goodwin. This book essentially established the classic codes and conventions that most music videos contain, of which for the most part, still holds up today.

Goodwin theorised that music videos tended to have these key features:

1. Intertextual references: whereby other music artists, films, television or any other popular culture is referenced in a music video.

2. A lyrical and visual relationship: lyrics can be illustrated by, amplified or contradicted by the visuals it is accompanied with.

3. A musical and visual relationship: similar to feature number 2 mentioned above. However, in contrast, it is instead between the music and visuals.

4. Voyeurism and the notion of 'looking': The male gaze (the portrayal of the female body and personal as an object or inferior to the male) and reference to screen within the screen, cameras, filming and the gaze of the stars. In general, we're shown stuff out of what we'd see in ordinary life.

5. 

Bibliography

1. http://www.slideshare.net/naamah/goodwins-theory-intro-and-tasks -
Naamah Hill, Teacher at Thurston Community College Published on Jun 15, 2011

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