JS: Auteur Analysis

Massive Attack – Angel – Directed by Walter Stern

• This video is artistic and narrative based
• It features a man who is being followed, before being chased by a mob of people, until at the video’s climax the protagonist stops and starts chasing the mob of people
• It is artistic and therefore reflects the band’s enigmatic nature with their music and visual style
• The mise-en-scene with the dark clothing and the non-verbal language on the faces of the individuals involved connote desperation and panic. This accompanied with the pitch black environment with a lack of lighting further connotes a sense of mystery and a dark theme to the video

 The Verve – Bittersweet Symphony - Directed by Walter Stern

• This video is narrative based
• The video portrays a man who is walking down a busy street without a care for others, walking into traffic, bumping into various people
• The cutting rate of the video is slow, which reflects the uncaring nature of the protagonist in the video
• The camera shots include mid-shots and close-ups of the band’s lead singer, to which you can infer that the video is commercial, as it is trying to make the band and Richard Ashcroft more famous and recognisable

Bloc Party – Octopus – Directed by Nova Dando

• This is a promotional video made with the purpose of increasing sales for the single and promoting the band's image
• The video features a multitude of colours to which you can infer that the song was designed to be light-hearted and fun
• Close ups and extreme close ups of the band’s lead singer Kele are consistently used to promote his and the band’s star image

Foo Fighters – The Pretender – Directed by Sam Brown

• This is a promotional video intended to represent the band as rebellious, promoting the band’s image as rock stars without a care for anyone or anything
• The video shows two clear binary opposites, the band presented as the heroes of the piece, while the police are seen as the antagonists
• The video features mid-shots of the band regularly, as well as close ups of lead singer Dave Grohl, which further suggests the video is made with the purpose to promote

The Chemical Brothers – The Boxer – Michel Gondry

 

•       The video is creative and features very skilled camera work, following the basketball around different locations
•          Visuals are in correlation to the music, for example, when the basketball hits a wall, a beat is made on the drums
•          It is a fun video to view and when the ball pops at the end, the lighting darkens which connotes sadness

Coldplay – The Scientist – Directed by Jamie Thraves

• Thraves made this video artistic, as it featured Chris Martin walking backwards, before entering a car that reverses. This is again enigmatic, as the audience question why he is going backwards, as they infer what they believe to be the moral message the video is trying to put across
• The mid-shots of the man on his own in open locations connote a sense of loneliness
• As for mise-en-scene, the protagonist does not have an obvious expression on his face throughout the video, so the audience can not detect his emotions through non-verbal language.

Radiohead – Just – Directed by Jamie Thraves

In the video for ‘Just’ by Radiohead (Thraves, 1995), the director uses an artistic approach to a narrative based video. The video contains a man within a capitalist society who decides to lie down in the street, then when persistently asked why he is lying down by a group of people, the others lye down with him when they are told. The audience never find out what was said to make everybody in the video lye down. This creates an enigmatic effect as the audience is eager to know what was said.

The clothing features suits and formal uniform that have connotations of working life. However the members of the band are wearing alternative clothes, such as lead singer Thom Yorke who is wearing a leather jacket. This suggests a sense of rebellion from the band, as they are independent from society.

As the video is artistic and creative, the video has the purpose of promoting the band’s mystifying approach to music. This has since been reflected in recent years where Radiohead have become one of the most unique, enigmatic bands of all time.

Kasabian – Switchblade Smiles – Directed by Aitor Throup

The music video ‘Switchblade Smiles’ (Throup, 2011) is a creative and performance based promotional video, made with the intention of selling the band’s star image as a modern avant-garde rock band, as well as the album ‘Velociraptor!’ and the single itself. It achieves this through having a mysterious opening where the band is standing still in a mid-shot, before the camera positions them standing upside down. There was also a montage evident that correlated to the fast paced rhythm of the song. Other interesting camera techniques include the flashes of the colour red, along with the word ‘move’ written backwards flashing up on the screen at different stages of the song. This adds to the feeling that the viewer does not know what to expect so the entertainment value is increased, which consequently increases the video’s repeatability.

The band has been presented as rebellious and authoritative. The image of guitarist Serge Pizzorno smashing his instrument is symbolic as it connotes feelings of anger and frustration. This representation again serves the purpose of boosting the band’s star image.