Music Video Research

As part of my research I looked at music videos in the same genre as the track that I plan to make my music video to, I payed most attention to how the artist is conveyed to the audience, any themes, whether the video is presented in a live/as-live/narrative format and any features which go against convention.

This is a 3x3 grid made of screenshots taken from the Professional Griefers music video by artist deadmau5 and featuring Gerard Way. The video is shot using a narrative where both artists are professional fighters in the UFC however instead of fighting themselves they instead use giant robots which are designed based on the deadmau5 logo. In this universe deadmau5 is the defending champion for the heavyweight title while the featuring artist is a challenger. One recurring theme that we can see throughout the video is the future, the idea that professional fighting will be done with robots, that there will be robotic animals running around and it will be part of everyday life, this is can also be seen as connotation to electronic music in general as back in the 20th century music was done on instruments and the idea of producing whole tracks of music using just machines and computers was unreal.

Frame 1: Large crowd around the ring where the artists are controlling their robots from. A convention seen in the majority of electronic music videos as large crowds are synonymous with parties.

Frame 2: Artist deadmau5 sticking his tongue out after knocking down Gerard Way's robot, here is he is portrayed as wild or vicious and getting excited over violence like a child.

Frame 3: The robots of Gerard Way and deadmau5 respectively squaring off like in a fighting ring.

Frame 4: Robotic cat getting startled by the crowd in the same way an organic cat does, a reference to deadmau5's cat named professor Mewingtons.

Frame 5: deadmau5 walking through the crowd to get to the ring, here he is shown to be more mature and mysterious, however this effect is spoiled by his eccentric choice of clothing.

Frame 6: Full shot of the arena where the contenders are and the announcer. Bright lights and neon are another convention usually seen in electronic music videos.

Frame 7: Shot of crowd and Mau5 head. The Mau5 head is the artists symbol and has been seen in many different stylizations, in this case it looks like a head of a robot which carries on with the theme of   

"the future".

Frame 8: Full shot of cat in a pile of rubble and the end of the video which leads into a fade, can be taken as a connotation to the word "griefers" in the track name as on the internet, to grief is to destroy something. 

Frame 9: A point of view shot from one of the robots after it has been destroyed and is lying on the ground. The red screen and the word "disconnected".

This is another 3x3 grid of screenshots from the music video "Ghosts n stuff" again by artist Deadmau5. Just like the previous video it follows a narrative format where the artist is taken into hospital and dies and his ghost rises out the body, he then proceeds to mess around on the night town. The name of the track is obviously reflected in the contents of the video where you have the ghost(s) and then the collection of "stuff" that happens throughout the video. The video also makes brief cuts to a party scene and ultimately it is where the music video ends. The artist here is conveyed and as playful and zany even after he has died, he acts as he would in life, this is definitely a connotation to how the electronic music audience is portrayed in the modern day.

Frame 1: Shot of artist on a hospital bed being rolled through a hallway, presumably dead. This shot type of shot and sequence is usually seen in TV series rather than music video. The atmosphere is serious and compared to the rest of the video.

Frame 2: Shot of ghost (who is clearly a person wearing a white sheet) rising from the body of the artist, the seriousness of the previous shot is completely replaced by zany comedy.

Frame 3: Cut in party scene after the hospital setting, Convention of dance/electronic music, also contains the icon of the artist; the mau5 head.

Frame 4: The ghost riding a skateboard on the night town, a comical situation made to reflect the playful nature of the artist and the target audience.

Frame 5: The ghost dancing in front of a laundromat, again reflecting the artist, the audience and party nights.

Frame 6: The ghost runs into other ghosts who want to beat him up, resulting in a chase. Reflects late night conflicts and dangers.

Frame 7: The ghost gets to the party that was briefly shown after the hospital setting, all the people are dressed like mythical creatures (werewolves, mummies etc.).

Frame 8: The person wearing the mau5 head walks up to the ghost and pulls off the white sheet.

Frame 9: Shot of the artist waking up after dying.