MUSIC VIDEO ANALYSIS

USING GOODWIN’S THEORY

Bethany Carter

CHASE & STATUS - LOST & NOT FOUND FT. LOUIS M^TTRS

1.MUSIC VIDEOS DEMONSTRATE GENRE CHARACTERISTICS

Most Drum and Bass music videos are filmed at live events where the artist of the song is performing the song. In this case the video is the opposite, the music video tells a story and the artists of the song cannot be seen in the video.

It has an abstract storyline to it which is common in Dnb videos, as the video has got much relation to the lyrics. They also tend to have fast cuts in the video in the same tempo of the song, whereas this video uses is one long continuous shot. To build up the visuals that match the build ups in the song, shots of various different people doing different activities make the video constantly interesting and exhilarating.

2. THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LYRICS AND VISUALS. THE LYRICS ARE REPRESENTED WITH IMAGES

The lyrics are represented with the visuals, as the video is based around a missing girl and a man who’s fleeing from the police. As the song title is ‘Lost and not found’ the video shows missing girl posters which is what the video is based around. The beginning of the video shows various different people around the location of apartments/motel building. The long continuous shot panning around these different people and places makes it look like we are searching for the missing girl.

They are both then found by the police who break into their room. The man is arrested by two police with force like he's a dangerous man, whereas the girl is taken out with a female police officer who puts a blanket round her to calm her down. At this point, the lyrics are ‘I’m never gonna let you go, I’m never gonna let you downThe heart has taken control’.

We are lead to believe at this point, he's kidnapped her and she's upset as she's very distressed. The lyrics of ‘There’s no one around, There’s no one around’ are repeated, this is the break down of the song. The visuals are completely different to what he is saying as there is clearly many people around, all watching him being arrested and film cameras there.

It suddenly then turns as she grabs the police woman's gun and grabs her to hold her hostage. As she does this, the chorus kicks in, making the lyric, music and visuals something happens at the same time, making it exhilarating to watch. She then is able to help the man escape free, then able to get in a car and drive off again. As she pushes the police woman away to drive off, the lyrics sing ‘Lost and Not Found’. Which now changes everything, as they were lost, found by the police, then able to escape again so they aren't found. This changes the

audiences interpretation of him, as we think he isn't a bad guy kidnapping her, maybe they have run away to be together.

3. THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MUSIC AND VISUAL. THE TONE AND ATMOSPHERE OF THE VISUAL REFLECTS THAT OF THE MUSIC. The events in the video match the music well in the video. The song stays at a steady pace throughout the song, and as the visual take us on a journey around the location seeing different things, it builds up the tension as we don’t know what we will see entering a room etc. The music isn't intense drum and bass, its quite chilled and the visuals present that as the footage is all shown slightly slowed down. It also gives a chance for the audiences to look at what's happening in the shot, which they could miss if it was in real time.

4.THE DEMANDS OF THE RECORD LABEL WILL INCLUDE THE NEED FOR LOTS OF CLOSE UPS OF THE ARTIST AND THE ARTIST MAY DEVELOP MOTIFS WHICH RECUR ACROSS THEIR WORK (A VISUAL STYLE) The video doesn't’t feature any of the band or the vocal singers in the video. The can video focus’s on telling a story throughout. The fact that they have chosen this type of music video shows that the artists involved are already well developed and popular in the industry. They don’t have to promote themselves by being in the video. Also that they have probably paid a director to create this video for them, the record label believed this song was good enough for that.

It sticks to chase and status’s theme of videos, as from their ablum ‘Brand New Machines’ which this song is from, the other well known tracks have music videos with hard-hitting storylines. Such as ‘blk and blu’ and ‘Alive’.

The song, ‘Blind Faith’ can be heard at the beginning of the video. It’s a previous song of theirs which is from their album ‘No More Idols’ and released in 2011.

http://www.tubechop.com/watch/7476198

It has been put in to make it look like it being played from a passing car. It makes good publicity for the song and themselves. Also gives the audience an ideas of other songs they create and marking their stamp on their music.

THERE IS FREQUENTLY REFERENCE TO NOTION OF LOOKING (SCREENS WITHIN SCREEN, MIRRORS, STAGES, ETC) AND PARTICULARLY VOYEURISTIC TREATMENT OF THE FEMALE BODY There are lots of images of the ‘missing girl’ shown on posters and televisions. These only show off a young girl smiling and doesn't show her off in a sexual way. It is also same for the man, there is a notion of looking at his wanted posters, but doesn’t show of his body to the viewer, which contradicts Goodwin's theory. The video is concentrated on telling a story rather than faulting the female body.

6. THERE ARE OFTEN INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCE (TO FILMS, TV PROGRAMMES, OTHER MUSIC VIDEOS ETC)

At the beginning of the video there is the reference to Chase and Status’s song, ‘Blind Faith’ which I have already addressed.

The title of the song is playing of the saying, ‘Lost and Found’. The reference links to the storyline of the kidnapping, the fugitive and the missing girl. A storyline which is often used in films and TV series. It turns the music video into a short story.