Tuesday 1 August 2017

Cinematography/Sound: Music Video



A good way to test your analytical abilities is to consider cinematic and sound techniques in music videos. Some, although not all, try to creatively challenge the viewer by 'breaking away' from the traditional format and exploring new possibilities in the medium. 

Watch the this video of 'A Song For The Lovers' by The Verve's Richard Ashcroft. 

It was premiered in May 2000 and was directed by Jonathan Glazer.

The video is of narrative style. It is shot in real-time with an element of diegetic sound unusual in most music videos. Diegetic sound was used previously by Glazer for "Rabbit in Your Headlights".

The video appears to take its cue from the first lines of the song:

I spend the night, yeah,
Looking for my insides in a hotel room,
Waiting for you.

It shows Richard Ashcroft shirtless in a hotel room, having apparently just showered. The hotel room is decorated with a large amount of Native American imagery, featuring framed photos of tribal chiefs and a large mural in the bedroom. Ashcroft turns on a stereo and "A Song for the Lovers" starts playing. He makes an enigmatic, mumbled phone call, ending with the complaint, "It's been half an hour."



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