I have chosen the artist: Jake Bugg and his music video for the
single Taste It (2012) to analyse. Jake Bugg is of the folk genre and this comes
through strongly in this music video as it follows many of the conventions used
in other folk artists videos such as Laura Marling or Lucy Rose where it’s just
the artist and their band. They often like to keep their videos very simple so
you focus purely on the music itself and not the content of the video.
The camera is
focused mainly on Jake and his fingers as he strums the guitar but occasionally
on his supporting band, this ensures that the attention is on him and it is
easily established that he is the main focus of the video.
The high angled shot of Jake Bugg right at the beginning of the video
immediately shows a dominance and almost power like feel over the video and an
instant knowledge that not only is he the one to watch in the video, but also
the music industry himself as he stands between two men yet he is the only you
are focused on. The fast paced shots of his band playing instruments display
what is being played and also that this is raw and real music with no computer
beats added.
There are a lot of close up, split screen shots, as seen
above, where we can see Jake at two different angles, but still close up giving
us a real insight into what is happening but also how Jake performs his track.
The lighting is dark, setting a moody tone which reflects the song and its
lyrics-although upbeat not necessarily positive showing Jake to be quite a
serious performer and he wears a casual outfit of a jacket and jeans reflecting
his young age of only 18 but also the cool side of him-he doesn’t need to dress
up. The brand Fred Perry is recognised,
a common brand worn by the artist, and a much worn brand by fans of indie or
folk music which is also shown often on members of The Arctic Monkeys and The
Horrors. The brand has a very cool, indie feel portraying that Jake is the same
and if you listen to his music and follow his style, you can be too.
A lot of generic
conventions are shown in this video, such as lip syncing. Jake lip syncs along
to his song so we know that he is the singer but also that a story is not being
told in this video, it is just him performing his track. Also the arrangement
of the band is a key convention as Jake stands right at the front with the band
behind him, just like all other artists do, to allow full attention on them as
the viewer has come to see the artist perform not the rest of the band who they
do not know.
Jake Bugg has not
been in the music industry for long so it has to give a clear answer over
whether his music videos have changed significantly but this video does vary
slightly from the previous, in which he moves around Nottingham instead of
being static in one location. However, the song in the previous video is named Troubled Town; the name highlights the need
for the video to be on location from ‘Town’ whereas Taste It is perfectly suited to be shot in just the one room. It
shows that Jake has a varied style and likes to match his music videos to the
meaning of his songs.
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