Analysis of A-Level student music videos

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This was the first student music video I analysed. Within the first 20 seconds of the video, the creators had already included a time lapse which was an interesting way to set the scene, as it highlighted a key setting that they included throughout the rest of their video.

Their use of fast past editing, contrasting to the immediate slower pace reinforced the difference in life-style between the characters within the video. For example, the shot of the two boys running, shows their care-free attitude, in comparison to the immediate after shot of the other boy sitting, in what looks like a gym, to show how he is relatively calm and focused.

During the scenes where the group of boys are shown beating up the innocent boy, it has been edited to look almost greyed out/slightly black and white, which was an effective technique as it's made to look like the main artist is reminiscing a horrible time, linking to the narrative genre as the video starts to reveal a storyline. The lyrics: "I promise you I never wanted this at all", then link to the visuals as the slightly black and white/ greyed out filter emphasises the main artist's regret of the past. 

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The second music video I analysed was a video with a Lana Del Rey song. The settings chosen in the filming of this video were very effective as it linked to the Inide Pop genre of Lana Del Rey, for example, the alley way/tunnel that they filmed in, as well as the dark room with only the lamp. The simplistic settings linked well with the genre as one of the main aspects of this genre is that the settings are basic and also vary in simple colours.

Similarly, the contradicting scenes of the artist in black clothing and dark coloured lips, with the scene of the artist in white clothing immediately after, highlights the contradiction of the song as well as showing visuals of the lyrics. "She gives them butterflies" is sung as the audience sees the artist dressed in white and smiling, which contrasts with the majority of the rest of the video where the artist is seen only in dark clothing, in darker lighting as well.

The editing of parts of the video are effective as they cut to the beat of the song, which cleverly emphasises the eeriness of the song and highlights the mood.