Research Into Existing Music Video: Biffy Clyro / Black Chandelier

The existing music video I decided to research into further was Black Chandelier by the band Biffy Clyro. I chose this video, as Biffy Clyro are the band I have chosen to create my own music video for. By researching further into their existing video, I could find a few conventions that I could potentially use when producing my own.

 

The video begins with still, establishing shots to show the audience where the video is set. These shots last for around 12 seconds, with only quiet, natural sounds accompanying them. The first thing that I noticed, was that the location was very dark, with only very basic colours constructing the landscape. In my opinion, this is a convention that is common in a lot of rock/indie music videos, which is why I will keep this idea in mind when creating my own video. 

After the introduction, the song starts to play. The first lyrics are 'Drip, drip, drip, drip'. The next sequence of shots are of what appears to be black tar dripping off of musical equipment, like a speaker and a microphone, which illustrates the lyrics of the song. The use of close ups also shows the importance of the instruments and equipment to the band and their music. This is common in most rock music videos, as a lot of them feature the band playing instruments and performing. Again, the image features only basic colours.

A shadow is shown running towards the camera. The fact that the audience does not see who the shadow belongs to creates a mystery. It causes the consumer to wonder who the shadow belongs to, and what their role is in the music video. In my opinion, this is a very effective technique to keep the audiences attention. 


A few shots later shows a large group of these mysterious figures, jumping over railings and running towards the tower on which the band is performing. The characters seem to have an urgency about them, creating the feeling that they have somewhere they want to get to. Again, this helps create a sense of mystery and curiosity within the audience, making them want to watch on.




Throughout the music video, close-ups show the singer performing. This is one of the features stated in Andrew Goodwin's book, Dancing in the Distraction Family, and is a very common shot in music videos of this genre. This relates to my last point, that the band performing is the most important feature in the video. This is common in all rock music videos, as the majority of the video is the artist or band performing. This also promotes the bands live shows, as the video may make the consumer want to watch the band perform live more. Additionally, you can see that the singer isn't wearing a shirt. This also links to their live shows, as the band do not wear shirts when performing. 

Overall, I think that this is a very good music video. There are multiple conventions used that are common in lots of videos from this genre, like the dark colours and the amount of shots featuring the band performing. I think that these conventions are very effective, as they make the consumer want to carry on watching. I also think that it gives the audience a strong feel for who Biffy Clyro are as a band. The fact that Simon Neil, the lead singer, is looking sweaty and the band aren't wearing shirts suggests that the band would give a very strong and exciting live performance.