Current Music Video Analysis
Conventional Techniques in Music Videos
"Will He" by joji
In the music video, the second shot we see features some interesting proxemics and juxtaposition of imagery. There is a person in a panda suit dancing on a table in a dimly-lit room surrounded by flickering lights and people who are unconscious. When paired with the piano introduction, this shot eludes an element of mystery and crypticism. This mystery will effectively draw the viewer in as they will want to perhaps wait and see how the different images are related, or at the least work out any hidden meaning behind them.
2) Use of Camera Movements
At timestamp 0:21, we see a shot where the camera tracks a bloody bathroom floor up to a bathtub. While the shot is tracking forwards, we see the mask from the panda outfit in shot 2 on the floor followed by a MLS of a bath with the artist, joji, in it. This camera movement is effective as it reveals to the audience that joji is the panda, therefore, in all later shots featuring the panda, we can assume this is joji.
3) Use of Filters and VFX
In the "Will He" music video, the editors have applied filters in post in order to do a few things.
Firstly, The use of filters is conventional of not only joji's visuals but also his alter ego Filthy Frank. This is appealing to fans of joji and his other personalities as it is something he is recognised for and makes this music video easily identifiable as one of joji's. Additionally, the filtering gives the music video a professional feel, which is a convention of modern music videos, which is important as I believe this is only joji's second music video, so being able to capture the high level of quality associated with the industry he's entering.
4) Contrasting shot types
Firstly, The use of filters is conventional of not only joji's visuals but also his alter ego Filthy Frank. This is appealing to fans of joji and his other personalities as it is something he is recognised for and makes this music video easily identifiable as one of joji's. Additionally, the filtering gives the music video a professional feel, which is a convention of modern music videos, which is important as I believe this is only joji's second music video, so being able to capture the high level of quality associated with the industry he's entering.
4) Contrasting shot types
At timestamp 1:51, we see a very sudden cut from a CU of the female character to a low-angle MS of joji, with a a very brief edit in between. This rapid change in perspective helps to build pace and keep the music video moving forward. Furthermore, the juxtaposition of the girl and joji hints that they are related in some way and in many senses shows some element of foreshadowing. Storytelling without words is integral to many music videos as often there is the track playing on top, so if an artist wishes to tell a story which isn't int the lyrics it is conventions like this quick cut that are so important.
5) Use of Structural Devices
5) Use of Structural Devices
At timestamp 2:40, we revisit the same shot as earlier, however it is slightly darker than before and instead of tracking to joji in the bathtub, we track to the girl from the video sitting up against the wall with an arrow in her head, blinking idly. This is effective use of cyclical structure to convey a message. In this case, it ties together all the previous imagery and almost makes the video make more sense by revisiting earlier shots. In this case, it could show that joji has murdered the girl, or as she is still alive, the arrow could have connotations of love etc. It is these double meanings that will capture the audience.
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