Techhnical Analysis of a music video (2)

Linkin Park-Numb

This is a music video which has the same genre as me and my group member decided to do for our coursework project. From this analysis I will hopefully be able to gain some ideas of good camera work, locations, narrative and so on. I will be analysing the video 'Numb' by 'Linkin Park'. Below is a link of the music video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXYiU_JCYtU&ob=av2n

This music video is split into two parts, narrative and performance. From watching other music videos I have grasped the concept that narrative and performance collaborate well, audiences also enjoy a mix of the two.

I have decided that the idea of a performance and narrative based music video would be good for my coursework. The genre we have chosen influences this decision, as rock/new wave music videos generally have performance (lip syncing, bands playing instruments). Rock music tends to have a deep meaning to it, a narrative showing the story line will be good for our project as the music itself is very expressive. A collaboration of both these will ensure that we have a strong music video.

There is a wide variety of camera shots which has been helpful in illustrating the importance of performance in rock videos. There are many shots of the instruments in this music video which is typical in the rock music genre; the camera choice shows each member playing individually and also as a group.

 Birds eye view

High-angle, long-shot

Mid shot

Mid-Long shot

Mid close-up

The performance based part of the music video is located in a church; this is an interesting choice of location. The musicians 'Linkin Park' are not portrayed in the media as being a religious band, neither is the genre. The lyrics of the song do not directly relate to Christianity or any other religions. However the part of the main chorus 'I’ve become so numb, I can’t feel you there' may indirectly relate to religion. Through the use of camera shots chosen by the director a story is built up to the audience. 

The colour and lighting in the church location does not portray it as a happy place. The lighting in quite low in contrast, with what looks like a small amount of natural light coming through the window panes. This could be representing the church as a darker place than the outside world.

The narrative based part of the music video follows the character of a teenage girl. A number of different locations have been used to follow her story, bedroom, classroom, school campus and dining room. However, none of these locations have sufficient meaning to the storyline.

From the choice of locations within the narrative based parts of the movie, I can see that as long as the storyline had a good, strong structure the locations do not have to be anything too special for this type of genre.

An OTS shot (over the shoulder) is shown; the girl is positioned sitting down drawing a picture. In front of her there is a statue of an angel and cherubs. The girl is drawing a picture of the angel. The camera is positioned is a low angle, the statue of the angle appears in the top left hand side of the camera. This shows how the statue is important and holy. This scene emphasises that despite what she is feeling and going through, she is a holy person or in search of religion.

The video, follows the girl through a number of events which all portray her as unhappy, not sure what to do in life and that she needs help in some way. At the very end of the music video, there is a high angle, extreme long shot. The shot is of the girl running down a church isle. This shows that the girl is either a religious person, or desperately trying to reach God.

There is a shot reverse shot which shows the girl and her mother having a conversation at the dining room table. There is a mid-shot of the mother, it shows her speaking in a fast pace and waving her hands around, this use of character positioning conveys to the audience that the mother is moaning to her daughter about something.

The next shot is a mid-shot of the girl, although she has a blank look on her face, there is a pain which shines through in her eyes. It looks as if she is almost trying to non-verbally communicate something to her mother.

 The last shot in this scene is the mother in a similar position as the first, she is still talking fast paced and using hand gestures, she looks angry with her daughter.

This shot-reverse shot helps to build up the impression to the audiences that the girl is unhappy.

Several times the director of this music video decided to use scenes of people walking past, these have been fast forwarded. In these scenes the girl is always present, and sometimes watching the people. However, the clip of her is in a normal pace. This gives the impression that for her everything seems too fast paced, and she feels likes the world is leaving her behind. This may also be representing her being 'in her own little world' which is different to everyone else’s. This editing technique helps to show somebody as being distant and isolated. This will be a good technique to use in my project.

A long shot of a high school teacher is show. He is teaching class algebra, a prop of a ruler is used.

An OTS shot is used, the girl is drawing a picture of an angel, and this is another representation of her being religious.

Two mid shots are then shown, the teacher slams the ruler down onto the desk the girl is working at, in the second mid shot the girl jumps.

A long mid long shot is shown, all the girl’s class mates are laughing at her. This could be one reason why the girl feels lost; she does not look like she is coping at high school, so she channels her energy into God and art. But, this video shows us how these ways of coping are not helping her any longer.

An OTS shot is used; the girl is walking towards a group of girls sitting at a bench.

Then a mid-long shot is shown, she smiles at the girls, they look at her in disgust, get up and walk away.

Her inability to make friends is expressed in this camera shot, this may be another reason why she is feeling hopeless and like she can’t feel God's presence near her.

There is a juxta-position of shots which show the girl having trouble in high school. Through previous camera shots it has been established that she does not feel able to concentrate on her work and she has trouble making friends. These shots show how she is an outsider in her high school and a victim of bullying.

A mid long shot is shown of her walking down the stairs in a corridor; in this shot another teenage girl is walking up the stairs. The other girl barges into her, with this she falls over.

The second shot in this sequence is worms view shot; it shows the girl lying on the floor after she fell over. No one comes to help her or see if she is hurt, she looks sad.

From analysing this music video, I have seen how the director has built up a story to the audience. I have gained some interesting techniques which I may use in the filming and editing process of my coursework project.