R&P Post 9: Music videos that have inspired and influenced my ideas.

There are many music videos that have inspired my ideas. I have looked at countless videos from within the rock genre and below are the main few that I have drawn the most inspiration from.

Buddy Holly - Weezer

The Beatles; the look
Weezer are mimicking.

This video uses intertextual references from 'Happy Days' and it depicts Weezer dressed up as a typical American teenage boy band, which is juxtaposed with the rock music they are playing. It is structured as a chronological narrative with slow cuts and still framing, in order to give it an amateur look and more of a  TV show style. It is for this reason that the video is not cut to the music either. The music is made to sound joyful, which is connoted through the theatrical and positive dancing around by the fans, in conjunction with the bopping and cheesy smiles from the band. This representation is made stronger by the constant reactionary shots from the audience, creating a relationship between them and the group; Weezer. The very stereotypical boy band atmosphere is also created through the misc-en-scene. For example, the smart shirts and ties with beige cardigans and the gelled back hair cuts suggest they are satirizing  and Americanizing the look of The Beatles. In my opinion this conceptual performance works very well and helped affirm the branding of the band. The stark contrast of the 90's rock band and the 60's TV programme creates layers of irony within this intertextual reference and as a result creates a very cool and effective satirical tone. Therefore, this video has inspired me to look within stereotypes and try to break them down using irony, instead of avoiding these formulaic connotations altogether.

The Suburbs - Arcade Fire

I have been developing my ideas and I think that I would like a heavily conceptual music video that has a key theme running the whole way through. My primary reference for this is The Suburbs by Arcade Fire. The jarring juxtapositions between the carefree cheeky teens and living in a military state is very complex and very interesting and as a result makes the video captivating and layered enough to be able to watch it more than once. I am really keen to reuse these techniques used by Spike Jonze, in order to create my own interesting and textured plot.

100% - Sonic Youth

This music video was also directed by Spike Jonze and is regarded as one of his classics. It was shot in Los Angeles and much of the footage was filmed by Jonze while riding a skateboard, following other skaters around the streets of the city. Furthermore, the song was dedicated to Joe Cole and throughout the video it alludes to his death, however the predominate story line is about a friendship between two skaters. The main reason I chose to closely analyse this song is because of the great camerawork and graphics that work in symbiosis with the juxtaposing black and white and color saturated scenes. This video has influenced my ideas massively as I started to develop my concepts based on colours and their roles in videos. '100%' is a great example of how colour contrasts can work effectively together and that the absence of colour (black and white) can bring out more from  layered concepts.