Sunday 7 May 2017

Music Video analysis - Ghost Town by Adam Lambert:


A shot by shot overview of the music video:
As soon as the video starts, there is immediate branding [0:00 - 0:08] of the artist's name followed by the title of the song.
Black and white aesthetics, abandoned places with light flares - reflects the "ghost town" idea and abandonment/heartbreak that the lyrics of the song mention.
Double exposure of the artist's face for fade in shots and images of the empty places. Soft lighting over his face and the settings until 0:48 when the exposure changes to a more high contrast and dimmer type of lighting.

(Chorus) Flashes and jump cuts begin to match up with the beat of the music.
The visuals become more of singular dancers (and models) all dancing and being "individual" - such as a gymnast posing against a wall.

Changes back to a mid shot of the artist with soft lighting that has a close up of him with more high contrast lighting layered over the top of it.
[1:58] The visuals change once again to the artist in a club setting with flashing lights and low key/high contrast lighting. As the song hits the pre chorus, the fast jump cuts of dancers is reintroduced.
[2:00 - 2:10] The cuts to the beat change to various shots of the artist - a mid shot low key lighting shot of him in a club with others; with soft high key lighting mid shot walking forward on a diagonal; close up with low key lighting; high angle long shot almost directly above the artist - black background with him in light; soft lighting shot again - mid shot.
Shots of the artist are intercut with shots of dancers in low key lighting and images of figures/statues in cloth.

(Bridge) A soft lighting high angle mid shot of the artist on the right compositional third, with a male dancer covering the majority of the screen exposed over it - with the child in slow motion.
The clips of the artist shot from a high angle (sitting on the floor and standing) are faded in and out - along with the dancer.
As the quick beats in the music hit (lasting for 5 beats) there are quick jump cuts of the dancers moving. It then goes back to a long shot of the artist on the left third in the same lighting.
The slow motion dancer is brought back in on the jump cut. Before it becomes more rapid and gets intercut with images of the artist in soft light and and the club setting.

(Chorus) The beat of the music then comes back in, accompanied by the same style of imagery and editing cuts of the harsh lighting and dancers as the previous "chorus".

The motion of the dancers slows as the song goes into its last lines - no jump cuts. It then cuts to shots of the artist yet again. A low key, high contrast close up over the top of a long shot of the artist in soft lighting.

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There is a multi ethnic and variety of genders included in this video through the dancers that are shown. This produces an all inclusive and accepting iconography, reflective of the LGBT+ vibe that the artist creates in his music and "star image".

In terms of how I have taken inspiration from this music video, the way in which the whole video is in black and white to reflect the mood of the song has influenced me to try to match the colour schemes that I use in my music video with the tone that the lyrics have taken. In addition, The way that the editing changes to fit the changes in the pace and beat of the song has also inspired me when it comes to editing my video.

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