SD Music Video Analysis #2

Godspeed - Anberlin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-HpHadZGLk

Genre and Narrative

For my second music video analysis, I have chosen “Godspeed” by Anberlin due to the variety of effects and location in this video. The song is very fast paced and sits within the rock pop genre. However by listening to the song you can tell from the electric guitar solos and quick drum beats that this song is swayed towards the rock genre. Songs within the rock pop genre tend to be part performance, part narrative based whereas looking at rock genre music videos, they tend to be mostly performance based. Rock videos like “Godspeed” are likely to have a fast cutting rhythm with performance taking place, with the use of handycam and multiple effects making the video seem loud.

The lyrics to “Godspeed” talk a lot about the higher class people but mainly drugs and the effect of them. The first example of drug use is the line, "When needles and lovers collapse on guilty beds," this is an obvious reference to people that use drugs and have promiscuous sex since it becomes a bed where they do their addicted actions and thus feel guilt afterwards or are afraid people will find out. The line "We’ll rest in our graves," is quite difficult to determine what it means, but I see this as a sort of battle cry for people that don't do drugs or compulsive sex or drinking and saying that they won't give in. Even the title refers to drugs as in the song "Godspeed to all you're after" is said. Godspeed is a an old saying, which has now become a sort of cliché, for telling you "good luck", yet here it looks as if he's saying it almost mockingly toward a person that wants to pursue a life of poor choices. "Tell them who you were, who you really were" this is quite an obvious lyric; it talks about how people change when they do drugs or bad habits. "Kill yourself slowly over time, fashion statement suicide" This is saying how drugs and drinking will kill you slowly over your life, and that a lot of people are obsessed about fashion and how they look, and in some cases, commit suicide because they feel ugly.

The song has a very loud and constantly fast drum beat accompanied by a constant electric guitar playing. During the video for “Godspeed”, you notice that the camera is continually moving around the band focusing on individual members, yet the cutting rhythm is so quick you can barely tell. This adds to the effect of the rock atmosphere, a lot seems to be going making the video seem almost hectic which the fits with the song. The shaking effect is added to the majority of the shots in the video making the song seem intense which then compliments the frantic melody.
This music video is entirely performance based. It takes place in the middle of darkness surrounded by woods and fog with bright lights glaring through. The location offers a dark atmosphere which fits with the genre and also the band who are dressed in mainly dark clothing. Flashing lights are used throughout the video to cause an almost delusional and epileptic effect. Yet again this will add to the rock impression making it seem as though a lot is happening at once. The use of debris or ash is also used within this song to make a little more unique. It could have been added to the video because of the lyrics, “Burning down bridges now, scatter the ashes” which reinforces what they are trying to say in the song. As it falls from the sky and floats around the air, it could make the band seem rebellious as they are playing with fire.

Media Language

Visual techniques are incredibly important, especially in this music video. There aren’t that many close ups of the singer in this particular video as the lighting and fast cutting rhythm don’t allow you to see anyone’s face very clear or noticeable. The majority of the shots are of a single person in the band with their instrument but there are occasions where the whole band is shown in a long shot. The record company is aware that showing the lead singer up close can promote the band, but they may want to make the audience want to know a bit more about them rather than showing them close up and exposed. Anberlin’s music videos tend to be very individual in their own way as their music varies from rock to pop to almost acoustic. They have a few that are very abstract with the use of green screen coming into the equation which represents their fun side. Although their videos vary in style, throughout all of them you can see the use of shakycam and parts that have slow motion. Both of these techniques are used frequently in the rock genre music videos as it builds atmosphere and helps create a powerful sensation.

Although it is difficult to see in the lighting, Anberlin’s costume is dark and nothing too extraordinary. As all the band members have that dark look to them, it gives you the idea that they are all part of the band. Camera work in this video has to be the most important feature as it helps create the atmosphere really well. Shakycam and a slight bit of slow motion combine really well together with the fast cutting rate emphasising the greatness and the significant moments in the song. There isn’t any sign of ‘looking’ in this video as he doesn’t even look into the camera either.

Like a lot of rock music videos nowadays, “Godspeed” is purely performance based, with the singer and band as the main focus. Mainstream rock videos tend to have the whole band in the picture with a narrative based around the lead singer but Anberlin decided they would cut the narrative part and focus on the camera work and editing. Anberlin have followed this mainstream idea of solely performance based but have made it seem less revealing as the band’s faces can be barely seen in the darkness. The use of ash or debris isn’t commonly used, so in that sense the video is challenging the common expectations of a rock music video. The performance of the band isn’t over exaggerated yet rock dance moves such as head banging are brought in to continue the rock feel of the video.

Institution and Audience

The music video for "Godspeed" is most likely to be consumed on the rock music channels on television such as "Kerrang" as this would show the video to the more ambient viewers watching who are loyal to this genre of music videos. It would also be watched on website such as "Myspace" or "Youtube" as people would still enjoy to see it in their own time. Even though the video can be appreciated in a focused viewing style with the message it is trying to send, the video has many performance based shots which would also work well for the ambient viewing audience.
For this particular song the record label plays an important role concerning the promotional aspect of this video as they would send copies to music channels such as 'Kerrang'. Also MTV would be interested as Anberlin are a fairly popular band in the rock genre

Conclusion

I have concluded that “Godspeed” was a helpful music video to analyse due to the fast cutting rate and camera techniques adding feeling to the video. The use of fog, bright lights and also debris made this music video very individual and stand out above a lot of other mainstream rock videos. Few of the lyrics are illustrated in the music video with the performance based visuals, showing typical conventions of a rock video along with the dance moves and band presentation.