One Shot Wonder!

Ms Hill showed us some 'one shot wonder' music videos, meaning that the whole music video was filmed in a single shot! She then asked us to go home and find a different one and create a blog post about it for homework, (as long as it wasn't OK GO). Below I have analysed my chosen music video and included a link so you all can watch!

Gary Jules - Mad World 

I chose the music video of 'Gary Jules – Mad World', the song itself is originally performed by ‘Tears For Fears’, but it was then later recreated by Gary Jules, for the film 'Donny Darko', and then released again as a actual single. This music video was directed by Michel Gondry, and released in 2004. The video consists of children coming out of a school, and onto the streets of a city, joining together and making animated scenes for example a boat on the sea. 

I think that this music video is performance and concept, as I don't really see any sings off narrative throughout it. The lighting in this music video is very dull and dark, to highlight the sadness of the song, and relate to the lyrics he is singing, it has clearly been filmed in a winter sunrise or sunset. The children are all dressed in black which gives an element of mystery as well as showing the sadness, similarly, the artist is also dressed in black when he is seen singing and playing the piano. A high angle is used from the point of view of the artist on the building, showing the children making animations on the street below, it shows how he is watching all around him - relating to the lyrics "all around me are familiar faces..". A wide shot it then used of the artist, it includes the backdrop of the city behind him, which shows him to be alone, which fits in with the song genre.  

This music video really does not conform to Goodwin’s Seven definitions of a music video. Firstly the music video only features the artist 3 times, so it does not follow the statement that ‘The demands of the record label will include the need for lot’s of close-ups of the artist, however as the artists appearance seems quite irrelevant to the rest of the music video this could be the demands of the record label, requesting that the artist must be seen. There is also no link between the lyrics and the visuals as suggested by Goodwin's seven. However, there is a slight relationship between music and visuals, although it is hard to tell the children's movements completely. The music video also does not have any references to 'looking', or any inter-textual references, showing that Goodwin's seven does not relate to every music video. 

We do see the artist performing as he sings on top of the building, but it is not very clear. I think that if we got closer to the artist singing then the music video could be better and we might be able to relate more. The concept of the music video is not exactly clear but it really suits the song, and the mood it creates. I do not really like this music video because even though it is only one shot it is very bland, I feel that a lot more things could of happened during it, instead of just the same going to the artist and then back to the children on the street. I don't think I take any inspiration from this for our music video, it is rather dull.