this is the video to Muse's track 'Undisclosed Desires' which is Progressive rock/indie/rock/techno genre - a variety of genres. Muse are a British Prog rock/rock band who since 2009 have focused on a more wide audience and become more soft in their music. Contracted to WMG, they have 5 albums and instruments include guitars, bass, drums, synth and Pianos.
This video focuses on the band performing in a large room crammed full of technology, wires everywhere, lights everywhere, screens everywhere and amps everywhere. I think the emphasis of this video is to display and mock the overproduction involved with making a music video, because of various shots like where the usage of internal frames representing future shots foregrounds the behind the scenes of production of a music video. Strip lights and various other lights flash on and off in timing to the music and mini-TV screens with lyics on switch on and flick between lyrics as they're said. This is something which I want to incorporate in my video in the form of lyric boards. Another play on the production of a music video is the sheer amount of technology which can be seen in the video. an example of this is all of the cables which are hanging from the ceiling and trailing along the floor, as well as a shot close to the end where the lead singer clicks his fingers above his head, the sound of which is caught by 5-6 microphones solely dedicated to that single sound. It's this over the top syle which makes the video seem parodic of music video production.
The band are all in similar coloured clothing (red and black) which are associated with negativity and anger - the theme of the song. This is also mirrored by the set and the screens which show the lyrics - The words are red on a black background. Lights on the floor are white to create as much contrast and draw as much attention as possible from the viewer.
Cut into shots of the band performing are shots of a dancing woman. She is also in sync with the look of the set, having large frizzy red hair (possible to simulate static) and a black costume. She, like the set has lots of cables and wires etc. hanging from her, and dances in an overly enthusaistic way, even during the quieter parts of the song. I think this is once again having a stab at how ameteur of a look the video has to it. To top it all of, the dancer's white shoes are incredibly worn and dirty, giving the effect of 'they just found her and are in a rush to produce the video not care how she looks' to the video, because she really has no purpose whatsoever.
Cinematography in this video is quite strange, as it's a mixture between hand-held camera shots and professional looking still shots. I think the purpose if this is to demonstrate the difference between the two and like said earlier, mock the whole ameteur music video production process. The handheld shots are voyeuristic and noticably unsteady. A mixture of wide and close up shots are used, especially the close ups of the singe, for instance when he clicks his fingers. Close up shots help the audience recognise the institution and wide shots set the scene and give a feel of comfort in knowing the surroundings, so a combination of both is needed and often works well.
The video is also quite heavily edited. Shots cut at irregular rates although the cutting always matches the beat of the song. In some of the longer shots, there's continuity whereby slow mothion effects are added to the clip. These are all typically found during the slower parts of the song at the beginning, end and around 3 minutes. Another notable thing in this video is the use of subliminal 'slides' which display lyrics but instead of showing the screen with the lyrics on, what's actually on the screen is the shot. I want to use a combination of these two types of lyric exposure, for the subliminal full screen slides add a technological feel to the video, something I'm trying to acheive.
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