Music videos & album cover analysis

I'll be analysing the music videos "Running Away From God" by Astronautalis, and "Here It Goes Again" by OK Go. I'll also be looking at the album covers for "Plastic Beach" by Gorillaz and "Carrie & Lowell" by Sufjan Stevens.

RUNNING AWAY FROM GOD - ASTRONAUTALIS
(MUSIC VIDEO)
 

The music video begins with the song playing right away, opening on an urban location with a small number of cars either parked or driving by in the distance. A swell in the music occurs, and we see the artist/actor run into the frame. In his desperation, he trips slightly but quickly recovers himself and continues to run towards the camera. This is a reference to the title of the music video and it leads the audience to wonder what it is that he's running from. The contrast between the calm of the intro and the actor coming into view puts an emphasis on his energy.

The video as a whole is half performative and half narrative, meaning that it both tells a story and shows the artist performing the song. The parts where it cuts to footage of the artist rapping without running serves no purpose to the story but helps to break up the footage of the narrative to keep the audience engaged.

Throughout the video, the actor's movements and expressions become more pronounced and exaggerated to show how long he's been running. It's also suggested that he's being chased by something or someone due to the looks he keeps throwing over his shoulder and by the fact that he can't stop running for some reason. While the actor's body language suggests impatience and a dangerous situation, most of the shots show him with a smile on his face. This could mean that he isn't very worried about what's chasing him and that he finds the situation amusing.

In moving image media, fades are often used in place of cuts to convey the passage of time. This music video is different in that they show that time has passed through lighting and what the audience can deduce from the actor's movements. The lighting gets gradually darker as the video progresses to show that it's later in the day, but still the same day. The cuts are choppy throughout to maintain the fast pace.

Whether this was intentional or not, the actor's clothes reminded me of an army's training uniform, and his necklaces reminded me of dog-tags. I'm not sure what significance this has to the rest of the video, but it was something that I picked up on.

Towards the end of the video, it's revealed that the police was what was chasing the actor the whole time. It does this without showing the faces or bodies of the police, but by using flashing red and blue lights that illuminate the actor's face. The actor also responds to seeing the flashing lights by putting his hands behind his head, which is the position that police are meant to tell you to take when they're apprehending you.

HERE IT GOES AGAIN - OK GO

(MUSIC VIDEO)

• The video is all filmed in one take, so there are no cuts or transitions to talk about.
• ThOK Go is notorious for filming ridiculous music videos in a single take, so this motif will be instantly recognisable to those familiar with the band's work.
• Six treadmills are used in the video to add interest and create dynamic movement.
• Using humour in a music video creates a more friendly and relatable view of the artist. It shows that they don't take themselves too seriously and this is reflected in the light-hearted and playful nature of the music.
• The camera uses an eye-level long shot throughout.
• Exaggerated gestures and expressions from the band further enforce the humour of the video.
• The band is wearing clothing that is considered "geek chic", including ties, waistcoats, shirts, and bright colours.

PLASTIC BEACH - GORILLAZ

(ALBUM COVER)

• Central image is of an island which has either been computer generated or man-made in a small scale.
• There are no images of the stars on the album cover which suggests that the artists would rather the focus be on the music itself.
• The font on this cover has a psychedelic feel which, combined which the bright colour palette, could allude towards the genre of the album.
• Using a location as the central image on a cover, especially one as odd as this, leads the audience to wonder what the relevance of it is to the music on the album.
• The title of "Plastic Beach" ties into the cover art as there is a beach in the distance.

CARRIE & LOWELL - SUFJAN STEVENS

(ALBUM COVER)

• The central image on this cover is of an old and distressed photograph of a man and a woman. We can assume that they're at least acquaintances due to his hand on her shoulder.
• The text on this album is of the artist's name and the album title. Using the title "Carrie & Lowell" suggests that those are the names of the people in the photograph.
• White text in all capitals makes the text stand out and easy to read.
• The woman's glasses and both of their clothes show that this photo was actually taken a long time ago and wasn't just altered to look like that. Alternatively, all the aspects of the photo could've been staged.
• Having an old picture as the image on an album cover gives the audience an idea of what the genre of the music on it could be. It suggests an indie/folk vibe.