Emily Bland Summer Homework

Music Video Analysis

The Fray are a piano rock band, they have a very casual laid back style of dress which helps their music shine through without focusing on the image as much as various other artists. The simplistic style of The Fray shines through in their videos as none of the videos are very weird, or colourful.

Like most artists their videos have changed over time and have evolved into much more detailed music videos. 'How to save a life' was their first music video and it has a very plain and simple location as it it located in a white studio with using only a few props. More recent ones such as 'Never say never' and 'Heartbeat' have more of a movie feel to them, especially 'Never say never' as it is all in slow motion and is set in very chaotic street with ambulances and fire engines everywhere.

Even though the videos have become more advanced, the choice of camera work has remained fairly similar. Throughout 'How to save a life' the camera is out of focus to reflect the meaning of the lyrics and many close ups and extreme close ups of Isaac (vocalist) are used in the majority of the videos.

Because The Fray play their own instruments, the appearance of them playing them is frequent, this is common with other bands in similar genres such as Muse and Keane.

Their videos all seem to have a dull, grey tone to them, anything different would be out of character and not suit the image of The Fray.

Digipak design research:

The Fray – Scars & Stories:

Muse – Origin Of Symmetry

 

Keane – Under The Iron Sea

One Republic – Waking Up

• Everyone of these album covers have displayed the artists name clearly and in a simple way, even if the name isn't large it is very visible.
• The logos for the record companies and studios etc. are either just above the bar code or just under the track listing.
• Although at first glance the One Republic cover may not seem as though it fits with it's title, the out burst and vibrancy of the colours may symbolise life or day. All four of the pictures/photos relate to the songs or a song on the album in some way.
• All the track listings are set out in a simple way.

I have chosen Josh as a potential performer as I think he would be seen as a good front man for my chosen band. He is not a clean cut, impeccably dressed person, he is the total opposite. His casual, laid-back personality shines through with his clothing choices. This is the sort of person that is needed to be in a video for The Fray as that is how the band is themselves due to them putting most of their efforts into the actual music rather than into a 'stand out' image.

I believe that Ivana would be a great potential performer for the narrative side of the video. She is just a normal girl with a normal life and ordinary people are often the focal point of The Fray's videos. They do this to captivate the audience as they may be able to relate to what is going on in the narrative parts of the videos.

I plan to have the performance part of the video set partly in the college theatre, using it as a rehearsal space for the band.