Music video analysis #4 - Spitfire
Act: The Prodigy
Track: Spitfire
Year: 2005
Director:Tim Qualtrough
Genre: Industrial/ Electronic
Main audience: The main audience for this video would be male and approximately aged 18-30. This is due to the male focused ensemble and subject matter of war and mature concept of serial killers.
...
...
Relationship between the lyrics and visuals: When applying Goodwin's theory of lyrical classification we see that this video is amplifying to the lyrics sung. A prime example of this would be when the line "If I was in world war two they'd call me spitfire" is delivered with a menacing low angled shot of vocalist Liam Howlett. The visual lyrical content would be amplifying as the visuals do not directly correlate with the lyrics, but they do reinforce the message behind them. The idea of being powerful and violent (As was a spitfire plane in the second world war) is a key concept that runs throughout the video and accurately demonstrates this through a variety of shocking imagery and powerful performances from the band.
This video is entirely shot in a low-key lighting and is emulative of war in this respect. Throughout the video there is a large contrast between the colours of black and orange. In addition to these colours the video hosts both performance and more narrative elements.The vague narrative (Conforms to Archer's theory of only picking up on certain elements of the production) of a serial killer playing with his victims is apparent. In these sections where the band are not seem performing, there are various shocking images of porcelain faces being smashed and melting on the floor, people trapped in mechanical contraptions and torture. This mechanical element of the video is once again reflective of the more industrial side to the music. This shocking imagery is used to reinforce the 'hard hitting' nature of the music. This is conventional of the industrial genre and the shocking imagery throughout is symbolic of the act and the music itself.
The costume and general appearance of the band is highly conventional of the genre due to their 'crazy' and shocking appearances. This includes that of Gothic black leather clothing as well as audacious hair cuts, dreadlocks and piercings.
During the performance elements of the video the band is seen playing in a very energetic and aggressive manner reinforcing the notion of the band and music being hard hitting and even violent.
Through the video the use of after effects is large with most of the shots being cut quickly in addition to the many visual distortions used over the top, to create a volatile and dangerous feeling.
Influences to consider:
- Gothic clothing
- Quick cuts
...
...
Relationship between the lyrics and visuals: When applying Goodwin's theory of lyrical classification we see that this video is amplifying to the lyrics sung. A prime example of this would be when the line "If I was in world war two they'd call me spitfire" is delivered with a menacing low angled shot of vocalist Liam Howlett. The visual lyrical content would be amplifying as the visuals do not directly correlate with the lyrics, but they do reinforce the message behind them. The idea of being powerful and violent (As was a spitfire plane in the second world war) is a key concept that runs throughout the video and accurately demonstrates this through a variety of shocking imagery and powerful performances from the band.
This video is entirely shot in a low-key lighting and is emulative of war in this respect. Throughout the video there is a large contrast between the colours of black and orange. In addition to these colours the video hosts both performance and more narrative elements.The vague narrative (Conforms to Archer's theory of only picking up on certain elements of the production) of a serial killer playing with his victims is apparent. In these sections where the band are not seem performing, there are various shocking images of porcelain faces being smashed and melting on the floor, people trapped in mechanical contraptions and torture. This mechanical element of the video is once again reflective of the more industrial side to the music. This shocking imagery is used to reinforce the 'hard hitting' nature of the music. This is conventional of the industrial genre and the shocking imagery throughout is symbolic of the act and the music itself.
 |
| Mechanical prison |
 |
| Gothic clothing |
 |
| Live performance is aggressive |
Influences to consider:
- Gothic clothing
- Quick cuts
and...Once more with audience: shocking subject matter does not = older audience, especially not in digitised era of convergence. BBFC age ratings coming in, but very, very unlikely to have much impact.
ReplyDeleteILLUSTRATION: "A prime example of this would be when the line "If I was in world war two they'd call me spitfire" is delivered with a menacing low angled shot of vocalist Liam Howlett." - SO...provide a screenshot or a gif/vine.
ReplyDeleteDetail (lack of): "Gothic black leather clothing"
ReplyDelete