For the practical research, for my music video that I am creating for my FMP this year, I have looked at the very quick editing style found in music videos by The Wombats, an Indie Rock band formed in Liverpool, England with the three original members Tord Øverland Knudsen, Matthew Murphy and Dan Haggis (from left to right in the picture below) all remaining in the band since it was formed 17 years ago in 2003. To be more specific, I looked at two music videos for the songs Greek Tragedy (The Wombats - Greek Tragedy (Official Video), 2015) and 1996 (The Wombats - 1996 (Official Video), 2011) by the band and in the first music video I was instantly drawn to was the use of two different cameras with a more professional, high-definition camera filming the shots of the girl's interactions with the band from a perspective which makes it feel like we are there observing what is happening. However, the other camera used is a handheld camcorder which is used to film the perspective of the girl who is stalking the band, creepily following them around as they go about their daily lives which I feel is best captured by that sort of camera as it makes it feel more realistic and amateur which is what someone like the girl in the music video would most likely have at their disposal to capture footage of their favourite band.
Not only are better quality cameras more expensive, but due to how obsessive and psychotic the girl is in the music video it makes sense that she would use a camcorder as in pop culture in general it is viewed as a device nowadays used by people considered loners and mentally ill to a point where they could cause serious physical harm to other people which the girl does in the music video by killing the members of The Wombats because they were being dismissive of her. This leads to her tying their dead bodies up in a warehouse, positioned as if they are performing at her own personal concert while still being filmed with both cameras to show how disgusting what she has done is as well as showing from her perspective what she considers a success with the camcorder perfectly encapsulating how sadistic it is what's she done and how calculated everything she did was to get to the moment of their performance as dead corpses which ends the music video.
(A picture of The Wombats, n.d.)
(The Wombats - Greek Tragedy (Official Video), 2015)
In the second music video, the main aspect which I found stood out the most which is definitely the most prominent advanced technique in the music video as well is the lighting which is used to create a unique atmosphere that consists of loneliness, regret and confusion mixed with the setting of a house party/rave, it is visually interesting and the video itself does a very good job of mirroring the lyrics about missing the 1990s, in particular 1996. The types of lighting used are quite resourceful, with the light from torches being used to light lead singer Matthew Murphy as he walks up the stairs at the beginning of the music video, to add light to the band in some parts of the video, to light pictures and posters on a wall and to see what is happening at the party by flashing it on people who are all doing different things while wearing scuba diving masks, with some wearing diving cylinders too.
There are lamps and chandeliers that act as a source of lighting too at certain points as well as a laser light that creates dots on the wall which is used to increase the aesthetic quality of the music video more than anything. Fairy lights and what seems to be a fridge light both effectively show how translucent water is as the light passing through the water in the music video keeps the white/blue colour theme of it alive which is achieved through using all the different types of light and not natural light. Overall, I think both the music videos use quick cuts in them in order to fit in as many different angles and shots as they can in an attempt to tell a specific story, so not having shots that last too long allows them to include more little details with the more shots there is which will only add more depth to the storyline and it will ensure that the viewer does not become bored as well and which is a technique that I am going to use in certain parts of my music video without a doubt.
(The Wombats - 1996 (Official Video), 2011)
Bibliography
n.d. A Picture Of The Wombats. [image] Available at: <https://culturecollide.com/app/uploads/2018/02/the-wombats-presshere.jpg> [Accessed 13 April 2020].
YouTube. 2015. The Wombats - Greek Tragedy (Official Video). [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MHmx9nvHqU> [Accessed 13 April 2020].
YouTube. 2011. The Wombats - 1996 (Official Video). [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8grF93Qe9Lk> [Accessed 13 April 2020].
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