To mix things up a bit, I have decided to analyse something a little less British. Geronimo is a song by Australian band Sheppard, and the music video was released summer this year. The pop song made it to number one down under, but hasn't even been released in the UK yet. The music video has over 1,000,000 views on YouTube - which isn't many - but as Sheppard are not very established artists yet, they have definitely got off to a good start!
This is a primarily narrative music video - although, the narrative is not particularly clear. The video features all of the members of Sheppard and is one of the quirkier videos I have studied whilst undertaking my research. It has some quite unrealistic concepts but you can't help but love it!
Applying Vernallis' Theory
This music video is most certainly a visual response to the lyrics of the song. The lyrics "say geronimo" are particularly relevant when there is a 'war' between the two armies. The pace and key of the music is also particularly reflective of the environment visually conveyed throughout the music video, also contributing towards the visual reinforcement of the song.
Additionally, the narrative is not particularly complete and is presented in a rather fragmented manner. As Vernallis propounded, not all questions are answered in this music video and the audience is left asking questions. For example, it is never revealed who exactly the mysterious girl is.
Also, the narrative is shown in a more montage-focus style. There is no distinct beginning, middle and end, although the narrative that is presented throughout the video does make sense. One way, for example, the narrative is presented more abstractly, is through the use of jump cuts. For example, there is one shot of Sheppard walking towards a house, and the next shot they are standing in the house speaking to a crowd of people. This jump cut helps the video to progress quickly, as it lasts under 4 minutes in total.
This video's diegesis is also revealed very slowly. For example, Vernallis makes a point that characters may not complete actions until the very end of the music video. In the case of this music video, it is only at the end that you see the happy couple have a little smooch. This supports Vernallis' theory as it exemplifies that the diegesis of the video is revealed gradually as opposed to being able to predict exactly what happens from the very start.
The video also uses various master shots. For example, this master shot shows the entire 'army' getting ready to fight and all saying geronimo. This is a great opportunity for the audience to see the entire band together, singing the lyrics, so that they are able to make a relationship between the song and the artist. This helps to increase the artist's profile.
Applying Goodwin's Theory
There are a lot of close-ups of the artist. For example, there is a close up of the lead singer (George Sheppard) singing part of the song. Firstly, this helps to convey to the audience who the is singing the song out of the group. Secondly, and more importantly, this is assisting in raising the band's profile and making them more recognisable to the audience for the band's future endeavours in the music industry. This helps to contribute to the band's profile.
Since the band is so new to the world (this is their first official single), it is difficult to develop an artistic style. However, Sheppard certainly do a good job at introducing particular motifs. For example, the band are represented as being quite childish and quirky. Like when they are seen standing with the adorable box robot thing, and they are all wearing cardboard armour. It suggests that despite being adults, they are still young at heart and so this could challenge the stereotype of adults having to be all grown up and sensible. Additionally, there is no voyueristic treatment of the female body throughout this video - also suggestive of the band's innocence and childishness. The band show their audience that they just want to have a bit of fun. Predictably, this style will probably be consistently maintained over their future music videos.
Finally, there is an evident relationship between the music and the visuals. The music is particularly fast-paced and quick and the video is reflective of this. Especially as everybody goes into battle, the characters are all running around very quickly and are all just as excitable as the music! Also, the editing is very fast-paced. There are various jump cuts and even short shot-reverse-shots between the band and the opposing side that helps to solidify the relationship between the music and the visuals. The lighting is also very bright and warm, also reflective of the music.
Overall, I absolutely adore this music video. It follows a really interesting, but intriguing narrative and doesn't reveal everything about it. It is really nice to watch in terms of the aesthetic pleasingness, and is the perfect music video for the song - even if it is a little whacky and different to the sort of video you would get in the UK or America!
Additionally, the narrative is not particularly complete and is presented in a rather fragmented manner. As Vernallis propounded, not all questions are answered in this music video and the audience is left asking questions. For example, it is never revealed who exactly the mysterious girl is. Also, the narrative is shown in a more montage-focus style. There is no distinct beginning, middle and end, although the narrative that is presented throughout the video does make sense. One way, for example, the narrative is presented more abstractly, is through the use of jump cuts. For example, there is one shot of Sheppard walking towards a house, and the next shot they are standing in the house speaking to a crowd of people. This jump cut helps the video to progress quickly, as it lasts under 4 minutes in total.This video's diegesis is also revealed very slowly. For example, Vernallis makes a point that characters may not complete actions until the very end of the music video. In the case of this music video, it is only at the end that you see the happy couple have a little smooch. This supports Vernallis' theory as it exemplifies that the diegesis of the video is revealed gradually as opposed to being able to predict exactly what happens from the very start.The video also uses various master shots. For example, this master shot shows the entire 'army' getting ready to fight and all saying geronimo. This is a great opportunity for the audience to see the entire band together, singing the lyrics, so that they are able to make a relationship between the song and the artist. This helps to increase the artist's profile.Applying Goodwin's Theory
There are a lot of close-ups of the artist. For example, there is a close up of the lead singer (George Sheppard) singing part of the song. Firstly, this helps to convey to the audience who the is singing the song out of the group. Secondly, and more importantly, this is assisting in raising the band's profile and making them more recognisable to the audience for the band's future endeavours in the music industry. This helps to contribute to the band's profile.Since the band is so new to the world (this is their first official single), it is difficult to develop an artistic style. However, Sheppard certainly do a good job at introducing particular motifs. For example, the band are represented as being quite childish and quirky. Like when they are seen standing with the adorable box robot thing, and they are all wearing cardboard armour. It suggests that despite being adults, they are still young at heart and so this could challenge the stereotype of adults having to be all grown up and sensible. Additionally, there is no voyueristic treatment of the female body throughout this video - also suggestive of the band's innocence and childishness. The band show their audience that they just want to have a bit of fun. Predictably, this style will probably be consistently maintained over their future music videos.Overall, I absolutely adore this music video. It follows a really interesting, but intriguing narrative and doesn't reveal everything about it. It is really nice to watch in terms of the aesthetic pleasingness, and is the perfect music video for the song - even if it is a little whacky and different to the sort of video you would get in the UK or America!
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