Music video analyses - Waves by Mr probz



Waves by Mr Pobz is a Narrative music video as categorised by Joan Lynch. The genre of the music is pop so being a narrative music video doesn't fit into to the stereotype of them as they are generally performance videos rather than a narrative video.

This music video contains a wide range of camera shots and angles within it. At the beginning of the music video there is a lot of wide angled or establishing shots of the scenery especially the sea. This is for the benefit of the viewer so that they know where the video is set. They may of also done this to matches the lyrics of the song (wave after wave, wave after wave) to the video. This was identified by Andrew Goodwin as one of the main codes and conventions of a music video along with many others. Along with wide angled shots they also use close-ups of the man on the beach to show the emotion in his face. By doing this the audience feels his pain and will possibly feel sorry for him because right at the beginning we don't know what has happened to him yet. Gradually throughout the music video we find out what actually happened to the man who is on the dessert island by the use of flashbacks. The flashbacks show the man with what looks like his girlfriend in another place. Throughout the video they integrate these slowly in and in each one we get another part of the story; this will keep the audience interested throughout the video by creating suspense. Another editing technique is when they make it look like the guy is hallucinating that his girlfriend is there with him. This mainly happens right at the beginning of the video after the first flashback, this confirms that the reason why he is on that island has something to do with her but we are still not quiet sure what and why. In post-production they have also slowed down most of the shots especially the ones on the island. This gives it a very peaceful effect but it also means the images go along with the pace and beat of the song. They also use this effect in a way that it enables you to see more of the emotion in the mans face and exhaustion of having to get food and survive on the island. Finally it also makes it seem like he isn't all there, like he has taken drugs or something similar. This also fits well with the music as it sounds upbeat but at the same time it is slow and the music kind of drifts like the sea in a way.

 

Lighting also plays a big part in this music video. In each scene and shot on the beach they have put a filter on so that the image looks hazy. This may be there to represent the state of mind the man is in, as said in the last point on the previous paragraph, he isn't all there, that something has really effected him, whether it's from drink, drugs or just the shock of what has happened between him and his girlfriend. The scenes and shots that are not on the island have slightly different lighting. Gradually throughout the scenes the lighting gets darker and darker. This implies that as the story unravels the couples relationship is starting to get worse and gaps are starting to show, plus that something big is about to happen that may be the answer to why the man is on the island.

 

This video has two locations, a dessert island and a holiday destination somewhere that looks like Asia. They use different spacing's (in the shots/scenes) in each of these locations to represent different things. For example by using the dessert island it creates as sense of loneliness and that the man is now forever alone with no hope of survival because there is nothing else there with him. Whereas in the scenes in Asia they are mainly taken up fully by the couple which implies they haven't split up yet and they have each other and don't need anyone else.

 

There is also a contrast in the costumes they wear in each location. When back in civilisation they both wear, clean, neat, trendy and smart clothing that people would typically wear on holiday. In contrast to this on the island the man is wearing the same cloths but they are, scruffy, dirty (covered in sand) and ripped. This is a stereotype of what people think you would look like if you were stranded on a dessert island but by copying the stereotype it makes it clearer to the audience where he is and that he is stranded with no resources or any type of civilisation around him. The props are also fitted to what location they are at. For example on the island he uses rocks and a coconut; these are individually suited to the resources he would have in real life if he were to actually be stranded on dessert island. Where as when the couple are both together in civilisation there props are, umbrellas, polaroid camera and alcohol bottles. These props are meant to reflect what society and world they are in as all these props are what tourists traditionally take on holiday.