Sarah: Half Term Work- deconstructing a music video.

"Gimme Chemicals" By The Pink Spiders
Released: 2008
Director: Matthew Stawski



1. The genre of The Pink Spiders (TPS) is often described to be pop/rock and the forms and characteristics of this genre are evident in this video. It involves a performance in which the lead singer often looks directly at the camera addressing the audience (breaking the fourth wall) and also the mise-en-scene of the video is very conventional to the genre: the lead singer has scruffy hair and there are many close-ups of the instruments being played. All the band members wear white in keeping with the background and to emphasise the coloured paint but the style of clothes is in accordance with the “rebellious” image of the pop/rock genre for example Matt Friction (lead singer) wears a white sleeveless top.

The lyrics of the song are lip-synced which creates a relationship between the lyrics and the video and a relationship between the music and the visuals is created through the bands performance and also through the editing which often means that cuts and different camera angles are done in time to the beat. Also, the band members often appear to be moving in time to the music and dancing at some moments.

There are close-ups of Matt Friction singing, especially when he is looking straight into the camera and they are often high angle shots causing him to look up and give the video an artistic feel. A motif for TPS is the colour pink and although they have many different colours of paint thrown around at the end, all band members end up mostly covered in pink paint.

There is no reference to the notion of looking as the band are performing in an empty white room whilst a multi-coloured tiger gets drawn on the wall in the style of “paint by numbers” There are also no intertextual references in this video.

The video is performance based due to the band performing in the middle of the room but also concept based because of the paint and the animated tiger on the wall.

2. Camera Techniques
Opening scene is low shot of paint pots- panning across them. Quick movement towards singer at the beginning. Lots of low angle shots when there are no lyrics and high angle shots when filming Matt Friction.


Editing
Opening scene is in slow motion. Following scenes seem to be sped up slightly to look more disjointed and chaotic. Lip syncing and instruments appear to be played live. More slow motion when the band is jumping around with their instruments. Quick cuts in time with the music (a fundamental factor in creating a good music video). Video played backwards when Matt Friction is walking so he appears to be walking backwards away from the camera which further creates a disjointed look.

Mise-En-Scene
Everything is white apart from the paint and the outline of the tiger on the wall. Bright light shone from behind Matt Friction into camera lens emphasises the white of the set and the darkness of Matt’s hair. Only pink paint has spilt out of the pot- the bands motif. All the pots have numbers on and when the tiger is drawn it has numbers to show which colour goes where.

Special Effects
The tiger seems to be drawn on its own with no other help. Paint flies from the instruments onto the wall. The tiger moves and throws paint over the band.

Sound
The sound fades out at the end but begins immediately.

3. The band is represented as energetic, playful and rebellious with their scruffy hair and alternative fashion e.g. Joey B-Side’s sunglasses. They move around a lot when they are performing suggesting a rocky atmosphere to their music and fast/heavy songs. This adds to their meta-narrative as they are often portrayed as smoking and are known to be involved in drugs (the content of many of their songs) and are enforcing the “rock star image” through their suggested rebellion. This employs counter-culture attraction to help sell their product.

4. This is an example of disjuncture as the images and the narrative of the piece have little to do with the lyrics (although the movements of the band and the cuts link with the music itself) other than the lip syncing and instrument playing.

5. There is no intertextuality or reference to popular culture.

6. I don’t think this video could be considered art because it is mostly images of the band performing interspersed with images of a paint by numbers tiger coming to life on a wall. The only scene I would consider to be art is the last few where the band are performing and paint is being thrown at them as it is post modern and abstract.

7. Different social groups are not represented in this video.

8. The lyrics seem to suggest that taking drugs is just a part of life and something that is hard to control so the ideology is that its okay to do drugs and that life is uncontrollable without them. This is enforced in the video through the band losing control of the painted tiger and having the paint thrown back in their faces.

9. This video would be consumed in a focused way because the narrative of the video is easy to keep up with but the music itself demands your attention through the beat and the tone of the song.