CHANGES TO MUSIC VIDEOS

Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen (1975)Na Na Na – My Chemical Romance (2010)

The first shot in the music video, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ by Queen, begins with performance. This is rarely seen in todays rock videos as they now commonly begin with narrative to introduce the story line. We see that their faces are black-out which creates anticipation and tension. Compared to the My Chemical Romance music video, we can see that they camera is not very high quality and this is due to the time it was created where cameras were not as developed as the cameras we have today.

In contrast with Queen’s music video, the ‘Na Na Na’ music video begins with a narrative to introduce you to the storyline and to also show where the music video is set. From this clip, we can see that the music video is set in a desert. The camera jumps to another clip were ‘Doctor Death’, a radio host, is talking into a microphone (performance) and is describing the world as an apocalyptic place, known as ‘Battery City’, where you kill to survive and so, we know that this music video is set in a different time era.

This shot in the music video is a well-known and iconic scene and many bands have copied this shot in their own music videos or in photo shoots. This is a shot that is rarely seen in music videos today, were different shots over lap each other. Also, this music video shows no narrative and focuses more on performance where as music videos that are made today mainly focus on the narrative.

During the voice over of ‘Doctor Death’, a rapid number of quick shots are shown where we see the band preparing for battle. Meanwhile, Doctor Death’s voice is getting louder and louder which creates tension and some excitement as you wait for the actual song to begin. In this scene, we also see how colourful and vibrant the music video is compared to Queen’s who mainly used the colours black, white, brown and blue.

The camera begins to fade to different angles until it eventually fades into a shot where we see the band performing on stage and it looks as if they are performing at a concert. Again, this is rarely see in todays music videos. During the music video, I also noticed that there were only two different settings, one being in a studio and other being on the stage. In comparison to the ‘Na Na Na’ music video which has a number of different settings and locations.

After the voice over is finished and the actual song begins, you eventually lose count of how many times the camera changes to another shot. It changes rapidly and quickly to create excitement and to show chaos. Compared to this video, Queen’s music video changes shots more gradually and slowly with one scene overlapping the other continuously.This music video also only shows narrative compared to Queen’s video which only shows performance.

The colours used in this music video are mainly black, white, brown, blue and even some purple when they’re on the stage. When they are in the studio, different colours are used compared to the colours that are used when they are on the stage. In the studio, we see blacks, whites and some brown. This creates a dark and tense atmosphere. The black background and the bright light shinning down on each of their faces is effective as it makes you focus on each person in the band and almost makes you become fixated with them. When they are on the stage, they are all mainly wearing white and from the stage lighting, we see that some blues, pinks and purples are used. This is to create a more exciting and bright atmosphere.

In this music video, the colours that are mainly used are blue, red, orange, yellow, green, white and black. These vivid colours makes this video look as if it could be found in a comic book (which is what the singer, Gerard Way, was going for). And eventually, this music video was in fact turned into a comic book titled “The Killjoys”. These bright colours also make the music video look more exciting and also represents the fact that this video is set in a different time era as in todays society, you wouldn’t commonly see people wearing bright leather jackets and colourful masks.