Analysing 3 of my favourite Music Videos in regards to Mise-en-scene, Cinematography and Editing

Analysing 3 of my favourite Music Videos in regards to Mise-en-scene, Cinematography and Editing

Analysing 3 of my favourite music videos:

1. Coldplay - The Scientist
2. A-ha - Take On Me
3. Jamiroquai - Virtual Insanity

My favourite music video in general is ‘The Scientist’ by Coldplay which I have previously talked about in my blog. This video is also my favourite in regards to mise-en-scene, cinematography and editing as it is so unique and special. The song is incredibly creative and almost inspiring because of the creativity, the editing is absolutely amazing as it had to be perfect for the song to be effective otherwise the lip synching would have looked out of place. The song is listed as number 11 in the list of the 100 Greatest Music Videos. The use of editing is what I really love about this video. The video is going actually going backwards so Chris Martin had to learn the song backwards and lip synch the song backwards which is incredible. In the song, the phrase “let’s go back to the start” is said a number of times. This phrase links to what Chris Martin is doing so this supports Goodwin’s theory of the song and lyrics linking together to make a successful music video. The editing for me is exceptional and something I have never seen before, it adds credibility to the song and makes me like the song more. It is very modern and looks amazing. The cinematography is also something to be noticed, the specific use of shots again give the audience a certain feel to the song. For example, right at the beginning of the song, the first shot we see is of Chris’s mouth and him lip synching the song then the camera zooms out and we get a feel of the surroundings which I feel is very deliberate, effective and makes the video enjoyable to watch.



My second favourite music video in regards to mise-en-scene, cinematography and editing is 'Take On Me' by 'A-ha'. The video is absolutely top draw in terms of creativity and it is a very exciting video to watch. The editing is very unique and I have never seen editing like this before which is what makes me like this song so much. The use of editing is wonderful and extremely modern in some parts but also quite old in other parts such this alternation makes the video look very effective. The director has merged comic scenes with real life scenes so coherently again making the video look effective. The video also has a fast beat which is why there is a fast pace of editing as it goes from one shot which could be a match on action to a close up so the video matches this by depicted the man on a race car once again reinforcing Goodwin's theory of the music video and lyrics coming together to make a successful single. The cinematography is also something to notice in this video, it uses a lot of various angles and shot types to make the video correlate with the tempo of the fast beat. The mise-en-scene in this music video is widely considered to be post modern because of the location of the video which is an old restaurant with the stereotypical 1950's look. Overall this is one of my favourite videos because of the editing and cinematography because I feel everything is done deliberately and makes the video look very impressive.



Finally, my third favourite music video in regards to mise-en-scene, cinematography and editing is 'Virtual Insanity' by Jamiroquai. This song is just a masterclass in terms of Jamiroquai's performance and all aspects of the video work well together to produce a great single. The song became an anthem of the late 1990's due t its enjoyable beat and catchy tone. In particular what made this song a success was the moving of the furniture and rooms and Jamiroquai himself gliding around which was definitely unseen of around the 1990's. The use of editing in this song is truly what I enjoy the most. I recently described it almost as a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation due to the transitions of the video as one scene glides to another and back and fourth. In addition what I particularly enjoy about this video is his performance. I believe it is truly captivating. The cinematography is also very effective as it uses a variety angles and shots which gives us a feel of the surroundings and also makes us feel almost involved in the video due to the camera pulling us in and out with the zooms and transitions.

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