Excessive Graphic Motion: On The Contemporary Music Video As The Next Instalment In Post-Classical Digital Cinema

Student ID: 10916547

MA New Media and Digital Culture University of Amsterdam

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. R.A. Rogers Second Reader: Dr. M.D. Tuters June 23rd 2016

Excessive Graphic Motion: On the contemporary music video as the next instalment in post-classical digital cinema

Abstract:

The evolution of cinema in the digital age has become topic of interest to both film and media theorists alike, positing the death of film and emergence of new, original genres. Contemporary music videos can be seen as an outcome of this strained relationship, as a media that both borrows from film and brings it into the future through its use of cinematic in technical and narrative terms. Although definitions of the music video remain elusive, a compilation of film and media theory has allowed the music video to find its place within the genre of post classical cinema, addressing concerns of post digital art and affecting the medium in both aesthetic and audience related terms. The accelerated, condensed content of the music video has affected the medium of film not only in aesthetic terms, but has also determined a new kind of hyper-aware audience which reflects new media debates on human-computer interaction, embodiment, and, to a greater extent the evolution of the human experience in the wake of an increasingly digitizing new media landscape.

Keywords: Music video, aesthetics, post-classical cinema, digital cinema, new media, embodiment, retrograde technicity, viewer engagement, late capitalism

Cover photo: Collection of screenshots from corpus of videos glitched. (Anissa Jousset)

Special Thanks

I would like to thank Pepijn Bierhuizen, Max Cantellow, Alexander Guian-Illanes, and Xeniya Kondrat for their help and support throughout.

Table of Contents

I: Debaser: Establishing music videos as an undervalued film genre II. Sound & Vision: Contextualizing the post-classical music video

III. Heaps of fragments: Defragmenting the aesthetics of post digital cinema

IV. Everything, all at once: engagement and the viewer experience in the digital age V. Take A Look At These Hands: the Post-Digital Identity Crisis

VI. Post-Pop Depression: Status update on the position of music videos in post classical digital film

Works Cited Videos

I: Debaser: Establishing Music Videos as an Undervalued Film Genre

Just Plain Old Movies

The scene is the contemporary new media landscape, and our protagonist is film. As we follow him through an analogue desert, increasingly dominated by digital technology, we may expect him to break, falter, or even die. However, a digital plot twist will prevent this, a revolution of some sorts. Film will not die, film will go on.

In theoretical terms, the death of cinema in the digital age has become a topic of great interest to both the fields of new media and cinema and has spurring discourse from both sides questioning the ability of film to adapt .The accelerated development of digital technologies, in relation to the capturing, processing and production of cinematic images has begun to blur the boundaries between individual creation and automated production, modifying the temporality and narrative structure of film, as well as its temporality as a medium. This, along with the increasing availability of digital means of producing and distributing images are some of the elements that have triggered a cinematic identity crisis within which I will establish the music video as being film’s response to new media culture. Although the impact of digital technology on video manifests itself in a multitude of formats which would be equally relevant to study in relation to the evolution of the video medium both in terms of form (i.e. Vine or Snapchat videos), and platforms, I have chosen to place my attention on the music video in order to add to the symmetrical bidimensionality of the relationship of film and new media. In this, I would like to present the music video as both a cinematic response to new digital technologies, and as a new media art form which takes its roots in film but has begun to branch out and become a film genre

in its own right. Here the music video finds its place as being one of the multiple outcomes of debates concerning film and new media.

In the following chapter, I will contextualize the debate on the position of cinema within the new media landscape and offer my own contribution to the theoretical debate through the introduction of the music video as a cinematic genre. Through the works of André Gaudreault, Philippe Marion, and Patricia Pisters, I will lay out the debate on the end of film in the age of new media. After having mapped out the issue, I will offer my own ideas concerning the death of film, in context with the fluid, ever changing nature of the medium, by arguing that the crisis it is currently faced with is a key component in a revolution, focusing primarily here on the

technological aspects of cinematic production, which are at the core of the new media debate. In order to build context for the study of the music video in the field of film, a study of the current stance of the music video ranging from its origins on MTV and its commercial roots to how far it has come in both in theoretical and media terms will be done. Here I will address the gap in literature concerning the study of the music video, and its definition as a media that is independent of being strictly commercial and that remains thoroughly undefined.

Taking into consideration the works of Simon Frith and Anthony Goodwin on the study of video clips, both of whom place great importance on the role of pop culture in the meaning making of these clips, I am proposing a re-examination of the definition of pop culture. This new definition is based on the works of Adorno and Benjamin in relation to the role of pop music and the aura of art respectively, which will be reworked in order to shake the foundations of critical theory. I will end by placing the music video as the bridge between cinema and new media, as being a yet undefined component in the cinematic matrix, which is both in the process of

defining itself as a medium, and thus far remains underestimated while asserting the position of cinema in the digital age.

Carrying The Cans

In her 2013 book Unruly Media: YouTube, Music Video, and the New Digital Cinema, Carol Vernallis addresses the dynamic relationship between music videos and film: “indeed a close study of this “low art “can help to explain contemporary film” (94) This vacant space between two medias, which have been deemed very different from each other or not studied by media theorists, is where I place myself. While the music video has been thoroughly criticized for its pop culture and commercial value, its role in terms of validity as a film genre has not been thoroughly addressed. Music videos, in essence have been found to borrow from other visual art forms, and have come increasingly closer to the medium of film in particular, which seems to have come as a bit of a shock to affected parties in the industry.

Music video style has colonized contemporary cinema more than we know(33).This “colonization “of film, which now finds itself amongst the ranks of classical art, gives the music video a threatening impact on the fundamental origins of film. The branching out of the music video into the media of film is informed by the structural fear of low and highbrow culture blending and becoming indistinguishable. In the domain of film, this fear echoes filmmaker Paul Greenaway’s concerns regarding the death of cinema’s classical form (Gaudreault and Marion 2). The concern that film is being tainted by new media forms can partially be attributed to recent technological developments and the rise of the Internet as an outlet for new media which have left film theorists full of questions regarding the damage digital technologies will do to the

ecology of the film industry. The individual’s power to seize the means of production, the immediacy of rendering the images, and the diverse broadcasting outlets available for the distribution of moving pictures is amongst some of the fears film theorists and (other affected parties) have with regards to the relevance and place of film in the age of digital technology. This situation is addressed by André Gaudreault and Philippe Marion in their 2015 book The End of Cinema?: A Medium in Crisis in the Digital Age, in which they address the status of cinema in the crisis brought about by new media(2). In this, they place themselves within the context of contemporary debates which are expecting cinema to become obsolete because of digital technology, which would alter the definition of cinema. Gaudreault and Marion acknowledge this question by stating that uncertainties concerning the future of cinema are not medium specific but are a part of greater debates concerning the status of classical media which have lost many of their bearings since the advent of digital technologies(2).

The theoretical fear of the death of film, in more visual terms, is also deeply rooted in Rancière’s death of the image, in which he states that in contemporary culture there is nothing but images, and that therefore images are devoid of context or meaning (Pisters1).With regards to the Internet as an artistic environment, which facilitates the broadcasting and sharing of

content at an unprecedented speed, the hermeneutical death of the image is not an unfounded fear to have. The death of cinema is in essence the theoretical basis of my research in the sense that it provides a context for the relevance of the music video as an active component in a cinematic revolution pioneered both by new media and paradigm shifts regarding the definition of film. I would like to argue however, that the abundance of images being projected on to audiences in the wake of the Internet constitutes a transduction rather than destruction of image culture, and by extension the medium of film.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Here I would like to address the increasingly dominant place of the digital within film as being an addition to the creative spectrum of the medium. Gaudreault and Marion refer to a similar idea as a “kind of cinematic renaissance” which has been set in set in motion through the “present-day effervescence of the digital” (120). In this, cinema is depicted as being an

extremely elastic medium, whose definition will come to encompass many expanding definitions and genres. This is where I would like to introduce the music video as a genre within this

“cinematic renaissance”, a genre of cinema whose influence is both revitalizing film while making a name for it.

In an attempt at giving this genre a name and for clarity’s sake, I will call this post-classical digital cinema. In this, Vernallis’ contextualization of music videos in the film

landscape will be taken one step further, by incorporating the digital as a key component in order to introduce the music video as film’s response to new media culture. Vernallis begins to

contextualize music videos within post-digital cinema by illustrating the creative potential of the music video: “Only within the hothouse of music video production, using the inexpensive and flexible medium of videotape, could a language of music video and contemporary audiovisual aesthetics come together” (70). Here she underlines the liberated means and processes of production of the music video, processes which I will extend into the field of digital film.

You’ve Heard About MTV

In relation to media terminology, the music video remains a relatively new genre, whose history remains uncharted (26). Symbolically identified as a clip accompanying a song, the deeper, more subjective connections of the music video to film and other media have not been thoroughly addressed. Through my analysis of the contemporary music video and the

contextualizing of the genre within the new media and film landscapes, I am picking up where Goodwin and Vernallis left off, in terms of underlining the potential of the music video and attempting to define it both in relation to older definitions and the media of film. The collections of videos I have put together contain characteristics that are recognizable from the origins of the music video, as well as new narrative forms and cinematic devices which differ from cinematic traditions. I am picking up where the definition of the music video trailed off into the dark. The music videos described in my research serve as a visualization of the theoretical difficulties that lie within the definition of the music video.

As a conclusion of the analysis of the videos I aim to establish that music videos stand as a form of film in their own right, they have the potential to differ from their MTV origins, challenging the relationship between new media and film.

As I previously mentioned, contemporary cinema is overwrought by the impending doom of being cast aside as “old media” in the age of digital technology. In addition, there is a lack of attention being paid to the music video, which is a on the rise as a solid art form that is growing out of the shadow of the 1980s and bringing both the mediums of video and film to

Following the development of Internet platforms such as YouTube(founded in 2005) and Vimeo(founded in 2004) which provided the opportunity to broadcast video content and boost the digitization of film, the music video began to surpass its temporality a medium and gain the potential to differ from its commercial/promotional origins. Since the 2010s, these platforms have massively improved, allowing the music video the opportunity to surpass itself as a visual medium. Despite its rapid evolution in aesthetic and technical terms, the music video has been neglected in theoretical terms within film studies. Vernallis compares the current lacuna in music video theory to the beginning of auteur studies, for which film studies has created a canon of its own(34), after debating the meaning and value of auteur studies overall. Music videos today find themselves in a similar situation, where I see the potential to integrate a new canon within film studies, and to a greater extent in film, there is no corpus adapted to music video studies.

Map of the Problematique

Determining the lack of information concerning music videos on both academic and nonacademic platforms brought another point of concern to my attention. The music video, as an object of discussion seems to have dropped off the map, when it comes to discourse that is not related to commercial or copyright concerns. Vernallis stresses that old definitions [of the music video] don’t seem to work” (82) and that in the 30 years of the music video, various sorts of canon have emerged (209). Meanwhile, these canons have not been thoroughly studied. The problem is twofold, it stems from an inadequate definition of music videos on the side of media, and in the cultural contexts; specifically in relation to pop culture.

The connotations of the terms “commercial” and “pop culture” have left the music video at odds with itself, in terms of what kind of media it currently is. In order to place the music video in a

cultural context, it is necessary to work towards definition of culture which provides more adequate grounds for the study and appreciation of the music video. Lawrence Levine’s

(re)definition of culture concerning the distinction made between high and lowbrow culture fits perfectly here. Levine proposes a more fluid definition of culture, a defining and redefining of the contours of culture (56), which would go beyond dealing with “intellectual abstractions.” He describes this concretely as an open search for an understanding of what culture has been in the past and can become in the future”(56).

In this, he is going towards a more comprehensive definition of culture that goes beyond the theoretical, academic approach and recognizes the abundance of factors that influence and outline culture. Levine’s definition of culture is also highly relevant in the way that he rids it of its structural rigidity. Here, he allows for a more metaphysical approach to the question of culture which focuses on “dealing with lives and minds “rather than one focused on making hierarchical separations between cultural instances. This approach to culture is informed by Levine’s discontent with classical critical theory and the “sacralization of culture “, both of which pertain to the theoretical incompleteness of music video studies. In order assess the cultural context of the music video in relation to film, it is necessary to re-examine the paradigm of critical theory, in the attempt of rebuilding a more malleable definition of culture, which will be more adapted to the fluid form of the music video. In this, the lack of literature concerning the music video has reached past the academic definition of critical theory and needs to be

reexamined from a social perspective.

What’s In A Name - Platform Specific Side Note

The academic and medium specific lacuna regarding the music video has trickled down into Wikipedia. The expectation for Wikipedia to provide a full article on a pop culture item was wrong considering the incomplete nature of the entry for “music video” on the English

Wikipedia page. In terms of platform analysis, the English Wikipedia page for the query “music video” does not amount to much in terms of providing a definition of the term. The definition reads as follows: A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes” (“Music Video”). This definition is itself

borrowed from an essay written by VFX Editor Daniel Moller, in the context of his Master’s in Digital Media. Moller’s essay features Wikipedia’s original definition of the music video, from 2011:“a motion picture produced to accompany a song, for promotional or artistic purposes” (2011). He underlines the ways in which this definition, while being more informative than those provided by the Cambridge and Oxford dictionaries, still fails to take note of the creative

dynamics of the music video.

The chapters in the Wikipedia page also demonstrate a lack of terminology and attention regarding the music video as a media item that is not primarily commercial. The entry on music videos that was the most interesting for the purpose of this research is was the one devoted to recent music video releases, entitled “2005-present” which offers a vague overview of music video platforms, punctuated with video examples. Most of the entry is focused on copyright and censorship which does not offer anything in terms of contextualizing the music video as an artistic medium.

The meta irony in the challenges linked to the definition of the music video in this instance expands the debate across various platforms thus underlining a gap not only in academic terms, but in new media terms as well.

Copy of A

The music videos’ pop culture origins have become something of a setback in terms of constructing an up to date definition of the genre. This setback is rooted in an antiquated definition of pop culture, which, in turn results in inadequate definitions of the music video. From a cultural perspective, the necessity to take poststructuralism further strikes me as a being a key step in schematizing the media landscape of the music video. In his 1994 book Media

Culture: Cultural Studies, Identity and Politics between the Modern and the Postmodern Douglas Kellner already make suggestions regarding a broader definition of cultural studies. In his attempt at taking critical theory further than postmodernism, he posits a field of cultural studies that is “open, flexible, and without guarantees”(95) thus departing from a definition of culture with a set, hierarchical taxonomy. Much like Levine, Kellner strives for fluidity and multiplicity in his definition of culture.

His is a definition of culture which is adapted to the multimedia tendencies of the music video. In order to pick up where Kellner left off, in 1994, I am taking critical theory beyond itself into a reflection of itself and ultimately, into a reflection on the status of film, through the lens of the music video.

Kellner and Levine, in their reworking of critical theory deconstruct Benjaminian perspectives on the work of art and work towards a more openended paradigm, which takes post

capitalism. The inherently Marxist stratification of culture becomes problematic in terms of addressing the fluidity of a media such as the music video. For example, in relation to target audiences, the contemporary music remains both cryptic, and inclusive: cryptic in its styles and content, and inclusive in the way that its accessibility is guaranteed through an Internet

connection. This surpasses the necessity to own a television, or any sort of video playing equipment.

Through a technological lens, this allows for media to be broadcast on multiple platforms and devices. The means of media distribution in the post-capitalist era transcend class barriers that were still present only 15 years ago. With regards to booms in technology and accessibility of digital media, both poststructuralism and critical theories have failed to keep up. This lack of analytical adaptability is a fundamental flaw in the construction of an appropriate method for studying the music video. As a response to this, Fredric Jameson addresses the post-capitalist approach to culture and states that pluralism is ideology of groups” (220).Here he presents an approach to culture that is distinct in its multitudes.

Bridging The Gap

Placed at the junction of music and film, (contemporary) music videos find themselves in an unspecified position which, in terms of media theory gives them the potential to be a

contributing factor in the evolution of cinema, both as an expansion of the cinematic art and as a compression of music, cinema and the imprint of digital technology on the artistic medium. Jameson states that the video has a powerful claim for being the art form par excellence of late capitalism, it being closely related to the dominant computer and information technology of the late or third stage of capitalism (76). Here he bridges the gap between technology and culture

and draws attention to the influence of the deconstruction of fundamentally capitalist principles on the structure of media.

In order to place the music video within the cinematic context, I would like to draw a connection between characteristics of post capitalism and how they have been reflected in the medium of film. The post-capitalist mindset and its rejection of purely monetary compensation shows through the fact that music videos are now more often detached from their promotional and commercial origins, While being in line with the concept of promoting a song, certain music videos find their sole purpose in being an artistic accompaniment to a song with more artistic freedom than previously in the history of the media. The atomization of class division and social groups in the age of late capitalism has imprinted itself in media culture in a way that it has deconstructed the familiar narrative of “the West” in classical Hollywood cinema, a

deconstruction which, in turn, has traced itself onto post-classical cinema. Post-classical cinema came as response to the Hollywood tradition and is distinguishable through is chopped up form and content and rejection of structurally linear narratives.

Vernallis describes post-classical film as possessing a range of features, including disorienting storytelling devices, database narratives; a dazzling surface made up of shots with changing lens-lengths, wipe-byes, and handheld camera movements; and striking audiovisual effects, all of which can further distort classical Hollywood narrative filmmaking”(40). Here I would like to place the music video within the context of post-classical film, first, as an art form which has been underestimated, not in relation to its influence on film, but more in terms of securing a place for itself in the cinematic landscape. Vernallis’ conclusion lies in the hope that the music video will begin to be acknowledged in more domains than it has been previously, specifically within the medium of film. I aim to extend Vernallis’ points in my research by

establishing what I believe to be a new turn in the medium of film. Picking up where she left off, through a selection of videos demonstrating characteristics of post classical film, I am basing myself on the definition of the music video outlined by Vernallis and Goodwin, and adding my own levels of analysis to them in order to work towards a more fluid and contemporary

definition of the genre.

Although mechanisms of music video production have changed drastically over the past 30 years, the potential for the music video to evolve into something bigger than itself is very medium specific. Vernallis’ note attributes the coming together of music video language and contemporary audio-visual aesthetics to the inexpensive and popular medium of videotape” (70). The same can be said today in relation digital recording devices. Where film equipment was once a commodity, often becoming an investment, it has now reached past even the necessity to own a film device on its own, for example, the integration of HQ video in cell phone cameras has made both photography and film hyper-accessible.

Here the contemporary music video becomes particularly interesting to analyze in more formal terms in relation to the devices, both technical and theoretical, it borrows from film explicitly in its visual and narrative structure, as well as more implicit levels through the use of ideology and symbolism which are recognizable both through the musical and visual texts in the music video. Music videos in particular differ from other forms of video art their dual nature. Specifically in formal terms, this gives the reader a multiple set of texts to interpret and follow. Placed at the junction of technological advancements, and informed by an accumulation of art forms, film and music video find themselves in peculiar relationship, in which they feed off each other, providing new developments for both media. Here I would like to draw attention to the

particular inspiration new media derives from film, how this manifests itself in new, original forms, and how the new original form of the music video can be seen as a new media spin on the cinematic art form which is both defining itself and ensuring a future for film. With regards to the progression of the music video and the theoretical difficulty of defining it as a genre, the dynamic relationship between music video and film is a breeding ground for innovation. In this, the contemporary music video can be seen not only as a combination of music and video, but to a greater extent, a film genre. Here a close look at the dual nature of the music video in terms of music, visuals, and content is necessary.

Method: A Multilayered Approach To A Multilayered Medium

I Want My MTV

Since its inception, the place and purpose of the music video in the media landscape have been a source of criticism and confusion. Their commercial origins in the 1980s and the birth of MTV have left music video audiences with an aftertaste of capitalism and mass consumption. In the age of new media, the music video has reached out of its consumerist cage and become more of an object of art, operating in the domains of cinema, performance art, and video art in the broader sense. The concatenation of music and video strikes me as the ultimate form of

contemporary cinematic art reinforcing the intertwining of art and new media, which a dynamic of interest in the contemporary technological landscape. For the purpose of my research, I find it necessary to provide visual examples, in my case contemporary music videos which will firstly, allow me to materialize and illustrate the gap literature regarding the music video as both a product of new media in theoretical and technical terms and, secondly, provide a visual grounds

for the comparison of music video and film. In order to visualize the theoretical, I have assembled a collection of clips which I believe embody contemporary currents in new media cinema, through their cinematic impact and the way they address new media sensibilities through both their technological and ideological characteristics. In line with my research question, I would like to stress ways in which the music video, as a visual art form has been both underresearched and unjustly cast aside as a mere product of pop culture which seems to not have warranted the attention of both media scholars and film theorists alike.

Picking Up The Pieces

Up until now, music videos have been defined as short films but have not been treated with as much grace and attention as film. Their relationship with film has either not been established or studied as a strained dynamic. Their cinematic potential has been acknowledged but not thoroughly studied. The music video has rarely been studied independently from its promotional and television origins. With the exception of clips created by film directors( i.e. Mark Romanek, Spike Jonze, Floria Sigismondi), music videos have been, more often than not, cast aside, or simply not thoroughly researched as an art form in their own right. What I would like to draw attention to here is the way in which music videos as a theoretical object of study have somewhat “dropped off the map “both in the media landscape and in the field of visual arts since the early 2000s. More concretely, what I am doing here is studying what I believe to be a radically underrated new media item, which, despite its origins on the television screen, has evolved into a form of video which now finds itself closer to film.

The music video in particular is of interest to study as a new media art form due to its difficulty to define, which provides virgin territory in terms of limits and parameters, much like

the difficulties which lie in defining the parameters of human existence within the new media landscape. This, in addition to the music narrative of the music video makes for a form of media I find it interesting to investigate and contextualize in terms of film and new media. As a starting point for my research, I picked up where music video theory left off, mostly through the work of Carol Vernallis,who remains one of the only scholars to have addressed the role of the music video in all its facets. She addresses the music video in relation to film, society and its means of production and distribution. As a basis for my research, I have used her approach to the music video and extended it into the context of new media and post classical digital cinema through the analysis of contemporary music videos in both their physical and theoretical composition. In terms of analysis, and contextualization of video clips, I found myself drawn to the works of Andrew Goodwin and Carol Vernallis on the music video as being some of the only relevant sets of research done on the topic in context with society, and other media, specifically film and music and in terms of methods for video analysis.

Although these works were not written very recently(1993 and 2004), the fact that they stand alone, as some of the most (and only) relevant writings on the topic have lead me to make an attempt at justifying the lack of attention granted to the music video. The problematic aspects of the music videos lie both within the structural difficulty to classify them, rooted in the

Benjaminian propensity to dismiss pop culture items as mere capitalist products, devoid of a deeper meaning and meant to be taken lightly by the audience. The lingering influence of

classical critical theory has created a boundary between music videos and cinema, both symbolic representations of low and high culture respectively.

This, in combination with the difficulty to attribute a standard definition to the music video, has left the field of music video lacking in terms of analytical techniques. In other words,

research has been rendered difficult due to the elusive definition of the object of study. In his 1993 book Dancing in the Distraction Factory: Music, Television, and Popular Culture, Andrew Goodwin addressed what he refers to as the “poverty of music video analysis”, a phenomenon which results in increasing confusion surrounding the definition of the music video, its purpose and its place within the media landscape. Goodwin attributes this methodological lacuna to an absence of concepts adequate to the field (20). In this, he underlines a structural issue concerning the lack of terminology and methods employed in the study of music videos, which in turn result in a lack of research done regarding the media.

In an attempt at determining reasons for this theoretical neglect, I identified the recurring mention of complexity of the music video genre as being the main source of perplexity in the field. In this, I would like to think of music video studies as a work in progress, simultaneously influenced and informed by new developments in media technologies and movements in film. In 2004, Carol Vernallis addressed the complexity of the music video genre and its analysis in her book Experiencing the Music Video: Aesthetics and Cultural Context. Years after Goodwin, she concluded that the problematic nature of methods of music video analysis had not shifted greatly. She attributes the “disorienting style” of the video clip as being one of the main sources of

theoretical unclarity.

Taking Goodwin’s remarks further, Vernallis provides her own method of analysis which I am using as a stepping stone in my research. She examines the music video as a distinct genre, one different from its predecessors, a medium with its own ways of organizing materials, exploring themes, and dealing with time(x). In this, she differentiates the music video from “older” media (namely film, television, and photography) and addresses its multimedia nature which, in turn renders a fully classical analysis inadequate. By following this reasoning and,

taking into account the yet to be determined stance of the contemporary music video within the new media landscape as well as its “aesthetic newness” (Hansen and Lenoir), I have determined that a multilayered analysis of the music video is the most accurate way to proceed.

The music video is, in itself made up of multiple core components: video, as well as music (music and lyrics), each component should be taken into account and analyzed, separately, all the while keeping the greater picture in mind. This, in addition to the cinematographic component makes for a complex media, which calls for a complex, innovative method. Where Goodwin and Vernallis point out the complexities of the music video as a cinematic form and suggest paying more attention to their development, evolution and impact, the temporality of their work fades rapidly and is therefore lacking in terms of contemporary context. As an extension of their work, I propose an experimental contextualization of the music video as a bridge between “old” and new media, here film and digital video.

Blurred Lines

Upon further examination of research done on music videos, I became very conscious of the methodological challenges presented by the study of a semi researched topic. In this, my method is built up of equal parts of theory and invention. A collection of theory that is either directly related to or peripherally applicable to music video (theory) and interpretation. In this, I am using what I do know in order to clarify what I don’t know. The difficulty in defining a “music video aesthetic” is a central point in Vernallis’ study of the topic. For instance, she refers to the complex relationship of music videos and music video lyrics. She refers to the lyrics as having an oracular function, in which they name and point, but do not describe (155). The

relationship of music video visuals with the content of the lyrics is one, amongst many of the dynamics which contributes to the meaning of the music video in its final form.

The difficulty of pinning down a specific style for the music video lies in the fluidity of their form and content. The videos in my corpus do not abide to particular genre characteristics apart from the fact that they have all been released under the term “music video”. This means that each clip could almost be approached through an (almost) individual lens, due to the multiplicity of narrative modes and an accumulation of styles and devices, each music video could stand alone. In terms of content, genres, and styles, contemporary music videos come together in their disparity. The multiplicity of meaning in the music video gives a look into the cultural climate, or Zeitgeist of the time. In qualifying music videos as a film genre, I am presenting them as being the visualization of a crisis in both identity and culture through the cinematic and new media lens. Given the impossibility of determining a universal definition of culture, picking a particular artifact to study can tell us a lot about society at large. The necessity to divide cultural fashions into binaries echoes a fundamentally structuralist approach, a very present backbone of the academic field. I am placing the music video at the tail end of this spectrum, as one of the more accessible symbols of a crisis both within the media and

corresponding branches of media theory, at its peak, a crisis which is distinct its simultaneous revolution and reflection on critical theory.

The blurring of lines, between cultural presets such as the binary separation of high and low culture is being challenged concretely in both the domains of art and technology. I am placing the music video at the crux of this challenge in an attempt to gain more insight on the human aspect of the consequences of rapidly evolving, technologies and media. A necessary point to take note of in the study of the music video, as I am defining it here, is informed by, but

not bound to its origins on MTV and, film. I am placing the music videos at the crux of a cultural tempest ruled by crumbling binaries and examining the particular outcome of the strained

dynamics of the relationship between new media and film. Here I am establishing the music video as one of the offshoots of the debate concerning new media and the death of film.

Pieces Of What

Based on a collection of assumptions made about the death of film and the future of the cinematic medium, I devoted my attention to the idea that film is not dead, new media is not killing film, it is making it different. Based on the study of film as an adaptable medium, I began to consider the different ways in which film and new media are intertwined, not only in terms of means of production, but also in terms of genres, and film movements, and more specifically post classical cinema. Vernallis states that the music video has colonized contemporary cinema much more than we know (33). Following this statement, contemporary music videos can be seen as having woven themselves into the fabric of cinema in a significant manner which I find necessary to address in regard to the crisis of cinema in the new media era, and the status of the music video.

Taking into consideration the rapid progress made both in terms of technologies and platforms for production and distribution of music videos I have decided to limit my selection to videos with release dates spanning from 2010 to 2016. In terms of music video styles, there is a significant break to be made between videos produced before and after 2010 based on the improvements made in digital recording technologies and the boost in quality of mobile recording devices, for example the launch of the iPhone 4 in 2010, was a major improvement

allowing users to shoot in 720p, direct High Quality video recording, which was a massive improvement from its primitive beginnings.

The videos were selected for their contemporary nature as well as their aesthetic and cinematic properties. I used a wide variety of musical genres in order to not limit the

interpretation of the clips to a certain musical genre, or tradition. In line with the idea of fluidity in relation to cultural identity and set genre definitions in film, the videos in my selection span over various The fact that music videos are somewhat cast aside when it comes to media analysis gave me some more freedom in terms of defining a set of criteria for their selection. I began my selection by taking note of videos that strike me as being a part of the post digital cinematic aesthetic, primarily through their visual impact. Although this initial method is entirely

subjective, I strive to adjust this bias through the use of standard film analysis. My selection is a combination of videos I determined would fit the aesthetic of post digital cinema and a series of new releases which surfaced over the course of my research, videos that were released over the past year which allowed me to reinforce my point concerning the contemporary, spontaneous nature of the music video. Due to the difficulties in defining and analyzing the music video as an art form, I have chosen to conduct my analysis following cinematic features in this particular selection of music videos. Here a more systematic approach was appropriate in order to build as strong foundation for the more theoretical and symbolic aspects of my research.

Lights, Camera, Action

The videos I have chosen are categorized according to the following elements which are equally present in film: mainly through visual and technical analysis of the videos. In order to provide basic organization and clarity regarding categorization, the videos will be examined in cinematic terms according their visual (Lights), technical (Camera), and narrative (Action) properties. In a more systematic way, I am outlining examples of videos which employ a range of cinematic devices (i.e. graphic match cuts and strobe lights) which I then contextualize in accordance with new media theory and developing new media philosophies put forth by Berry and Hansen, amongst others.

I collected all the videos off the Internet, and more specifically YouTube,Vimeo,

Nowness, and Motion Collector( whose videos are hosted on Vimeo) all of the video used in my research have been compiled in a joint YouTube playlist, alphabetically except for a few

particular cases in which I have mentioned the source separately. The videos I have collected were all available on YouTube, except when noted otherwise. All of the video have been

compiled into a joint YouTube playlist, following the alphabetization by director’s names in my bibliography. In a few particular cases, I have mentioned the source of the media separately.

The gap in research concerning music videos was reflected all the way into the MLA guidelines concerning the referencing of video clips retrieved from YouTube. The Purdue OWL website states that The MLA does not currently prescribe a citation style for YouTube videos (Lab, OWL, and Purdue, “MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources (Web Publications)”. Here I was faced with a methodological dilemma and I had to decide whether to focus on emphasizing either platforms or creative credits through my referencing system. In order to prevent

undermining the validity of my arguments, I have chosen to reference the clips like I would a film, in order to stress directorial credit, and to integrate creative credit more smoothly into the structure of my arguments. For the sake of clarity, I have chosen to cite the videos by the

director’s name. Despite this methodological lapse, I will be treating this collection of YouTube clips as films. Given the size of my corpus, I have also chosen to reference the videos separately from my works cited and I have italicized the video titles for my in-text citations in the following manner so as to maintain clarity regarding the name of the track and the name of the artist: “Song name-Artist”. I have chosen to reference specific segments in the videos in the following

manner: if I were to reference a scene taking place 20 seconds into the video, I would write it as follows: [0:20], in brackets, rather than parentheses to avoid confusion with my non-video citations.

Picture This

In order to conduct this analysis, I am following Vernallis’ reasoning concerning the relationship of music and video when they are put together. She states that: “each medium can suggest different types of time, and each can undercut or put into question the temporality of another medium” (14). In this, I am looking at the music, and the video in each clip, both as independent media but mostly in the way they are interconnected and the ways in which this structures the narrative and affects the final form of the video clip. In line with my defense of the music video as a film genre, and the elementary principles Vernallis puts forth for the study of the music video, film analysis will be the basis of my method I will be applying the method of film analysis to the visual components of the music video. This will include a close examination of the cinematic characteristics of the music video (shots, editing, and narrative devices) as well

as their connection to the music, which itself will be analyzed in terms of structure and ( in most cases) lyrics. The interaction between the musical and visual aspects of the music video also provides a ground for interpretation. This segment of the analysis is more theory based, and takes into account more subjective means of interpretation, which remains a dominant characteristic of the music video. In order to address this issue, the clips will be used throughout to physically represent the theoretical points I establish.

With respects to the complex nature of the music video, I find it counterintuitive, and not adapted to the medium to suggest a set of rigidly defined terms to analyze a medium which is fluid in its nature and not rigidly defined in theoretical or media terminology. In this, my method is both based in more classical methods (film analysis) as well as various other theoretical backgrounds such as media theory, sociology, and art history, all of which are woven into the intertextual web of the music video. This will allow me to place the music video within the post-digital art landscape, specifically at the intersection of cinema and new media. My definition of new media, for the purposes of this research includes media which are digital products, and make use of the Internet in their creation and broadcasting. This entails that the platforms, as well as the means of production of the contemporary music video are intertwined with rapidly evolving digital technologies. This means that my analysis of the music video will include the platforms on which they are being “broadcast”, in the aim of showing the ways the music video has progressed since its early days on MTV.

The Whole Greater Than The Sum Of Its Parts

In terms of reflection on this method, the necessity of a multilayered approach brought me to similar conclusions as Goodwin and Vernallis who state that the music video is intriguing in its composition, and the dialogue it creates between images and sound. However, detaching the music video from its commercial origins seems to have unlocked its untapped artistic

potential and made it more worth examining as an independent art form. This particular aspect of the video clip’s composition places it on the brink of technology and art thus making it more difficult to determine a method which appropriately incorporates both disciplines. In this, I have devised a method which is, in itself, much like the music video, fluid and multidimensional. Through this, I am addressing what Goodwin refers to as a “stylistic problem in knowing how to identify music video clips”(xiii), by working towards my personal definition of the video clip as being a film genre which is, different from its predecessors in the way that it is both inherently rooted both film and new media.

The music video is inherently postmodern in its structure. It differs from the classical cinematic narratives and combines various modes of storytelling within itself. In terms of

cinematic techniques, devices, and narratives, the filmic aspects of the music video are necessary to examine within a dimension of their own. In this, I am exploring recurring narrative themes which are key to the postmodern mindset, the post digital art landscape, and the understanding and redefining of critical theory in the age of digital technology.

Themes such as intertextuality, defining reality, and, on a more theoretical note: redefining critical theory will be covered through the analysis of contemporary music videos. Through this, I aim to explicitly draw connections between the theoretical newness of the music video and the

visual innovation it brings to the media of film. The music video is complex in its form (and content). Due to the multiplicity of media it contains, and it’s cinematic and television origins, the contemporary music video much like its identity fluid new media audience. In this, I will show how music videos defy and reboot the cinematic medium theoretically, academically, and through its mediatic form. In this, I will address Goodwin’s “stylistic problem” by

contextualizing the underestimated medium of the music in order to present the music video as film’s response to new media culture.Based on previous knowledge concerning the medium of film, and the contextualization of film genres and editing techniques in a socio-historical

landscape, this method is pieced together in an experimental fashion, replicating the fluid nature of the contemporary music video. Here my analysis contains a combination of historical

cinematic devices (i.e. the Kuleshov effect), and broader theories of metaphor and art (i.e. color theory).

Step By Step

Through an in depth analysis, the aesthetic properties of the music video, I will run through components which contribute to the visual acceleration and audio-visual intensity of the music video ranging from the use of light and color, to editing, camerawork, as well as narrative structure and meaning making in order to address the fluidity of the form and content of the music video in relation to film. Both the technical (stylistic devices, editing techniques) and symbolic (historical origins of these techniques, effects on narrative) meanings of the cinematic devices used within my selection of videos, will be contextualized within the field of visual media.

After this, I will address the aesthetics of post-digital cinema as being a framework within which the music video can find its place, in order to questions of definition and

contextualization. Here I will provide an outline of characteristics of post-digital art which are being reproduced in the music video such as the purposeful use of lo-fi editing and technological errors such as glitches, both as stylistic devices and what they represent in relation to the role nostalgia within post-digital artistic thought.

After having conducted a visual analysis of the music videos, I will shift my focus to the audience, and examine how the condensed, accelerated content of the music video impacts reader attention, reception, and interpretation. Through the theory of the ergodic reader expressed by Laura Strudwick, I will examine the relationship between multiple, constant streams of information and neuroplasticity in relation to the dynamics of deep and hyper attention. Cognitive adapting will be placed in the forefront as a coping mechanism, which allows us to navigate an accelerated, constantly switched on new media landscape. As a conclusion of the influence of oscillating fluidity of the music video both film and reader cognition, I will illustrate the metaphysical crisis taking place characterized by the strained relationship of new media and the human experience. Through the lens of the music video, core points of new media philosophy such as human-computer interaction, embodiment,

self-actualization, as well as experiences of time and reality will be covered.

Through this, I am aim to establish the music video as a marker for the relationship of new media and film, which both revives and historicizes film, while at the same time addressing core debates of new media philosophy, thus providing a basis for a shift in ideology concerning the role of the music video within the media landscape and allow it to define itself as an art form which is fully adapted for the digital age.

II. Sound & Vision: Contextualizing The Post-Classical Music Video

See Me, Hear Me

Film has, since its inception, been a prominent medium for innovation and teasing of the senses. Although the combination of film and music is not the most recent innovative component of the cinematic medium, the evolution of the music video over the past 30 years has allowed for a variety of videos with newly intensified aesthetics to bloom and new connections to be made between images and music, to the point where various canons have emerged(Vernallis,209), and music video directors have flourished in the industry, due to their attention to new technologies and new audiovisual relations(5) . The unprecedented creative potential of the music video is seen by both Goodwin and Vernallis as a response to classical Hollywood film conventions and a source of sensorial confusion. In the music video, the relationship between music and images reaches beyond its “soundtrack “properties and allows for multiple narratives to unfold, and move in and out of each other.

Vernallis points out that music videos no longer have to fit the short lengths of pop songs, or present them without interruption, or attempt to “sell” or even showcase them”(27). Here she underlines the emancipation of the music video in terms of form and purpose. This is an element of what Goodwin characterizes as the disorienting style of the music video, as a part of the wider problem of the role of the visual in [popular] music(1).

The newly disorienting nature of the music video has become a viable site to develop style and technique, and to discover means for communicating musical experience”(Vernallis,26).In terms of film analysis, many of the aforementioned characteristics of post-classical have been

replicated in the music video. This deconstruction of narrative and technical principles can also be seen as a source of tension when it comes to the music video text. In some cases, the musical or visual element with the sharpest profile tends to claim the viewer’s attention (52). Much like the images themselves, the relationship between music and visuals is in constant motion. Through a series of examples ranging from 2010 to 2016, I will illustrate the ways in which music videos differ both from their origins as promotional media and from classical Hollywood narrative structure, first through their complex narratives, fueled independently by film and music, and the variety of relationships between the two, followed by the technical freedom of the music video through camerawork, stylistic devices, and post-production. Here I would like to illustrate the audio visual intensity of the music video in its current form.

Lights: Visual Acceleration And Audio-Visual Intensity Luminous Freedom

The accelerated development of the music video has become a point of interest in terms of narrative analysis but also in terms of cinematic devices.

In the last five to ten years, music video has become increasingly sophisticated in its cinematic address, mirroring numerous developments in narrative cinema” (Vernallis 159). The particular dynamics of music and video allow for the camerawork, much like the narrative thread to work with and/or against the music and images. The way we experience a song, through camerawork can replicate what we do when we listen to music, what Vernallis refers to as jumping from one location to another even before an image catches our eye (44)”. Here she stresses the

concentrated, constantly moving setting of the music video, emphasized by an innovative use of classic cinematic techniques such as particular shots and editing techniques. She goes on further

to underline the value of this innovation as a teaching tool, which draws attention to the grammar of traditional shots by giving them different functions and meanings (33). Following this, I will provide visual references from music videos which employ various cinematic devices to new aesthetic ends. Through the study of camerawork, the use of errors( specifically lens flares and glitches), as well as the use of particular schemes, and black and white, and the use of lights and editing I aim to emphasize the accelerated, intensified visuals of the music video.

Syntax Error

Apart from a disregard for linearity and continuity, many devices which have become customary in the music video stem from technical mishaps, or glitches. For example the lens flare, which occurs when light becomes trapped within the lens and reflects irregularly, is often seen as an aesthetic error in film (the work of J.J.Abrams set aside) is heavily present in the music video. In some cases, it adds to the dreamy atmosphere of the video(Glass Animals-Hazey, Beach House-Wishes, the xx-Chained), in others it adds to the nocturnal setting(Jamie xx-Loud Places, Bixel Boys & Poupon-Not Your Girl) ,plays with the sunlight(XYLØ-America, the Kills-Doing it to Death,J.Cole-She Knows, Jon Hopkins-Open Eye Signal) or is used to represent blinding stage lights(the Lumineers-Ophelia, Arcade Fire-We Exist).

Glitches are another stylistic device which find their origin in technical errors. Previously due to static and poor antenna receptions, or skips in the magnetic tape of audio or video

cassettes, the glitch is now purposefully implemented as artistic devices. The beginning of Jodeb’s Halsey-New Americana [0:00-0:28] mimics the effect of an overused video-cassette complete with “PLAY” in the upper left hand corner. This effect is maintained for the first 28 seconds of the video, after which the image switches to digital high definition. Similarly, the opening credits of Travi$ Scott’s Upper Echelon(pictured above) appear in glitchy font over high

definition images. Frances Ellen’s Gotham City Creepers-Gotham City Creepers, and Craig, Craven and Nicholas’

Rihanna-American Oxygen feature glitches which are interspersed throughout the videos and switch between club scenes and found footage respectively. The full 5 minutes and 12 seconds of Patwary and AWGE’s A$AP Mob-Yamborghini High are entirely made up of glitches. In Odyssey-Rival Consoles director Michael Zoidis made the conscious choice of creating glitches with a circuit bent video processor in order to control the visuals in time with the music.

Chroma Vs Monochrome

Vernallis refers to the “intensified audiovisual aesthetics’’ of the music video as a distinguishing characteristic of the music video. In addition to the immediate relationship to movement the camera

creates, I believe this

intensity is also linked to the use of colors and/or black in white in the videos which can heavily impact the

atmosphere of the audio-visual narrative. Here I have chosen to apply color theory in order to determine recurring color schemes. For example, the “hazy”’ color spectrum composed of varying shades of red, pink, purple, turquoise and light blues, often accompanied by a light fog or a cloud of smoke is heavily implemented in Halsey-New Americana(pictured above) and in Clockwise from above in the figure below Beach House-Wishes,Astronomyy-Nothin on my Mind, Talos-In Time,and ZHU-In the Morning (Fig.1clockwise from the top)

In all of these cases, whether the source of light be natural (Nothing on my Mind) or artificial (In Time) it creates surreal dreamscapes and emphasizes the surreal haze of a bright, strange, recognizable set of colors.

On other hand, black and white is also a prominent stylistic device in the music video. In some cases, it emphasizes the dramatic tone of the songs and the visual narrative (ODESZA-It’s Only, Hozier-Take Me To Church, Son Lux-Easy, the Dead Weather-Impossible Winner, Kendrick Lamar-Alright) whereas in others, it is a purely aesthetic choice made to underline a particular

Fig. SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1 segment of the song

(Talos-In Time switches from color to black and white [2:14-2:52] during a hook which is slower than the rest of the song then back again, Hype Williams’ Kanye West-All of the Lights begins in black and white [0:00-1:01], during a string intro before switching to aggressive accelerated lighting and a

chorus of horns ) or relevant to the style of film the director is imitating: U.S.Girls-Window Shades which borrows devices from the early days of cinema.

All of the Lights

In addition to this, a stark visual example of acceleration is the use excessive graphic motion triggered by strobe lights which creates an immediate, sometimes sickening effect of rapid movement. This mechanism is present in Hype Williams’ Kanye West-All of the Lights, David Lynch’s Nine Inch Nails-Came Back Haunted, Frances Ellen’s Gotham City Creepers-Gotham City Creepers, and Douglas Hart’s Primal Scream, Sky Ferreira-Where the Light Gets In. The use of strobes and other lights in Kanye West-All of the Lights is relevant to the lyrics of the song, in which West lists different types of lighting in the pre-hook: “(All of the lights)//Cop lights//flash lights//spotlights//strobe lights//street lights (All of the lights, all of the lights)” and can be seen standing on a police car with flashing sirens.

Whether the lights are metaphorical or not, here the use of accelerated flash lighting in time with the lyrics of the song enhance the audiovisual experience. In David Lynch’s Nine Inch Nails-Came Back Haunted, the glitchy strobing lights create a nightmarish atmosphere, in line with the theme of the song expressed in the title in the lyrics: “ I don't believe it//I had to see it//I came back haunted//I came back haunted” and the reference to David Lynch’s body of work as an auteur.

Gotham City Creepers-Gotham City Creepers places the viewer in a vampiric, clubbing atmosphere where strobe lights naturally find their place. In a similar vein Primal Scream, Sky Ferreira-Where the Light Gets In relies on heavy colorful lighting, and shadows to create an atmosphere reminiscent of the Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol’s Studio 54. When the chorus kicks off, the singers and the band are illuminated by lights creating red and white polka dot effect identical to the iconic photograph of the Velvet Underground.

Primal Scream, Sky Ferreira-Where the Light Gets In vs the Velvet Underground

Chopped & Screwed

In order to fully take into account the narrative and cinematic devices put to work in the music video, it is necessary to have a look at the tail end of the video process: editing and post production. Unlike films, music videos frequently employ intentionally disjunctive edits (Vernallis 31). Here I will point out some of these edits, along with other devices of post-production which contribute to the condensed modes of storytelling and visuals in the music video.

Accelerations and slow motion are a key device in changing the pace of a scene, and they gain more importance specifically when looked at in relation to music, in music videos

acceleration and slow motion contribute to the nonverbal narrative. In Seekae-Another, shots are accelerated and slowed down in time with the music, creating a visual whole that is ruled by the music. ODESZA-It’s Only uses slow motion to add to the dramatic narrative and the slow, drum heavy music and the chorus of the song: “ It’s only water//it’s only fire//it’s only love”. Talos-In Time contains a segment in slow motion when the protagonist begins to run to join the woman he

loves [2:54]. Sam Pilling’s J.Cole-She Knows also put slow motion to use for dramatic effects, specifically when the protagonists catches his mother in the midst of an affair with another man[3:40-3:49], a segment during which the music also stops, halting the sonic narrative, and drawing the viewer’s attention to this revelatory moment.

Jamie xx-Loud Places contains a slow motion sequence where Jamie xx and his bandmate Romy can be seen skateboarding in a bowl [3:09-4:06] as the chorus swells up and they are surrounded by multicolored scraps of paper. This combination of editing and music gives a sort of “big finish “to the song before the chorus fades out. A series of slow motion and acceleration at close intervals can be seen in Kendrick Lamar-Alright punctuating the narrative and emphasizing the contrast between celebration, and violent instances. Travi$ Scott’s Upper Echelon speeds up and slows down as the viewer is taken through a Lynchian southern gothic landscape full of a variety of strange characters. In this context, the slowing and speeding up of the video allows the viewer to take in the intricate details of the visuals. The xx-Chained put slows motion to dramatic effect as the band jump into the water and swim, intercut with shots of an iridescent sky and the slow, lounge tune of the music, this creates a dreamlike atmosphere.

Back In The U.S.S.R.

In her book Experiencing Music Video: Aesthetics and Cultural Context, Vernallis differentiates music videos from film in the way that they employ intentionally disjunctive edits (31). She then draws a comparison between music video editing and Soviet formalist film, by bringing in the graphic match cut as a device that was dominant in Soviet formalist film due to technical limitations, but has been replicated in music videos by choice. Such an edit joins two shots through shared compositional elements such as color or shape, irrespective of content (30).

In terms of music video, the use of graphic match cuts contributes to the sped up narrative of the music video and plays an interesting role in producing an effect of discontinuity (37). Choppy editing through graphic match cuts is particularly striking in David Terry Fine’s Son Lux-Easy, where scenes of a woman being bound by ropes are intercut with shots of sketches and an old woman standing on a beach. This device is used throughout, creating stark switches between these three settings, while playing against the singer moaning in a grizzly voice: “Easy, easy” over a plinky piano.

A graphic match cut comes as a surprise at the end of Froth-Nothing Baby: although most of the video is smoothly shot, the end features the protagonist cycling through a tunnel. In order to connect his entering and exiting the tunnel, the director uses this device [3:39-3:50]. In terms of Soviet formalist aesthetics, Meghan Remy and Cameron Mitchell’s U.S.Girls-Window Shades (Fig.2) is the closest. Shot entirely in black and white, it was described by U.S. Girl’s record label as being a take on Golden Era Hollywood (4AD). Although this is the explicit intent of the creator, Window Shades also borrow from Soviet formalist film, and, in particular devices like the Kuleshov effect. The Kuleshov effect is achieved through the superimposition of images that are not explicitly related, creating an effect of linearity where the viewer creates meaning via association of multiple images, rather than one linear shot. This device, in combination with the lyrics of the song play off each other and create and contribute to making meaning in the video. For example Remy’s plaintive “I haven’t spoken with you for a while now” is emphasized by shots of a clock turning forward, visualizing longing and the passing of time. This type of reproduction of historical film effects suggests that music videos are a prolongation of film into the future both refreshing still dominant classical traditions in film and ensuring a future for the medium.

Fig. SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 2 U.S.Girls-Window Shades

Due to its multimedia composition, the music video also finds itself at a narrative advantage of being able to tell multiple stories either all once, parallel to one another or irregularly

intertwined. The music video narrative can thus fulfills a role both as an innovative form of storytelling, and a vessel for reflection on media culture, and culture at large in both implicit and explicit ways.

Camera: Camerawork And Movement

Everything In Motion

The camerawork in music videos is at times vertiginous, employing nonlinear angles and multiple shots in condensed time and space. The feeling of space in the music video depends greatly on the way the camera is used and the atmosphere each shot seeks to create. For instance, this can determine the way the singer is presented, in terms of connecting with the viewer and breaking the 4th wall. The genre brings to the foreground candor, self-disclosure, and direct address (56). In Anders Malmberg’s Savages-Adore, alternates between close-ups and zooms in and out of singer Jehnny Beth’s face, while she stands still and sings into the camera. At times, she looks away, blinks, and sways slightly in the way a person would in a slight breach of personal space. Here the use of the close-up creates an intimate and uncomfortable atmosphere Beth describes as stemming from the desire to make a video which would show the band the way they are, with no artifice (Broadly).

Another striking characteristic of the music video is the constant movement of the camera, which defies the principles of establishing shots and cinematic convention in the greater sense. Astronomyy’s Astronomyy-Nothin On My Mind is a single tracking shot which follows the protagonist as he rides a his skateboard down a road on the French Riviera. The camera tilts and shifts left and right, following the movement of the board, creating the illusion that the camera is being led by the skater rather than by a cameraman or a dolly. Georgia Hudson’s Glass Animals-Hazey makes use of sharp, vertiginous shifts in movement [0:33-0:40], [0:50-54] which create sharp, accelerated changes. In Seekae-Another, Ian Pons Jewell uses a similar device where he shifts the camera from close-ups, to the landscape, to the inside of a home, cutting up the visual thread of the video resulting in a jumpy narrative. Jim Larson’s DIIV-Mire (Grant’s song) makes use of multiple cameras and angles which create an illusion of constant movement and offer different, sometimes unexpected points of view. One camera follows the singer Cole while he wanders outside, and enters a house where he is joined by his bandmates, as they begin to perform, the camera pans around the room in circular motion [0:00-0:15] and switches

between shots of the room and shots of the band, who even react to the camera. The most particular use of the camera in this case is the cameras placed on the necks of the guitars. The combination of these different camera angles adds to the intensity of the relationship between the music and the images. The Kills-Doing it to Death contains a shot from the point of view of a grave, which differs from the shots of the funeral procession and the inside of the church and brings the viewer into the video while Lorn-Acid Rain, is shot in one take, during which the camera follows the irregular movements of the dancers and the music.