Homework question

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Homework questions

Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack

The a song about the breakup of a relationship and the struggle of not being able to get over it. The lead singer is presented to be unable to move on from this heartbreak, which is highlighted in the music video when she has a painfully raw expression on her face when singing the lyrics with passion as well as pain. Also, when the world around her is passing by, for example the people around her and places passing by. If it was supposed to be a regular person walking they would usually look around the objects and features around them, this emphasises that the singers focus is internal.

Burn the Witch by Radiohead

A song about a group of people that want to kill a witch. It has connotations to the fear of outsiders and the group of people do not want any "different" people to be with them. This relates to the video as well as the band have said that the video is about the European refugee crisis.

What messages do they convey to the audience?

Unfinished Sympathy portrays the message that love consumes a person and it is the only thing that people care about when they are in it. This is shown by Shara's ignorance of everyone and everything around her.

Burn the Witch conveys the message that we, as people, have a fear of outsiders and treat them poorly. The video more than the song, has messages about today's global politics to do with refugees, migrants as well as people of different race, religion ethnicity ect. 

How have the artists been represented in their videos?

In the Unfinished Sympathy video, massive attack are not featured that much, which is unconventional in comparison to modern videos of today. Usually the band/ celebrities are highly featured and presented as glamorous, rich and famous. whereas here, the band members and even the lead singer are presented as regular people, which are featured cleverly in the background walking behind the lead, in some cases with other unknown characters. The setting is in an urban street, which at the time would've been seen as up-and-coming as well as cool, as it was a different country to where the fan base were from as well as being different styles and culture featured in the video, on the streets of LA. It represents them as culturally influenced people as well as original as they have stuck to where their style of music has came from, on the streets.

In the music video Radiohead are presented as social activists because they know that the way we treat others is wrong and unethical. Not only did they produce a song appreciated by there fans but they also released a creative and original music video with a relevant moral issue. it was cleverly constructed with a childlike feature to attract others with a serious, moral undertone which still got their message across.

Why have they been represented in such a way?

Massive Attack have been represented in this way because it shows where they have originated from. which could give the local Bristol public pride and also to other people not from Bristol, it shows them a different musically influential area. Also the topic of the song is love which is a popular thing to express through music which attracts all different types of audiences.

Radiohead have been represented in this way because they are a more alternative band so want to be more creative, they want people to be influenced by their message and so they represent themselves in such a way that may draw attention. The Burn the `witch video is in the style of the 60s kids TV series the Trumptonshire Trilogy and so this would gain attention from anyone that watched or had heard of this show.

Do the videos represent the artists successfully?

I think that the Massive Attack video does represent the band successfully, as it doesn't portray them in negatively however, they're represented as normal people. They don't stand out from the crowd and anyone who didn't know what the band members looked like wouldn't realise that they are in it at all, only the star of the video - Shara Nelson.

I think the Radiohead video does represent the band successfully as being creative and original. It represents them and their alternative genre of music which correctly reflects the style of music that they produce. 

What styles of filmmaking have been used? Why utilise such styles?

The Massive Attack video is created using one long tracking shot which follows the le

ad singer. It is utilised to create an effect of insight into the life she is portraying as well as the settings around her. It is as though we are following her walking down the street because there are no cutting shots between different camera angles which rarely change.

The Radiohead video was made with the stop-motion animation style which is the same as  The Trumptonshire Trilogy, the 60s kids show which inspired the style of the music video. This was utilised to attract the generation which would've recognised the style of the tv show as they may have watched it and relate it to the music video. It was also used as a way to tell the message about the video itself.

Why does the Radiohead video reference Trumpton and The Wicker Man?

The Radiohead video references Trumpton and The Wicker Man because the context of both things can be connected for to the generation of the audience demographic of Radiohead. The audience would generally know about these things and be able to enjoy and understand the video and song more than people that aren't of this generation.

How and why has "the street" been used in the Massive Attack video

The street has been used in the Massive Attack video because it reflects where the band came from and the  type of music that they produce

 The band originated on the streets of Bristol and they produced Trip-Hop which is slightly different to  Hip-Hop, as it is their own original song.

Do the visuals work well with the musical and lyrical content?

The visuals of the Massive Attack video are different to the content of the song

. This is because the lyrics are those of a typical love song, however the video is not suited to a love song as it is on the streets of downtown LA - not a very romantic setting. However, the video doesn't seem out of place with the other elements.

The visuals of the Radiohead video do suit the lyrical and musical content of the song, in my opinion. This is because the video, music, and lyrics are all quite creepy and eerie. There is a dark and twisted nature to all of the elements and so, I would say, that they do all work well together.

What 'pleasure' does the audience get from each video? Consider fans of the artists.

From the video, Massive Attack fans may get the pleasure of being able to see a different lifestyle that is featured in the video. Because Massive Attack are a British band that majority of their fans were also British. The video is filmed in LA and so the fans had the chance to see different settings, places and lifestyles than that seen in Britain, as they are based in Bristol.

The audience for the Radiohead video get pleasure from the intertextuality of Trumpton and The Wicker Man. This is because a lot of the fans of Radiohead would have seen both of these things and so would get pleasure from the presence of these things.