Music Video Analysis

Music Videos, Target Audience and Institution Research
We looked at artists that had a similar genre to Polly Paulusma's song 'Back to the Start', we thought that the song was quite like the folk/country/pop genres. We also looked at relative institutions and audiences to be able to make sure our video does have the appeal to the appropriate target audience.


Mumford and Sons
We looked at the song Little Lion man:



We looked at the video from a technical aspect. The video has slow cuts, however, they do get quicker in the chorus; this reflects the faster tempo of the chorus and gives the video more dynamic in terms of pace and speed. There are a variety of shots used in the video: close ups, panning shots and medium close ups are used. There are also effective performance shots which are close ups of the instrument being played, I liked this a the effect was in the video was it helped build up to the chorus; however, I do not think it would work, as our video will be more narrative based.


The Island Records, the institution bend Mumford and Sons, has had several bands which are of a similar genre to this. U2, Keane and Cat Stevens are all on Island records; however I would say our song is more niche, in contrast to the more mainstream artists on this label (Amy Winehouse, Bob Marley). The audience of this song, and institution would be teenagers and adults - I think the content of the song lyrics is probably not appropriate for younger audiences.


Taylor Swift
I also looked at the artist Taylor Swift, she has a similar style/genre to that of Polly with a folk/pop/alternative style. 




Again, similar to the Little Lion Man video, the Taylor Swift song (Tim McGraw) uses a lot of slow cuts. There are a mixture of performance and narrative shots; there are a number of shots were she is singing and player her guitar, this is mixed up with cuts to her and an ex-boyfriend in a flashback. Interestingly, the flashbacks aren't in black and white which is the stereotypical effect for a of this sort. This breaking of the convention could denote a happier time between the couple, which they have chosen to keep in colour to reflect this.