shot yourself in the foot again music video analysis

Skream & Example – shot yourself in the foot again.

Music video analysis

Firstly I chose this video Because it is a similar type of video to what I will be looking to do in my A2 course work, it is the same genre of music as I intend to use and the video is a narrative based video. We know the video is narrative based as it is used to show a story of a man on his birthday. The music videos images are typical of this genre, the music is the genre of Drum and Bass, this is often related to clubs as this is the most common place it is heard, it is related to nights out on the town drinking and going clubbing. This makes the music video stereotypical of this genre within the clubbing aspects.

The music video also shows characteristics of people who would listen to this genre of music and go clubbing aged 18 – 25, the similar dress sense for example hooded and urban clothing is common in a drum and bass narrative video, they obviously know the bouncers at the clubs as they walk straight past the ques shake bouncers hands and go in, this emphasises the type of people they are.  The genre of drum and bass will commonly use a specific type of editing using frequent cuts, vibrant images and will often portray clubbing scenes, these characteristics will be shown in the camera angles using extreme angles and techniques to create wild imagery in the viewers eyes which will entice aspirers and people who relate to the partying and music scenes to go and see the artists at a live performance.

The mise en scene of a music video is very important or it could loose interest of viewers, the mise en scene must be similar to what the ‘fans’ will be used to for example as stated above the use of urban clothing, if the actors are not fitted to the stereotypical dress sense some people may not feel as custom to it, it will be harder for people to relate to and could potentially turn aspirers liking away. Not only clothing is important for this, props such as the girl at home to look realistic she has cooked dinner, she is dressed up nicely for her boyfriend and little things such as the man ‘picking up’ drugs, this is used as it is a common feature of some lifestyles when they go out pubbing and clubbing and allows people to relate to the music video.

The people seem stereotypical again of this genre, seen as a crowd who would take drugs and go clubbing , the first image seen in this video is of a man smoking what seems to be marijuana. Later on in the video the main character is seen meeting a drug dealer to pick up drugs with a sign behind him saying GAK which is known on the street as methamphetamine, cocaine or marijuana and is later on seen in the video as a powdered drug as he is seen taking it in the club.

The video is based on this man’s birthday and it is called shot yourself in the foot again as it is clearly showing him going out clubbing with friends whilst his girlfriend is at home who has cooked him dinner and seen setting a evening together for him, without telling his girl friend he goes out and the video shows the alternative clips of him pubbing and clubbing whilst she is at home. This has a relationship with the lyrics as many times the words “shot yourself in the foot again” is repeated. The lyrics are used throughout to relate to the visuals as the lyrics “keep walking on my friend” are used as he is seen walking the streets of the city and the lyrics “where’s he gunna go to” are used as his girlfriend packs his clothes into bin bags and chucks his clothes out the front door kicking him out of the house for what he’s done, this is all evidence of Goodwins theory showing the relationships between lyrics and visuals within the music video itself.

The music itself has a relationship with the visuals used, as the girlfriend gets more and more angry throughout the night the length of clips are shorter and more extreme camera angles are used. This emphasises the narrative video alongside the music. The clips also begin to go with the beat of the music with shots changing with every beat and the tempo of the music begins to regulate length of shots which is commonly used in music videos especially within this genre.  Within goodwins theory he states that there is a strong relationship within music and visuals and this is seen strongly throughout the video especially towards the clubbing scene at the end as cuts become regulated by the beat.

Notion of looking another part of Goodwins theory is used thought the video,  The boyfriend is made to look like a cheat, like he does not care for his girlfriend, as the girl is at home it idolises the man as a controlling character that is one minute interested in his girl and the next minute he hasn’t got a care in the world, this is cleverly shown throughout the video as the viewer sees him looking at texts but ignoring them, partying with friends, taking drugs and even pushed to the extent of him cheating on his girlfriend.

The music video is narrative based and is used to complement the single “shot yourself in the foot again” , this is a very effective use of this video as it promotes the single very well and promotes interest into the lifestyle and music of the two artists “Skream” and “Example” . The use of narrative videos is extremely effective as it brings the music to life almost setting a storyline to the music you listen to creating realistic imagery in your mind that aspirers can relate to. The use of this video will promote aspirers who would want to live this lifestyle and will interest the viewers into listening to the artists other music and will therefore increase record sales and album sales and may entice people to want to see the artists live, the main form of income for artists in the modern market due to piracy of music being so easy.