- When considering the key features of a music video, Andrew Goodwin, Dancing in the Distraction Factory (1992) identified a number of conventions which can be applied to the music video Celestine by Spector directed by Ted Cullen and High 5 Collective in 2012.
- Firstly he stated that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. This video could be categorised as being in the Indie Rock genre. It is a performance-based video rather than narrative-based so portrays a disjunctive relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. However, this assures the audience that the band can actually perform well and they therefore gain respect from their target audience. They are also directly addressing the audience rather than obeying the rule of the fourth wall and making it more personal.
- There are iconic features to the video in the way that their appearance is very retro and preppy due to their suits, their slicked back hair and their thick-rimmed glasses. These could also be interpreted as their star image motif due to the amount of close-ups used. The cutting rate is synchronous to the music as the shots cut on the beats, showing an illustrative relationship between the music and the visuals.
- In the middle 8 breakdown section of the song the singer talks about going back in time ‘to make no mistakes, write all the songs, meet all the girls who are beautiful now but were miserable then’. The visuals for this part of the song are mostly focused on the singer’s face, illustrating the personal nature of these lyrics.
- A clever editing technique used is the way that in one of the chorus’s towards the end of the video, the main singer continues to move and sing as the rest of the band are frozen whilst mid-air. This emphasises the talent and importance of the main singer in contrast to the rest of the band.
- Goodwin also made reference to the notion of looking, presented in this video in the way that the band look at themselves playing their instrument or singing in a big mirror in the desert. This also highlights the fact that music videos incorporate the voyeuristic treatment of the body as the band are admiring their talent and showing that they have high opinions of themselves.
- Music videos are a postmodern form which implies that they often borrow and rework ideas from other texts and forms. Spector’s video uses intertextuality in the form of a quote at the beginning of the video where he quotes from Anthony Kiedis who is the lead singer of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The quote he uses is ‘...in the desert where all good music videos are made’, suggesting immediately to his audience that his video is going to be good, giving them high expectations.
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