Comparing Two Music Videos

Gorillaz- Stylo


Chase And Status- Hypest Hype


         The two videos I am analysing are ‘Stylo’ by Gorillaz and ‘Hypest Hype’ by Chase and Status featuring Temper T. Gorillaz style of music uses a mixture of different genres with a large number of influences including dub, hip hop, alternative rock, electronic and pop music where Chase and Status main type of genre is drum and bass. The Gorillaz band is created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett in which they created four animated members, the video of Stylo was directed by Jamie Hewlett. In the video the animated characters are in a car speeding down the desert then getting chased by the police and special guest Bruce Willis. The video has an element of performance in because the animated characters are lip syncing it, it also has some narrative in the video because it’s about the characters on the run from people however it’s not completely clear what the story is or what it’s completely about. Whereas with the Hypest Hype music video is just purely a performance video where it shows the artists Chase and Status and Temper T performing on stage The camera show the artists performing but also the crowd and how crazy it is there.
         Through Stylo there are a couple of close ups on the car of where the animated characters are singing, but they do use other cameras to show the artists during the music video. At the start of the video it takes about 45 seconds to actually reveal the artists as one of them removes his mask, they also use close ups on the bumper of the car which reads ‘Stylo’ (the name of the song). Using these animated characters in their video makes it unusual and different but also using a narrative based video helps to sell it because it’s more entertaining for the audience which could potentially attract them to the song and make them want to purchase it. The image of the band is quite strange, I think they’re trying to be seen as different and unique compared to any of the other bands that exist at the moment and I feel by using videos like this help that. Another video/song Gorillaz have performed is ‘On Melancholy Hill’ which again is very similar to ‘Stylo’. They use the animated characters but this time in an animated world, they are portrayed as quite bad characters as they always seem to have guns and weapons shown in both videos by them, which could be a motif that links to all their videos. In Hypest Hype they again use close ups like ‘Stylo’ to shown the artists performing, again sometimes they use long shot and straight cuts to change to different views. The image that comes across is that they’re crazy; one of the members is constantly jumping up and down and quite early on throws his t-shirt into the crowd. By making the video look crazy and insane it attracts this type of audience and is a great selling point for this track. In previous videos by chase and status there isn't something in them like a motif most of their videos they always seem to change and be slightly different from the previous.
         In Stylo there isn’t really much relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, what they are singing about doesn't tend to match what is happening in the music video. An example of this is when they sing the lyrics “electric is love” and one of the passengers in the car is shooting at a police car. Another example is when a car that is chasing them smashes through an advertising board whilst the lyrics are singing “up through the bottom in your eyes” the lyrics in the song don’t really have any relationship with the video. Where even though there isn't a narrative in hypest hype video some of the lyrics actually match the way there performing with the camera, an example of this is when he sings “every time I go to the rave” whilst singing them lines the camera use a long and wide shot to show the crowd raving. However because there isn't really a narrative to go with the video there isn't really much relationship the lyrics have with the video. Gorillaz, Stylo do some good cuts to the beat of music a few times during the video giving a good effect, one they do is where it sings “love electricity, shock wave central” but when they start singing it cuts to the speakers moving giving the sense its being spoken from the speakers. They also use another important cut in the video by in which the camera doesn't show the performers until it drops into the lyrics their singing again providing us with a good effect. The camera changes to how the main performer is singing e.g. when he leans out the car the camera changes to a mid shot but behind the car so the audience know who’s singing, Hypest hype does this as well where there normally just singing and then when it drops it cuts to the crowd and then to them performing. The pace in Hypest Hype changes dramatically from where it is quite slow and they are quite calm until it drops and then the pace of the song changes massively.
         In Stylo there is no sense at all that the artists is on sexual display due to various reasons, one being that they are animated characters and they couldn't be used as a sexual way to sell the song. Again there they don’t use camera work, costume, dance or others to imply sexualised display because, again the main reason being they are animated characters and by trying to display them in this way wouldn't have worked. However they do use other references such as the camera looking through the window onto the characters giving us the conscious impression we/they are being watched, they use this a few time around the vehicle through the different windows of the car. The other camera shot is where ‘Bruce Willis’ is shooting at the characters and the camera is inside their car looking out of the eyes of one of the animated characters. Whereas in Hypest Hype early on in the video we see Tempz (one of the artists) walking around without his t-shirt and again when he is performing he removes it and throws it into the crowd revealing his toned upper body this could be seen as sexual reference however I don’t feel that they are using it or he is a sexual object in order to sell it. Due to the video being a performance we there isn't really other references unlike Stylo.
         In Stylo there are inter-textual references, we see a guest appearance from Bruce Willis who appears after they shoot at a police car, meaning that he could be a policeman, this relates to most of the films he stars in as he nearly always play a policeman. It is a very random appearance though because there are no lyrics in the song we suggest it’s him pr anything about him. Gorillaz did bring out a song called Clint Eastwood which doesn't star him in but does include lyrics that relate to him: “I’ve got sunshine in a bag” which was taken from the Western film “The Good the Bad and the Ugly” in which Clint Eastwood is referring to a saddle bag of gold. Which means that we can tell Gorillaz tends to use this quite often. Hypest Hype is quite similar to a lot of stage performance videos; however in this one because they performed at a few different venues the video of them performing isn't at the same place all the time. There are a couple of famous stars that are in it before they start singing this includes Tinnie Tempah, Dizzee Rascal etc this is used because they were also at the same venue performing as this band were. This doesn't compare to other music videos performed by this band/artist.
         Gorillaz genre of music falls in to alternative hip-hop and alternative rock; however in the music video “Stylo” these genres aren't really shown very clearly. The video is so random and unpredictable that the audience wouldn't really be able to link it in with the genre of music they play. Chase and Status’s genre of music is Drum and Bass, Dub step and a bit of hip-hop, in Hypest Hype the genre is actually shown much more clearly than that of “Stylo”. In the video it shows the crowd going crazy, all the flashing lights at the gig and the artists and how they are performing, by showing it this way the genre is much easier to identify.
         In conclusion I felt that Gorillaz, Stylo is quite an effective video in terms of entertainment due to it being quite different with a slight element of concept but with also the sense of narrative and the performance overall makes it entertaining to the audience. I don’t really feel though that it was a selling point for the song. By seeing the animated characters in the video though could potentially be a selling point for the song. I do feel it is quite effective but because it doesn't really make that much sense it isn’t as effective as it could be. Hypest Hype is a totally different type of video it is effective and entertaining in its own way, based on purely a performance it allows us to see the crowd and how they are reacting to the song, for example this song they are all raving and 'moshing’ which could be a selling point for the song or furthermore a selling point for their gigs or performances. I don’t feel the video is possibly as entertaining as Stylo because it is purely a performance but it still entertains us in a different way.