Chemical Brothers – Hey Boy Hey Girl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64szVQugrAo

Aspects of performance/mode of address
There is no performance in this music video it is narrative based. Indirect mode is address is used.

Narrative
Linear narrative is used because there is a clear beginning, middle and end. The main girl is obsessed with bones. The boy picks on her resulting to breaking her arm. In the middle the girl grows up and goes to a nightclub. The end, she goes home. All is in a clear line.

How does the video create an image for the star artist/band?
The woman creates an image for the band. The actual visuals also create an image for the band. This music video revolves around the dance music culture. Raves and drugs. This type of music is popular amongst the target audience. The video is indirectly promoting the band. The artists’ image isn’t as important as the music for the target audience.

How do the visual elements relate to the song illustration/amplification/disjuncture?
The music video amplifies the meaning. All of it is very literal as the lyrics demonstrate ‘Hey Boy, Hey Girl’ There are boys and girls everywhere. Even though there is very few lyrics, the video gives the lyrics the meaning, reinforces it.

Use of Camera
There is the use of tracking down the school bus to establish where the beginning is set. There is a close-up of the main girl reading a book. She is the one who we as the audience follow throughout the music video. There are zooms used of the main character to establish that she is our focus. There is a slightly high angle shot used in the museum to show girls vulnerability being on her own in the museum. There is also a low angle inside to show how big all the dinosaur skeletons are and how inferior they look compared to the school girl. Extreme close-ups of the girl’s face are used to show her emotion. There is also a low angle shot used when the girl falls over in the museum this has been used to show that the boy is dominant and that reinforces he is the bully. High angle shots have been used of the girl to emphasize that she is weak and vulnerable.

Special Effects
Dubbed music has been used in the toilets to signify that the setting is now in a nightclub. Strobe lighting has also been used in the club to make the video realistic and relatable for the target audience. Everyone is shown as skeletons in this music video and this is shown through CGI.

Genre
The genre for this video/song is electronic, dance music. The lyrics are repetitive which is memorable for the audience and is catchy.

Audience
The target audience for this particular music video is for around 16-30 year olds both male and females. This is the type of music they would listen to before they go out in general or to a club.

Mise En Scene
The children on the bus are wearing school uniform which shows that they are all on a school trip. The main character, is wearing a black when she is in the club all grown up. Everyone else in the club blend in, they are not typically dressed for a rave maybe even an illegal rave. The mise en scene represents the target audience because of the clothing and where it is set. When the girl drops her water bottle in the toilet, we as the audience assume she has been taking drugs because of the dance culture. Drugs have negative connotations and the hallucinating skeletons reinforce this.

Editing
Slow motion has been used when the school children are running to the museum. The idea of the chaos children running is effective. Slow motion has also been used when the girl falls down in the museum which makes it look dramatic. The fast paced editing is used to match the beat of the music. At the beginning the editing is slow but builds up throughout the video. Elliptical editing has been used with the girl to show the girl growing up. At the nightclub when the girl comes out of the toilet, the editing appears to get faster but when she comes out of the club the editing is slow, slow motion.

Channel
The music channel that this particular song would probably be played on would be MTV Dance.

Representation
The video is indirectly promoting dance culture. It exposes raves and drugs and the culture in general as a whole negatively. We as the audience don’t know if the girl is on drugs but we assume she is as she sees all these skeletons because she was obsessed from when she was a child. The blonde boy is represented as a horrible, nasty person. This stereotype of person is usually represented as a nice boy. Nothing in this music video makes sense.