The video has had embedding disabled and so only the link can be provided.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9vAOzYz-Qs
1. Introduction
I am analysing the video Stylo by The Gorillaz. The Gorillaz are an alternative rock band that is also loosely indie. The band itself hides behind 4 personas, who are shown by 4 cartoon characters. The videos by the Gorillaz often include a mixture of real life and cartoon elements, creating an often very visually pleasing look.
2. What is the relationship between lyrics and visuals, and music and visuals?
The relationship between the video and the lyrics is extremely limited in this example. The video shows the Gorillaz in a car racing through a desert highway with a police car chasing, before it blows up and Bruce Willis makes an appearance as a bandit trying to kill them. The lyrics seem to be just an abstract reality being described. This contrasts and lacks connection to what we see on screen. However, the only slight connections can be found in the tempo, as the video and song itself are both quite fast paced, with the slower parts of the video being shown with the slower parts of the song. Another connection is in the visuals. As the lyrics play, we see one of the characters singing the lyrics in the car, creating some link between song and video.
3. Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?
There are multiple shots showing the Gorillaz in the video, as the whole thing shows them in a car. There are occasionally medium close ups of certain characters, like 2-D looking out of the window, and Murdoch driving. The record company clearly are trying to sell the song as they have called on the famous actor Bruce Willis to play a bandit in the video. He is often on screen with medium close ups and long shots showing him to be a big part of the video, despite not being the band.
The video is different from old Gorillaz videos as they used to be a lot cartoonier, whereas they are now still cartoony, but with attempts to look like real life, similar to the popular animated films like Up.
On the left is the old stlye, cartoon look while on the right is the new CGI effect.
4. Is there reference to the notion of looking?
There are a lot of references to looking in the video. Because the video is shot in and around a car, there are a lot of windows and mirrors that show other things happening. For example, there is a shot of a wing mirror from the outside of the car, showing us what is inside. This makes us out to be outsiders as though we are seeing a story happening. 3.34 minutes into the video, we see Bruce Willis shoot a mirror, but we see Murdoch’s surprised face in the reflection. This makes it seem as though again we are outsiders looking in at the action.
5. Are there intertextual references?
The video relates to Bruce Willis’s films, as he often appears as an armed character who has to chase people down. His films are often full of action (Diehard) and so this references him as a well known action film star. By having him in the video it makes it seem as though the video is a miniature action film.
6. Is the music video performance-based, narrative-based or concept-based?
The video is partly narrative based, as it is a basic chase sequence with a little element of storytelling, the police chases them because they are wanted people, but the police fails, and so a bandit or mercenary takes over. The majority of the video is concept based, as it doesn’t really fit into the lyrics of the song and so is a bit of practice to see what could be done for it.
7. Conclusion
This music video is much less connected to the lyrics, and more focused on trying to sell the song. This is clear by the lack of lyrical and video links, with there being very few points in which what is being sang relates to what is seen. The fact that a famous actor is also in the video increases the idea that hte band really just want to get the song noticed and be a success.
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