NVC Analysis of The Smiths

This video for The Smiths' "Stop Me..." is very effective at showing NVC. The costumes are all very consistent and clearly show the target audience. The posture is very stiff and blank when they are riding their bikes, and the facial expressions are also blank, in the indie way. Not much can be said about the voice pitch/tone as, despite the fact that the singer is in the video, there is hardly any performance.



Pitch Feedback

From the feedback we gathered from our pitch, I can tell that our idea was well-recieved. However, we did get some negative feedback. But this was mainly due to the delivery of our pitch, not the content. It was said that we were not clear about the content of the video, and also that we did not explain every point that we were required to. After we started again and added extra content explaining exactly what was going to happen in the video (see "Our Complete Script") the feedback became positive. Other problems highlighted were due to the use of a chav as our protagonist, our target audience may not tell that this is an indie video. However we argue that due to the constant performance within the video, in which our band our dressed in recogniseable "indie" clothes, our target audience will tell that this is an indie video.

Our Complete Script

Here is our script, describing each section and detailing what will happen in each section.

Throughout song: Shots of performance (both single members + whole band/party) shown throughout the narrative.

Intro: Typical “Indie Kid” walks down suburban street smiling. When drums kick in, he gets pushed out the way by chav, the “Charming Man” of the title. When the chav is not in shot the camera effect is in an “80s vintage” style, when he appears the camera returns to normal.

A punctured bicycle
On a hillside desolate
Will nature make a man of me yet ?

The chav rides a moped down a hill to meet his friend.

When in this charming car
This charming man
Why pamper life's complexity
When the leather runs smooth
On the passenger seat

Through these lines he is in a old, “banger” style car with his friend, “raving” and looking like a general idiot.

I would go out tonight
But I haven't got a stitch to wear
This man said "It's gruesome that someone so handsome should care"

Chav at his house with friend. Posters of various “gangsta rappers” (2Pac, Eminem, 50 Cent etc.) adorn the wall. He is asking is friend what shirt to wear, showing 2 clearly awful t-shirts. The friend cannot choose either.

A jumped up pantry boy
Who never knew his place
He said "return the ring"
He knows so much about these things
He knows so much about these things

Chav goes to a small corner shop and tries to steal a typical “chav” item (White Lightning?), but is caught easily by the shopkeeper and is chased away.

I would go out tonight
But I haven't got a stitch to wear
This man said "It's gruesome that someone so handsome should care"
Na, na-na, na-na, na-na, this charming man ...
Na, na-na, na-na, na-na, this charming man ...

Chav sees a status on Facebook from “Indie McMorrisey”, saying something about a party. He then goes to the bathroom and grooms himself, trying to make himself look good. This of course fails, but he still thinks he’s God’s gift anyway.

A jumped up pantry boy
Who never knew his place
He said "return the ring"
He knows so much about these things
He knows so much about these things
He knows so much about these things

Goes to the party with his mate, the band are performing at the party. Chav looks in through the window then rings the doorbell/knocks on the door. The door is opened by the same guy he pushed over at the start of the video. The mate gets in but Chav gets rejected.

Outro: Slow tracking shot of Chav walking away glumly and band finishing performance

Artists Video

Costume: The Smiths dress similar in all there videos. There casual style, harrington, bomber jackets and there distinctive quiffed hair are consistent throughout The Smiths video's. 

Posture: The lead singer is leaning back to resemble the casual tempo and feel of the song. 

Gestures: Movement with his head and hands show emotion and depth to his lyrics and vocals.

Facial Expressions: The lead singer closes his eyes and shows emotion when singing, you can see this in his facial expressions, tilting his head back when singing the louder parts of the song.

Space: Lead singer appears in different sides and corners of the screen with a backdrop, distance in the shot as well as extreme and regular close ups keep the shots interesting. 

Voice: His voice changes and heightens throughout the song, his pitch and tone is constantly changing. 

Artist Research Homework - Elliot

The career of The Smiths and, more recently, singer Morrissey's solo career, is clear in terms of development over time. The Smiths, in their earliest videos, fit with the conventions of their genre. In indie videos there is mainly performance, as shown in their videos for This Charming Man and Nowhere Fast. This makes them comparable to other bands in their genre such as Joy Division. In later Smiths videos, such as Stop Me If You Think That You've Heard This One Before and, as a continuation, I Started Something I Couldn't Finish, there are more narrative/conceptual elements. This can make them comparable to similar bands such as The Cure, whose videos included a mix of narrative/conceptual and performance.


This Charming Man
Nowhere Fast
Stop Me
I Started Something I Couldn't Finish


In their videos The Smiths stick with generic conventions in order to identify themselves and the target audience.The band members dress in casual clothing (t-shirts, shirts, polos, jeans, chinos etc.), and do not put a lot of effort into their performances.  Indie music videos are usually set in urban areas, and focus on performance. The performances are usually in a blank room, sometimes with bright colourful backgrounds too, depending on the theme of the song. In this particular instance the performance is set in a blank room filled with flowers. The flowers may be a form of symbolism or representation. Over Morrissey and The Smiths' videos have become much better quality (due to the advent of developing technology) and started to focus more on narrative than performance, such as the video for Morrissey's Every Day Is Like Sunday. Recently Morrissey has gone back to doing straight performance videos, such as You Have Killed Me and I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris.


Every Day Is Like Sunday
I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris


The two videos I have selected to analyse are The Smiths' This Charming Man and Morrissey's The Youngest Was The Most Loved, two very different videos. The typical elements and visual image of the first video are of a typical "indie" video, straight performance and blank/dilapidated room. The camera is also unlike most music videos, with the shots being long rather than short. This may be to show that the band is a little more "cultured" and "arty" than other bands. On the other hand, the video for The Youngest Was The Most Loved is a much more professionally shot and edited video than This Charming Man, playing out more like a part from a short film than a music video, similar to Plan B. It features Morrissey himself seemingly coming out of a courtroom of some kind, obviously accused of a crime. Then as the video reaches it's climax, it's revealed that Morrissey was not arrested for anything and it was just a publicity stunt of some sort. The video is shot in black and white, which seems to make it more "arty", which was probably Morrissey's intention.


The Youngest Was The Most Loved


CD Cover Analysis
 
The Smiths - This Charming Man
B Sides - "Jeane", "Accept Yourself", "Wonderful Woman"
The artwork fits with the theme of the "charming man", as the model seems to look like a 1950s movie star. Apart from the image and the band name there is no other information given on the cover.
















The Cure - Just Like Heaven
B Sides - "Snow in Summer"/"Breathe"/"Sugar Girl"/"A Chain of Flowers"
The trend I am starting to see with the CD covers is that they are as minimal as possible, only including the artist and some artwork. While this artwork is more interesting than the Smiths cover, it does not really tell a great deal about the music or artist style. The slightly Gothic style will appeal to some, though.

Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart

B Side- These Days

This is the most minimal of the covers. Featuring no "proper" artwork or the name of the band, it is a stark image and one that would not be interesting on a shop stand. However, one thing that sets it apart from the other covers is that despite the lack of a band name, the record label name is on the cover too. Maybe this is due to the notoriety of the record label in question.

PITCH

Example Of Similar Video/Genre - Elliot

Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart (1979)

I have chosen this video as a comparison to our song as they are very much both in the "classic indie" genre, and both huge influences on the "Madchester" scene of the late 80s and early 90s. It is a mainly performance video, which is clear from the band shown throughout the song. However it also has conceptual elements, such as the hand and the door closing at the beginning of the video. The camerawork is also very static, with almost no movement. The shots are nearly all midshots and close ups (of the band and their instruments), with the occasional long shot of the whole band playing. Some of the video has a sepia-esque filter put on it, which gives the video a dilapidated feel. This goes well with the location the band play in, whch seems to be an abandoned building.This fits with the genre convention of indie bands "hanging around" in urban, lower-class areas, and dressing in casual clothes, as this band do.

Conventions Of Our Genre (Indie) - Elliot

The conventions of our genre (indie) are different to other genres. While other genres, such as pop and hip-hop, focus on excess, indie is much more reserved, choosing to use locations and props much more grounded. The videos, if they have a narrative element, usually are about everyday situations or themes of love and lack of it.

The actors/band members usually dress in casual clothing (t-shirts, shirts, polos, jeans, chinos etc.), and do not put a lot of effort into their performances.The band mainly consists of a singer (who is also sometimes a guitarist as well), one or two other guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer. There can also be the the inclusion of a keyboardist if the band is looking for a pop/electronic sound.

 Indie music videos are usually set in urban areas, and focus on performance. The performances are usually in a blank room, somtimes with bright colourful backgrounds too, depending on the theme of the song. There are very little special effects in generic indie music videos, save for greenscreen.The camerawork is usually very static, using mainly midshots and close ups. Sometimes special camera effects are used, such as a vintage filter or fisheye lens.

Our Chosen Song - Elliot

The Smiths - This Charming Man

A punctured bicycle
On a hillside desolate
Will nature make a man of me yet ?

When in this charming car
This charming man


Why pamper life's complexity
When the leather runs smooth
On the passenger seat


I would go out tonight
But I haven't got a stitch to wear
This man said "It's gruesome that someone so handsome should care"


A jumped up pantry boy
Who never knew his place
He said "return the ring"
He knows so much about these things
He knows so much about these things


I would go out tonight
But I haven't got a stitch to wear
This man said "It's gruesome that someone so handsome should care"
Na, na-na, na-na, na-na, this charming man ...
Na, na-na, na-na, na-na, this charming man ...


A jumped up pantry boy
Who never knew his place
He said "return the ring"
He knows so much about these things
He knows so much about these things
He knows so much about these things



Introduction - Elliot

The purpose of a music video is to promote an artist and make their music appealing to the target audience. We watch music videos to hear the artist and see them and their creativity.

Music videos are split into 3 groups: narrative, performance and conceptual. Narrative music videos tell a story, performance shows the artist actually performing the track, and conceptual is an almost random style, like narrative but with no structure.

The conventions of music videos are used to create a visually stimulating, interesting experience for the viewer, to entice them into exploring the artist further. There are lots of fast cuts, bright lights, plenty of different scenes and characters and very short shot length.