Music Video Analysis: Grimes - Skin

Genre Characteristics:

This song is by a musician called 'Grimes' (Claire Boucher). She directs most of her music videos, her genres ranging from electronic, to synth pop and experimental. This video is narrative, and is filmed throughout with a slight slow motion effect and blurred effect. I have not seen a similar video to this when analysing them, it seems very unique and incomparable. 

Relationship between visuals and lyrics: The video starts with a young girl running though a forest in the season of Autumn. To link with the season an orange filter has been used in the camera to create warmth. In addition to this the lyrics in the chorus are;

'And you can't, and you can't see the wind in the trees. 'And you can't, and you can't see the wind in the leaves'. This is relating to the imagery in the music video. We see the young girl grow up and how her life has changed. The camera footage leaves an outline of the bodies as they move, which creates a mystical and ghostly effect. It is almost as if this video is representing a memory or a dream as the hazy lighting and slowness as it doesn't feel vivid. The video has been shot with a steady camera and does not look shaky, instead it is quite smooth and makes it look like the camera is swaying and swooping in some shots. This is what we want to achieve in the music video with scenes of a manor house. The shots transition by fading in and out the next scene. Some of the shots nearer the end are filmed in reverse, events that have previously happened are being reversed back to the beginning again. The voice of the artist really adds emotion and is almost haunting, which links strongly with the layout of the video. 

Why did you choose the text you are analysing?

 This has a very similar genre to our group music video, and some of the shots are inspiring me to bring forward some ideas from it, especially the swooping shots, as well as the hazy blurred effect. I wouldn't like to use that effect throughout the video as I feel it is too much, we want the video to look as natural as possible without too many effects. 

In what context did you encounter it?

I came across this song on YouTube, however I had never heard this song before I analysed it.

What sort of audience did you feel this video was aimed at?

I would say this video was aimed at 18-28 year olds, as people could approach the meaning of the video in different ways. The artist wants to get across the realisation of music and how it is created. 

What conventions of genre did you recognise in the text?

Blurred camera effects

Warm toned lighting

Continuity editing

To what extent does this stretch to the conventions of the genre?

I wasn't expecting the video to look like this, as the shots are very similar throughout. The filming of the video was quite predicable, however I was expecting there to be some performance throughout. 

What sort of response does the video seem to expect from you?

Sad, uneasy, reflective.