Music Video Analysis- CHVRCHES (Gun)

'Gun' by CHVRCHES is a performance style music video, different to most other music videos within this synth pop genre of music as it is without any narrative 'story' to it.



Genre Characteristics:
As I have just stated, 'Gun' by CHVRCHES is a performance based music video, different to the normal conventions of a performance & narrative music video as we saw in my previous analysis which is usually typical within this genre of music and their already existing music videos e.g. Mother We Share. As a performance video Mayberry (lead vocalist) is lip syncing whilst Cook and Doherty are in their role of playing instruments (Keyboard, synthesisers, samplers & electric drum kit). This music video also contains a group of dancers that have been choreographed and visually edited in to the beat/pace of the song. Featuring a group of choreographed dancers is again unusual for a band that sits within the 'indie' genre, as this is more of a pop genre convention. CHVRCHES have set themselves aside by choosing a style of video like this that does not conform to the normal conventions of indie/synth/electronic pop music videos. I think that this is a positive decision as music videos within this genre of music I find can be fairly predictable.



Relationship between lyrics and visuals:
There is no connection whatsoever between the lyrics and visuals in this music video by CHVRCHES. This lyrics have connotations that the female vocalist is singing about an ended relationship (on her part) that she is still bitter about and is seeking revenge for/ on a manhunt. The lyrics 'I will be a gun and its you I'll come for' and 'you better run' suggest this.
Andrew Goodwin's lyrics and visuals theory: 'disjuncture' is shown between the lyrics and visuals as they have no meaning to the footage we see, the meaning of the lyrics/song have been completely ignored in the video.

Relationship between music and visuals:
As no connection is made to the lyrics in the music video, they have compensated by creating a huge relationship between the music and visuals; it is what the entire video is based on. The video is edited heavily in post-production, with a finished product I can only describe as psychedelic and even 'trippy', I feel this fits in well with the iconic voice of Mayberry. The visuals are mesmerising and they create hypnotising imagery that the audience are drawn into throughout the duration of the video. A myriad of colours and imagery are also used as effects within the video as well as strobe lighting, all of this would of been edited during the post-production stages (after filming).The most important connection between the music and visuals throughout the song is the beat/pace of the song consistently causing the visuals to change, this is heavily shown in the opening of the video (0-0.7 seconds).



Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?
As an indie/synth pop band I believe that CHVRCHES have less of an aim to glorify an image of themselves as your stereotypical 'pop star'. Take Rihanna for example, she screams pop stars at you through her clothing, tattoos, stage performances etc. I think CHVRCHES are more inclined to focus on their music. However, some star image motifs are still shown within the video, especially with lead vocalist Lauren Mayberry who is the 'front woman' that helps to actually sell the band, clearly her image is fairly important. Performing with a mic in hand and fitting with the band's indie genre in her clothing and appearance, these are some examples of star image motifs on a smaller, less obvious scale. There are lots of close-ups of Mayberry but less of Cook and Doherty, the close-up visuals only last for a second or two before they are manipulated into psychedelic images.



Is there reference to the notion of looking?
There are lots of close-ups and footage of lead vocalist Mayberry in comparison to the rest of the band. This relates to Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory, meaning that women are objectified in film because of men being in control of the camera. However, overall not much eye contact is made with the camera in comparison to your usual performance style music video, only specifically at 1.45 and 2.16-2.27seconds does Mayberry make strong eye contact with the camera and audience.

Are there any intertextual references?
There is a heavy reference in this music video as it is in the same style as Bonobo's Cirrus music video, they have emulated the editing techniques that manipulate the visuals on screen into a sort of 'optical illusion' as stated before, below is the music video for Cirrus where you can clearly where CHVRCHES got their style of music video from. The video is performance and music/visually based, therefore focusing on the band and track so there is no hidden narrative/story in the video itself only in the lyrics (as stated before, vocalists broken down relationship & revenge).

Is the video performance, narrative or concept based? How much of each?
'Gun' is primarily a performance based music video, there is no narrative (surprising for this genre) or concept style to this video. Although it is solely performance based, it is also heavily focused on the edited psychedelic visuals which takes up most of the footage rather than of the band actually performing. The footage of the band performing is only a matter of seconds in each shot, then each members appearance is edited with either strobe lighting or a kaleidoscope of colours and shapes. The band members profiles are manipulated frequently throughout the video, again reiterating my point that the video is heavily based on the visual aesthetic of the professional editing.



What have I learnt?

I think that the psychedelic and mesmerising visuals that are used in this video work really well and create a very innovative/unique video. As much as I'd like to recreate a video similar to this, a huge amount of professional and complex editing has gone into this music video. This would make it very, very difficult for me to incorporate into my own work due to the limitations I am under (budget, experience and equipment/technology). However we would be able to use the same fashion/styling that the band are dressed in as these are just everyday clothes that are accessible to us without exceeding our limited budget.