Detailed analysis

I thought it would be very useful to analyse an existing music video in the drum and bass genre as the song for our music video is that genre. This will enable my group to establish conventions of this genre which we can include in our own music video. This song is 'End Credits' by 'Chase&Status featuring Plan B'. The first convention we noticed is at the start they include the title of the song and band. This clearly shows this is a music video and therefore if we include it it will make our music video seem realistic. The music starts off very slow paced and a character is falling very slowly. This will be intriguing to the audience as we do not know what is going on. The lighting is dark which relates to the sad and gloomy song. The lyrics do not start until 43 seconds, when the character stops falling. We are then introduced to 'Plan B' by a close up and he starts singing. Plan B is an estabished, extremely popular rapper. He is featured in the song and plays the main character which will attract the audience due to his popularity. The combination of Chase&Status and Plan B combines different genres. This will appeal to a mass audience. The band itself, Chase&Status do not appear in the music video which is a common convention of drum&bass. Plan B is a lot more popular than Chase&Status so the use of him as the main character will appeal to a larger audience. Obviously we cannot use a famous person in our music video to attract a large audience which is why we will be focusing ours on a story. A lot of very short shots of different locations are used which creates a rush of excitement as the story starts to unravel. We are then introduced to a police station by a wide shot, where Plan B is getting questioned. Stereotypically, rap and drum&bass are associated with crime and things relating to that. The audience will know this and therefore they can relate to it. A special effect is used where Plan B is used twice in the same shot. You can see him as the character being questioned by the police but there is also Plan B singing but the other characters do not take notice of him as it is not like he is actually there. He is in the character's head. This is very effective because it looks realistic. It is like he is explaining the story through lyrics. The pace fastens up and you can hear non-diagetic sound effect over the song which create drama. There are high angle shots of hoodies beating up someone in a street. The audience will start to realise what Plan B's personality is like and perhaps consider this is why he is in jail. We are then introduced to Michael Cain playing an onlooker looking out of his window where hes sees the fighting incident. Michael Cain again attracts the audience because he is classified as an A-list celebrity. There are a combination of shots including close ups of Plan B on the ground, street fight and close ups of Michael Cain. This shows the variety of action and adds excitement. You hear a police siren which illustrates danger and crime, again relating to the stereotype mentioned above. We then move onto a new location, an underpass. This location has grafitti on the walls and is dark, scummy, scary, dull and unpleasant. The smug look on Plan B's face shows that all of those adjectives relate to features of his personality. The music quiet downs so you can hear a new character say "He's got a gun". This character is again famous, mainly for his role as 'Cook' in 'Skins'. His face is covered in blood and his line makes the audience know that something bad is going to happen. There are various gunshots by both Plan B and Michael Cain. Micheal Cain is trying to make an end to the criminals. You can significantly hear the gunshots over the music which makes the powerful and dramatic. Gunshots relate to violence and death. There are cutaways to police station where there is a shot reverse shot. You cannot hear the dialogue but it seems like Plan B is explaining the story. This is made apparent by his body language and the use of him making a gun sign out of his fingers. The pace of the music slows down and the lyrics are repeated from the start of the song. Another special effect is used showing Plan B's body rising. This portrays to the viewers that he is dying. This relates to the lyrics 'blood dries in my veins' and 'I'll be on my way to heaven's door'. There are a lot of short shots with the use of powerful sound effects including crashes and car alarms. It is almost like it is flasbacks and on several times you see shots of his face looking distraught. The pace fastens up again. This is a common convention of drum&bass, when the pace changes from being slow to fast, slow again and then fast and then slow. Short shots show Michael Cain in hosiptal and police with shields. Wide shots shows an outbreak of a riot as people are retaliating and rebelling to the police. A wide shot enables you to see the large volume of people involved. This is a very dramatic and exciting sequence as a variation of shots show fires, smashed cars, people going crazy and things being thrown. Plan B is singing infront of the action but he is not actually there, he is a figure of the imagination. The song starts to slow down again so therefore the pace of the music video slows down. The slow speed puts emphasis of the injured and dead people. A cut away shot shows people being told something which creates alarm. A point of view shot follows them running. The camera is shakey which creates apprehension and worry. A point of view makes the audience feel more involved. A wide shot shows Plan B in the air where he has stopped rising. This related to the last lyrics 'the end' which makes it clear the character has died. The location is a quiet, deserted area which portrays escapism and lonliness. The music stops and you can hear the friends come running down to where they find Plan B laying there dead. The last shot is an unstill over the shoulder shot to engage the audience in the action and to make them sympathise. You do not see the friends emotions as they are not significant characters and so the full emphasis is on Plan B, like it has been the whole way through the music video.