The chosen genre of my music video is indie/alternative rock, where the majority of the videos are performance based, but some are conceptual. The video I'm going to deconstruct is Weezer's video for Buddy Holly, which was recorded in 1994 and directed by Spike Jonze. It is personally one of my favourite performance videos, in which the band perform in Arnold's Drive-In diner from the popular 70's TV show Happy Days. The video combines contemporary footage of the band with clips from the show, and also features what was at the time groundbreaking editing.
There is an entire 50's theme that runs throughout the song and the video, and is the period of time in which Happy Days was set. There is also a comedy element to the video too, and as Happy Days was a comedy itself, it is suitable. I think that the footage was used because Happy Days is one of the most important and iconic shows in the history of American TV, and the song and video pays homage to the 50's. The song itself is about a relationship between a man and a woman, with the man defending their relationship no matter what other people say. Even though relationships are a popular lyrical matter today, they were also popular in the 50's, and the song's lyrics are very similar to those of most 50's songs. It's also noticeable that the song was named after Buddy Holly, an artist who was popular during this time. The band's image is quite geeky and unconventional from that of the modern day rockstar, and fits in well with the 50's aesthetic, as well as the costumes of the people dancing and the diner, which was a typical hangout for young people during the decade and was one of the sets used in Happy Days.
Most of the camera shots within the video are mainly mid-shots, either of the band performing, the people dancing or of 'onlookers'. There is one close-up at 1:02, as one member of the band sings whilst looking directly at the camera, directly addressing the audience too. Apart from this, I don't feel there are too many clever camera shots, but then again there is no need for fancy camerawork, and adds to the simplistic feel of the video.
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