Alternative Rock Videos - Textual Analysis

I like 'Bright Yellow Gun' by Throwing Muses because of the editing. The shaky camera style and different angles/shots, such as tilt shot, dutch angle and whip pan, as well as the psychedelic colour palette, make the video interesting to watch. The camera zooms in and out and spins around, often cutting out the subject it's focusing in on, for example filming half of someone's face or the vocalist's mouth in the corner of the screen.

Name of track:
Bright Yellow Gun

Artist:
Throwing Muses



Genre Characteristics:
Alternative rock, psychedelia, guitars, dark colour palette, grunge, disorientation, shaky cam etc.

Relationship between the lyrics and visuals:
The shakiness of the camera and the way it pans round in different directions creates a sense of disorientation, which is reflected in the lyrics, for example "And I think I need a little poison to keep me tame, keep me awake; I have nothing to offer but confusion, and the circus in my head..."

Relationship between the music and visuals:
As before, the editing matches the pace of the song, and instruments are included in the video to illustrate the performance of the song.

Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?
Once again, there are no star image motifs. I have found that smaller rock artists do not tend to use these, as those who are not aware of the band would not recognize the references. There are many close-ups of the band throughout the video, however, as this is a general convention of a music video.

Is there reference to the notion of looking?
The vocalist looks directly into the camera and follows it around, although the other band members tend to avoid eye contact. This, once again, is common in most videos, as the vocalist has to connect with the audience through the lyrics of the song.

Are there intertextual references?
Not that I know of.

Is the video performance, narrative or concept based?
Performance. The video is set in a dark room with red walls, and tracks the band as they play. It is without a set concept, although the camera styles and the colour palette of the video reflect the song and its meaning.