I have researched some of Coldplay’s music videos and watched them carefully to pick out if there is anything about the videos that make them stand out and is a brand identity of Coldplay. I have found that Coldplay like to include moving graffiti animations in the background of the music videos. ‘Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall’ and ‘Strawberry String’ is examples of the animated backgrounds. This quality has made the videos stand out on their own as it is very creative and interesting to watch. I like the idea of this, however I would not be able to use all my creativity in the time I have to make it stand out as original as 2 videos have already done this.
Also Coldplay always have eccentric backgrounds in their music videos with Coldplay’s ‘Christmas Lights’ is having a small staged performance video with a colorful moving backdrop of multiple quirky shapes. This is different and like the moving animated backgrounds it tells a story which the audience can decipher for their own interpretation. With ‘Violet Hill’ the first shots are establishing shots of scenery mostly of hills which link with the title of the song. The scenery shot at the beginning is used throughout the music video but has made the video into an abstract music video. However, the music video is also a performance video as the performing parts of the video are done in the courtyard/front of a symmetrical building. These backgrounds make the video fun to view and the spacing of the characters in the foreground complement the background to its fullest. I want to use interesting backgrounds in my music video including the beach and a forest. I like the establishing shots at the beginning of the ‘Violet Hill’ video so I will take that into consideration when storyboarding my music video.
Coldplay’s music videos are all quirky in their own way; one which stood out for me was ‘Viva La Vida’ which through editing has incorporated an old painted picture quality to the video throughout by adding delicate crease marks over the frame to mimic an old painting. To complement this, the coloring of the background and costumes where authentic looking using brown shades to match a timeless quality. I think this is very original, however this effect will not suit the music video I am looking to create.
The camera angles of Coldplay’s music videos are rather unique and interesting so keeps the audience interested in watching the video. The camera techniques are far from boring for example in Coldplay’s ‘Lovers In Japan’ at 1:18 there is a panorama shot where the camera stays in one spot and turns around going upside down keeping with a close up of the lead singer. This shot will keep the audience watching the video as it is interesting and rare to see and is quite unexpected within the video. Also in ‘Strawberry Swing’ the first shot of the music video which lasts the entire song has interesting camera angles. There is a panorama shot of the lead singer of the band with him laid down and an upside down worms eye view close up of him slowly turns so he is the right way up in the frame. Also 'Yellow', another Coldplay song has no cuts in it. It is very unusual and the music video is like he is telling us a story as he is just walking towards the camera as the camera moves backwards singing the lyrics with eye contact with the camera. It is set on a beach wearing casual attire. Although he is walking towards the camera at the same speed as the camera moves backwards it still involves different shots such as an establishing shot at the beginning of the music video before he comes into frame. There is also a long shot as he walks into frame and as he stops and the camera carries on moving it then turns into a long shot there. Otherwise the majority of the music video is set as a mid shot. I found this video interesting to watch as I felt he was telling me something through the song by his eye contact and simple surroundings. I really enjoyed watching this video, however to do something like this in my music video I would have to include loads of different angles and distances within that one long shot, and could prove difficult. I think having cuts in my music video will be easier for me to get a wider range of shots to a higher standard. The no cuts in the music video is rarely seen as I have only seen one other which has this quality which is ‘The Lazy Song’ by Bruno Mars. In Coldplay’s music video the motions of the camera are all slow and have a steady movement to them which match the pace of the song. So instead of cutting when the pace changes the camera moves to the pace of the music, which is an interesting factor. I think it would be hard to incorporate this camera shot into my music video as I want it to be a narrative video, whereas the no cutting works for a performance video more. A routine would have to be learnt by the characters in the music video and would be so easy to mess up and would take a while to perfect. Especially with the many different locations I would like to use within my music video it will not work. I would like to include interesting camera techniques within my music video to link mine with the rest of Coldplay’s music videos. This is why I have made a shot list to keep track of what type of shots I can use and if I have used them or not yet, which is very useful when storyboarding my music video.
Overall, Coldplay have a strong edge of quirkiness within their music videos and I will try to link my music videos with the rest, however I need to make it my own and use my own creativity. I have taken the videos into consideration and my imagination has been flowing when watching the videos for my own music video.
Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall:
http://www.muzu.tv/gb/coldplay/every-teardrop-is-a-waterfall-music-video/1004220/
Strawberry Swing:
http://www.muzu.tv/gb/coldplay/strawberry-swing-music-video/278715/
Christmas Lights:
http://www.muzu.tv/gb/coldplay/christmas-lights-music-video/852545/
Violet Hill:
http://www.muzu.tv/gb/coldplay/violet-hill-music-video/49843/
Viva La Vida:
http://www.muzu.tv/gb/coldplay/viva-la-vida-music-video/146244/
Lovers in Japan:
http://www.muzu.tv/gb/coldplay/lovers-in-japan-music-video/144772/
Yellow:
http://www.muzu.tv/gb/coldplay/yellow-music-video/149362/
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