The music video I chose is 'Come on Eileen' By 'Dexys Midnight Runners'. This song was released 25th June 1982. It became an instant success for the band. Becoming the bands second song to hit number one in the charts. It also won Best British Single at the 1983 Brit Awards. The song was placed at number 38 in the 100 greatest number 1 singles of all time in a poll done by channel 4. Similar polls by the music channel VH1 placed the song at number 3 in the 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders of all time, number 18 in VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 1980's and number 1 in the 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s. It has sold 1.31 million copies in the UK as of November 2012. The song reached number 1 in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 charts during the week ending 23 April 1983.The reason i chose this song is for the fact it is an old classic. People I've asked from all generations remember the song and the video of the band dancing in overalls/ dungaree's. This shows that the music video is iconic. People from my mums generation remember the video for the dungaree's my 25 year old sister remembers the video for the dungaree's and my peers also do. This was the most iconic thing about the video and obviously what people recognise it for. Another reason i chose it is because it is a song I absolutely adore. It's a very 'feel good' song and like i said, an old classic.
I read some of the comments under the video on YouTube. Here are just a few:
'yes the dungarees of the 1980s , I even wore a pair back then as it was cool to do so.....hahaha' - Yet another comment about the dungaree's.
'Come on Eileen - never gets old - toora loora toora loo-rya-aye'
'My HAPPY SONG'
'Such a great song, such a great video.'
Almost all of the comments were praising the song. In fact I searched through a few pages of comments and don't think I saw one negative comment. So even now, more than 30 years after it's release it is still an extremely popular song.
Textual analysis:
Camera work - A lot of long shots are used throughout the video. This is because a lot of the video is them dancing, so by using long shots they can fit the whole of their bodies into the frame. The shots are rarely ever still, this can be to show the energy of the video, as it is supposed to make you feel happy and energetic. There is also quite a lot of close up's of the lead singer singing. This is because in music video's the lead singer of a band is usually the most important.
Editing - The lead singer gets the most camera time and most of the shots are motivated by either him or 'Eileen'. Again this is because the lead singer is usually the most important. The editing also gets a lot faster pace towards the end. The music and the singer goes a lot faster than it was before. There is also a bit when the music and singing goes a lot slower than it was before so the editing is slower paced.
Mise-en-scne - The song takes place on a deserted street, this is where the majority of the song takes place. It's quite dingy and dirty looking. The main focus of the entire video i feel is the costume, the dungaree's. They were quite a thing in those days. The hair is also quite 1980's. The video is quite brightly coloured, i feel like this is because it is a feel good, happy song. Bright colours are 'happy'. However the street they are on is quite grey and dingy. So it contrasts. The band is usually within about arms length of each other, this could be so they are able to fit them all in the frame or it could be to show their closeness as a band. Each of the members is shown quite often also. The video is about the 'lead singer' being in love with 'Eileen' and wanting her. Therefore he tries to be in very close proximity to her, to show his love for her.
Well done Jess - some great understanding shown here. I really enjoyed your introduction which focused on the background to the song and its critical acclaim.
ReplyDeleteI felt that what you wrote about the video was valid but you could have written many more points under each heading to show me your understanding - perhaps with screen-grabs to illustrate your points. Make sure to use specific examples from media texts to show you know what you are talking about, rather than talking very generally. But a good effort - I like your focused energy that you are showing so far in your A2 year - keep it up!