Music video analysis-Greek Tragedy

Music video analysis-Greek Tragedy

In the wombats ‘Greek tragedy’ music video in the opening shot below, the girl seems to be enjoying the music, but as the background is  black, this could indicate that there are darker things on her mind or that she is not as innocent as she first seems.

In this mid-shot the character is spotlighted, showing she is what the audience should be focusing on. Also her emotions suggest she is captivated in the music and the singer. The surrounding characters in the darkness show that they are not affecting her and her only focus is on the band, the lighting could be used to trick the audience into thinking she’s an angel.

This low angle shot of the lead singer evokes the sense that he is a Godly type being and this suggests how the character might feel towards him as the shot suggests this is from her point of view. The Godly image is exaggerated in the lighting as he is being back lit which makes him almost a silhouette which is mysterious and shows he is of importance.

The video also has on beat editing in time to the music at the beginning. It goes from the character to home video and fast clips of what is to come in the video which foreshadows what happens. The pace of editing will confuse the audience but intrigue them to carry on watching the video as the editing is too fast to get a clear picture and it helps the audience to remember the song.

The video also contains violence which consists with the tragedy title as usually in tragedies the main character dies, but this contrasts the ‘Greek tragedy’ title as usually in Greek tragedies the main character lives. The violence is also overdramatised which adds a comical effect and also fits with the idea of traditional tragedy plays.

At the end of the video the female character strings the bands corpses up like puppets so she can have her own concert which she has probably been fantasizing about. The idea that the bands are puppets shows that the girl is on control which could represent something deeper e.g. the music industry and the idea that bands are so commercialised they are not themselves or in control of their own music or image, so the use of the character stringing up the band like puppets could suggest that the band disagree with major record labels controlling their artists and they believe bands should create their own image.