Fatboy Slim - Weapon of Choice
1.0: Introduction
Fatboy slim is the alter-ego/pseudonym (stage name) for the British DJ, musician and record producer Norman Quentin Cook. The genres of music that he specialises in are Electronic dance, Big beat, Trip hop and Rave.
2.0: Narrative
The narrative determines the story within a video or song. This means that there is a beginning (how or what the problem is), the intermission (how the problem is being resolved) and the ending (if the problem has been solved, and the result of the intermission).
For this song, the media elements shows that the story for this song is of a boring, pressured down man of mid age, fighting for some excitement and wanting to escape from the responsibilities in his life.
He does this by hearing a catchy song on the radio, and starts dancing to it. During the song, he is dancing in a care-free way by jumping on tables and flying through the air, but the problem is shown when he bounces off the walls. This signifies that he is restricted to what he can do, and he must realise what is happening in his life.
At the end of the song, he realises that life is not all fun, and he has these responsibilities for a purpose, so he settles back down, and focuses on the duties he has in life.
3.0: Treatment (Concept)
The type of video that the song "Weapon of choice" by Fatboy Slim has been categorized as a narrative based video. This is because the song is based on a story, which consists of a actor playing a part in the music video.
The overall look and feel of this music video is a up-beat, motivational video, because it inspires you not to be depressed and down-ridden with pressures, and enjoy life a bit. Also, the video is quit comical because it is of a middle-aged man dancing to his own accord, which is quite amusing for the audience.
The emotions portrayed throughout this video shows how the actor is feeling and it help the viewer to understand the story behind the music video. We know the man is first upset and tired from responsibilities thanks to the emotions he shows.
When he song gets into full flow, and the man is dancing, the emotions he shows are happy and relaxed emotions. This shows to the viewer that he is feeling much better, and he is feeling stress free.
4.0: Mise-en scene
4.1: Clothes/Make up
For every music video, the clothes and make-up portrays the personality and type of character of the protagonist. With this song, the character is depicted as a boring and lifeless individual because he is wearing a plain beige suit.
This labels him as a tedious and uninteresting individual because the suit represents he is a working man, who has no time for fun or pleasure. And the bland beige colour of the suit represents that he has no colour/excitement in his life.
The make-up on the man is of dull and bare and simple accents because it describes him as a man of no interest in personal features, and he appears to be worn out and unhappy.
4.2: Locations
The location for this music video is placed in a niche hotel or business building. This may have been selected to show that he is still at his work place and is tied down with responsibilities. But after about a minute of when the protagonist gets up and starts dancing, he uses the equipment within the building to entertain himself.
This shows that he is able to break out of the routine of having no fun, by entertaining himself within his work area.
4.3: Props
The props used within this music scene are all related to occupational equipment. This is to show that he can improvise and is able to mix business with pleasure.
One of the first props that he uses when he starts to dance is a receptionist/calling bell. This may be used within the start of the song to represent him informing everyone that he is coming out of his shell and breaking free of his routine.
Another prop that he uses is a luggage trolley. This may be to represent that he is throwing away the pressures that are weighing him down, by swinging freely across the floor, on the trolley.
Also within the music video, he uses escalators in his dancing routine but he uses them the opposite way. (Going down an upwards escalator) This is to symbolise that he is breaking the rules, breaching out of his dull habits and doing the opposite if what everybody does.
When the character gets into the full swing of dancing in the video, he jumps onto a table and kicks some documents out of the way. This is to symbolise that he does not care about his paperwork and formalities, and is rebelliously moving them out of his obstruction.
Also, he jumps onto a table because he is trying to appear in an elevated position. This is to signify that he is on a "high" and in a happy place, and nobody can drag him down.
In addition to the props, the video includes a frame in where the character is dancing in front of a mirror, and it creates an illusion of making it seem as if there is lots of him. This is done within the song to show that there are many sides of a person, and people have many different characteristics that they may not portray.
The final prop he uses in the song is a giant painting of a ocean and boats. This may be to signify his big dream of escaping the metropolitan rush of big responsibilities and go to a place when he can relax near the sea.
4.4: Lighting
The lighting position used in the first scene is in a back light position. This is so the background is accentuated and subject is picked out. This lighting position is used at the start of the video, to allow the viewer to realise the surroundings of the scene.
Once the character gets into the swing of dancing around, the light is gradually brightened, and the position of the light source is changed into a three-point lighting position. This is to symbolise that his life has been brightened and he is having fun, and it also symbolises that every aspect of his life has become happier.
4.5: Actor movements/expressions
Throughout the song, the character portrays a series of movements, body language and facial expressions which helps determine how he is feeling as he is expressing himself.
At the start of the song, his facial expressions are of a depressed, low tone because he feels the pressure of work or responsibilities weighing him down. As the song progresses and his energy expand, his facial expressions turn into happier and jolly emotions. This shows that he is having fun, and enjoying breaking free from tasks.
The movements and body language that the protagonist is portraying is mostly of shaking and jigging around to the beat of the song. This shows that he is moving freely of his own accord, not taking no instructions from anyone and shaking of the troubles in his life.
5.0: Camera shots/types/movement
5.1: Framing or shot length
The framing or length of the shot for a camera consists of how much scenery the camera wants to include in the frame. This is so the camera can determine how much information they want to show to the audience.
For the music video of "Weapon of Choice", the song starts in a long shot. This so it can inform the viewer of the surroundings in which the character and story is placed in. It also symbolizes the loneliness and solitude of the protagonist.
Another shot length that is included within the video is a mediums shot near the end of the video. This shot is taken when he has finished flying through the air, and the song on the radio has finished. This shot was used to symbolize that he has come back to his senses, and attention is focusing on him, to continue back to his routine.
5.2: Camera angles
The purpose of different camera angles is to send and create emotions through the camera lens to the audience. This is created by positioning the camera in different perspectives to allow the viewer to experience the situation in different viewpoints.
For example, in one point of the music video, the character is dancing on the escalator, and the camera is tilted upwards towards the character (Low angle shot). This is to symbolize that the emotions that the character is experiencing is growing stronger.
Also, the use of this camera angle is to symbolize that he is elevating, and feeling a rush/high of dancing.
An example of a high angle shot within this music video is at the end of the song, when the character is sitting back in his chair. This scene is filmed as a high angle medium shot to make the character seem as if he is now inferior and put down by the pressures of his responsibilities and surroundings again.
5.3: Camera movement
The purpose of camera movement is to capture the action of a movie/story by moving the camera in various directions. The types of camera movements are, pans, tilts, tracking shots, hand-held shots, crane shots, zoom lenses and aerial shots.
One example of camera movement in the video "Weapon of Choice" is within the timeframe of 1.30 and 1.45. This camera movement is called a horizontal tracking shot. This means that the camera is placed on a vehicle and moved from one point to another to film a scene.
This camera movement is used in this context for this song to show the character buzzing around the building in speed and frivolity, which shows that he is having fun.
Another example of a camera movement in the video is a crane shot in the timeframe of 3.00. A crane shot is used in this context to give and show the viewer an experience of how the character is feeling. Because the character is floating through mid-air, the crane shot is used to show how high the protagonist is in the air, and how high he is flying.
6.0: Historical, social and cultural context
The purpose of the song "Weapon of choice" by Fatboy Slim is that it revolves around the idea of he classic sci-fi novel of Dune. Dune is a story about giant worms on a desert planet, which attack victims if they don’t walk without rhythm, it wont attract the worm.
This stanza relates to the lyric verse of "You could go with this, you could go with that...". The song relates to the sci-fi novel quote because it represents the fact that if you don’t enjoy life (rhythm) you won’t attract the worm (bad things and aspects in life).
Also, the song is about the weapon of choice. Which is a device which is attached to your vocal box (within the sci-fi novel Dune), which acts as the weapon with vibrations to kill the worm. Hence the electronically altered voice within the song of “Weapon of choice”.
7.0: Bibliography
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMZwZiU0kKs (17/09/2011)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatboy_Slim (17/09/2011)
http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=narrative (17/09/2011)
http://classes.yale.edu/film-analysis/htmfiles/mise-en-scene.htm (17/09/2011)
http://www.mediaknowall.com/camangles.html (18/09/2011)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_69_/_Weapon_of_Choice (21/09/2011)
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1543 (21/09/2011)
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