Research into chosen artist

Swedish House Mafia

Swedish House Mafia have inspired me to create a music video using one of their songs because I am a big fan of their music and I enjoy listening to their songs as their music comes under a few different genres including dance, house, progressive house and electro house. House music is not mainstream but Swedish House Mafias have done very well as their hit single 'Don't You Worry Child' has made the number one spot in the UK for two weeks in row. Having watched all of Swedish House mafias music videos they are mainly concept/narrative based which I think goes best with their music, although each song still gives out a strong message for example in their music video for 'save the world tonight' there are three bad situations for example a man steals a woman's bag and then a dog pounces on the man so he falls back into the glass. So the video conveys a message that bad things happen to bad people.

Swedish house mafia are an electronic dance trio made up of three house disc jockeys and producers from Sweden. The three men that Swedish House Mafia consist of are Axwell, Steve Angelo and Sebastian Ingrosso and they only formed the group in 2008 and on the 24th of June they announced their last tour before a hiatus.

In the DJ magazine Top 100 DJ poll 2011 they ranked in at number ten and have been called 'the faces of mainstream progressive house music'. In 2012 they won an European boarders breakers award (EBBA). The first production they released was in 2007 and it was called 'get dumb' and it was produced with Laid Back Luke, a few years on in 2009 they released another single called 'leave the world behind'  which again was produced with Laid Back Luke and Deborah Cox. In 2010 they signed to UMG's Polydors records after disagreements with previous record label EMI. Their first official single 'one (your name)' was released on 26th May 2010, where it achieved international success as it reached 7th position in the UK singles chart. Their next big single from the same album called 'Until one' got to the 4th position on the UK singles chart in September 2010 which featured Tinie Tempa 'Miami 2 Ibiza'. 'Until one' is a collection of productions and remixes by Swedish House Mafia some as a group and some as individuals. The album got a BPI Gold sales award in the UK. In May 2011 they released a single called 'save the world' which featured John Martin on vocals, this song reached number 10 in the UK charts, later in the year they released 'Antidote' featuring Knife Party which unfortunately didn't make it to the top 10. In March 2012 'Greyhound' was released and their most recent single 'Don’t you worry child' was released in September 2012 which reached the number 1 spot in the UK charts two weeks in a row. Swedish House Mafias second compilation album titled 'Until now' was released on the 22nd October 2012 which is exactly two years after the release of their first compilation album 'Until One'. Unfortunately for fans of Swedish house mafia in June 2012 they announced their last tour which is called 'one last tour' as they have decided to take a break and the three members are currently unsure if they will collaborate as a group again.

Save the world by Swedish House Mafia is 100% narrative based. At the start of the video the title of their group appears in white capital letters with a black background, then their logo appears which are 3 circles of splashed paint and then the name of the song appears underneath the logo. This helps the audience identify who's video they are about to watch as the artists do not physically appear in the video. Although in the second scene of the video the artist’s picture are on the front of a cash desk where it says ‘do not serve’, although their pictures aren't massive so it is hard to tell that is them. But I think having them linked in to the video is good and shows a new approach for artists being shown in their music videos without having to physically be in it. Throughout most of the video there is low key lighting, which conveys the atmosphere of a club as usually clubs are open at night when it is dark outside, so this conforms to the dance codes and conventions.

 

The first mise en scene the audience see is a low angle on a street corner at night and is a long shot of two girls walking down the street. The second mise en scene shown is a long shot of girl walking through a cafe and the third mise en scene is a mid-shot of a man sitting in a car parked along a side street. All three of these beginning scenes are very important in telling the narrative during this video as they are the three bad incidents that take place. As the song goes on the dogs take action on the antagonists, for example the thief gets pushed through a glass bus stop, the shop thief gets bitten by a dog and the man who stole the car crashes whilst trying to avoid two puppies. So rather than showing revenge from the protagonists, this video portrays karma as the antagonists have done wrong and have got bad things done back to them. I think this is beneficial for Swedish House Mafias target audience because it is so easy to become a criminal in today’s society this is a comical example of what could happen to someone for doing illegal acts.

The three scenarios link in well together not just because it shows bad acts taking place but also in all of the scenarios glass being smashed is involved, which could convey glass bottles or glasses which are used when drinking alcohol which relates to the dance genre. In the mugging scenario the antagonist is pushed through a glass bus stop by a dog, in the car scenario the man’s window is smashed and in the shop scenario the glass jar is smashed. Also each time the glass is smashed it is played in slow motion, this displays a stimulating effect to watch.

This video goes against the usual codes and conventions of the dance genre, firstly as there are no scenes of people dancing and none of the video is set in a club, also the majority of the editing is slow paced except towards the middle/end of the video when more action is happening. Although there are fast pace editing when straight cuts of the different dogs are shown and the visuals match the song as the images change along to the beat of the music. Also towards the end of the video another montage of shots of the different dogs are shown and there are bright strobe lights in the background to convey the dance genre, also there is a smoke in the background which is used in clubs. Also at 1.30 into the song there is a long shot of all of the dogs running down the street and there is a very bright light on the left side which connotes the bright lights in a club. As well as this there is a mid/long shot of two women walking down the street and the traffic light behind them is lit up in a silver/white colour which again conveys bright lights in a club.  

 

The song is called ‘Save the World’ so they are showing a contrast of good and bad people and oddly dogs end up becoming the heroes in this music videos which adds a humorous affect overall. In parts of this music video the lyrics match the visuals, for example in the opening ‘into the streets’ there is a low angle long shot of two girls walking down the street. Another example is when the man turns up the volume in his car when the lyric’s ‘turn up the love now’ are being sung. Also during this scene ‘Swedish House Mafia’ is shown on the radio which could convey that the man in the car is listening to them, this also gives the audience another advertisement that it is their song.

Greyhound by Swedish House mafia is 80% narrative and 20% concept based. The establishing shot is of a deserted land with mountains in the background, this suggests that they have chosen to film in a deserted area for a reason and this may capture the audience’s attention more from the beginning. The next shot is a close up of a man dropping a screw driver into the ground and then there is a straight cut to a close up of what appears to be a screw driver landing in the ground. There is then a long shot of the same man holding a big machine with a screw driver type of end, which is what we see go into the ground. As this is happening there is no music but there is diagetic sound of the machine landing on the ground and the man walking away from the machine he has planted. This instantly captures an idea and narrative which makes the audience intrigued to find out what happens next. This is opposite to the general dance genre codes and conventions as they are usually more concept based but using part narrative and part concept makes the music video more interesting for the fans to watch.

There is then a long shot of the three group members dressed in black action hero type clothing in a low key lighted room with one light above each person, which there is then a straight cut to the man standing in the middle and the 'light' now appears to be headphones, with the use of CGI editing. The headphones later appear to be laser suits which allow them to control metal dogs. The dog’s race through the deserted land and this conveys the fast paced music so the visuals and music match.

The whole video is very futuristic with crazy, modern outfits that you would see on cat walks and men wearing weird masks. There is a waiter who has a plate of drinks next to him but the plate appears to be floating, which suggests that is what could happen in the future due to new technology. There is a close up to the plate and it has 'absolute vodka' with glasses around it, the use of showing the alcohol targets their audience who are around 16-24 year olds who are at the age where they go out to party's clubs and listen to dance music and become drunk.

To conclude this research helped me grasp a further understanding of the codes and conventions of the dance genre. I know now which editing shots are common to use, such as straight cuts and fast pace editing is important to use. Also making sure that I edit the straight cuts on the correct beat of the music to make sure the music and visuals are in sync, will create a good dance music video. Using long shots and close ups are important as close ups allow me to show the audience precisely what I want them to see and as I am using a sticker in my video to convey a message it is important that I include several close ups of the sticker. Many dance videos show long shots whether it’s to show the location or to show what people are doing, which is usually dancing in dance music videos. Long shots help to capture the whole scene so I will remember to use them in my video.