The Temper Trap- Love LostThe Temper Trap are not shown in this music video, instead the main focus consists of a group of cross-country runners. Also, it seems that the music video is set in England, but not in the present day. The band is Australian so I’m not sure why they have chosen English cross-country boys to feature in their video, but it does seem to work. The coach is quite a humorous character; he has some lines of dialogue which helps to build the representation of old school English cross country training. I think the randomness of the sequence aids the song which is a mixture of alternative rock and general atmospheric sound. The camera stays arguably static for the duration of the video, it is in a steady-cam position, and when the camera does move, the movement is fluid. The camera is driving backwards as the group of runners run forwards, and this gives a clear medium/long shot of the runners, and also the surroundings. However there are some cuts when the distance of the camera changes to get closer to the runners, and this is usually to show facial expressions of the runners miming the song to the camera. Also, the angle of the camera sometimes changes, it moves upwards to the sky and then down again to signify the passing of time, which I think is really clever. Sometimes the camera changes to a high angle shot, but this shift is not dramatic- they are only slight changes but they are effective. The camera work in general is quite simple in the sense that there is no fast cutting or even change of setting to deal with. The sequence feels very natural and I received a feeling of being involved as I watched this music video because it seems like the runners are singing to us, the audience. As the song is finishing, the camera is tilted slightly as it is left filming the setting, it then straightens up as the song finishes- I think there is some really interesting camerawork which isn’t too complicated but gives great subtle effects to this video. It is also comical when the end of the sequence features all the boys running off either side of the camera and then the camera moves backwards a little bit to see a boy left behind, obviously quite tired and maybe not in peak physical condition. Overall I really like this music video Everyone should watch it.

Foals- MiamiThis music video features trans-gender people weight-lifting and then having a fight with some other trans-gender people, and then they all start dancing, and then some of them get into a blue car and drive off- in Miami. I thought it was pretty original, from the usual stuff… The song is not the most interesting song in the world; however I think the cinematography of this video is quite interesting. The scenes are tweaked in slow motion, and this makes the fight scene look effective- and the song has a slow vibe as well, so it matches the imagery. There is a lot of colour in the video- from the clothes, the make up, the objects. I think it is supposed to be chaotic in some ways but quite mellow at the same time, and also humorous- or it could be challenging the conventional “female” image in most music videos (as a bunch of transvestites walk towards the camera in high heels). Similarly it could be highlighting the controversy regarding acceptance that surrounds trans-gender people, maybe they are making a point that more music videos should feature people that are trans-gender, because it makes a music video that much better.