Let’s Dance to the Joy Division by The Wombats

Before producing my own treatment for a music video, it was necessary to research ‘Joy Division’ in order to understand the song fully as it is a central theme to the song mentioned in both the title and the chorus. I found out that ‘Joy Division’ was in fact an English Rock band formed in 1976 and consisted of Ian Curtis, Bernard Sumner Peter Hook and Stephen Morris.Unfortunately leading vocalist, Ian Curtis suffered from depression and other personal difficulties such as a breaking marriage. It is possible that this is the reason for celebrating ‘the irony’ in the song ‘Let’s dance to the joy division’, as ironically, although the band was called Joy Division, the leading vocalist was in fact depressed. The ‘cure for a broken heart’ could also have been inspired by his life and it seems that the line ‘let the love tear us apart’ has been taken directly from Joy Divisions single ‘Love will tear us apart’. This background information helps us make more meaning out of the lyrics and inspired me to base my idea on a character similar to band member Ian Curtis and his life.

The Wombats

The Wombats are an Indie band from Liverpool, therefore I thought maybe the singer is talking about himself when he says ‘I’m back in Liverpool’. The band consists of Mathew Murphy, Dan Haggis and Tord Øverland-Knudsen. The band released their first debut in 2006, and therefore are a very modern band although in this song they compare to and make cultural references to Joy Division, quite an old band.

My Treatment

In my idea, the music video cuts between performance and a simple narrative. The narrative seems to be based on the lead singer of the Wombats Matthew Murphy himself, although in reality it reflects the life of Ian Curtis from Joy Division. The video will begin with the band in a bright red studio full of flashing lights to connote a ‘happy’ atmosphere. The band members will be dressed in skinny jeans and colorful checked T-shirts as this identifies The Wombats as an Indie band.

The lead singer, whilst singing in the studio, talks about his own life experiences. It will then cut to him walking down a street in Liverpool like a flashback. This however will be in black and white to highlight ‘the irony’ of him being quite depressed and sad on the one hand whilst being all happy and bright on the other hand.

The video will continue to cross-cut from the studio shots to the outdoor shots in synchronization with the lyrics. For example, during the chorus ‘Let’s dance to the joy division’; there will be shots of the band. This will consist of quick paced editing and shots from interesting angles with lots of zooming in and out to make it more exciting. There would also be a range of shots including CUs of the guitar strumming, drumming, beauty shots of the lead singer and LSs of the band playing together. On the other hand when the song says ‘So let the love tear us apart’, it will cut to the singer and his girlfriend arguing. She slams the front door on him and he walks away looking sad. This will be shot through CUs of their faces to show the emotions and will provide quite a contrast to the studio shots. By the final chorus however, everything seems to come together as the guy in Liverpool after having ‘worked something out’ seems to have cheered up. He starts dancing ‘to the Joy Division’ on the street and everyone else around him also seem to join in. The quick crosscutting between the colorful and the black and white shots however continues as they are still celebrating the irony that although ‘everything is going wrong’ they are still dancing and happy. There is then a shot of the band finishing off their song, however, the video ends with a shot of the guy dancing on the street to no music in Liverpool all by himself, whilst passersby give him weird looks.

This is to end on a comedic note to entertain the audience and leave them with the light hearted message that even when everything is going wrong, we should dance and be happy =)

Music videos with Dance Routines

I decided to look specifically at music videos with dance routines as these are generally my favourite and chose to analyse Single Ladies by Beyoncé as it is quite recent.

Single Ladies by Beyoncé

I found that this video was both very simple and effective. The video only consists of three women including Beyoncé herself. The dance routine performed by the three ladies is central to the video and keeps the audience engaged throughout. The camera therefore moves in according to the dance steps.

The music video is set in a studio and therefore requires only one location. This is one advantage of using a dance routine as opposed to a narrative based music video which may require more than one location. The video begins with simple LS enabling us to see all three women dancing in straight line as the lights fade up. Although the whole music video is in black and white, the lights are used very effectively in order to make it more interesting.

For example, as the lights suddenly fade to black, the camera switches angle so that when the lights fade up again, we are looking at the dance routing from a different angle. The camera then starts to circle the dancers in the opposite direction to which they move, although the audience is kept engaged with the moves as Beyoncé continuously addresses the camera directly holding eye-contact with the audience as if she is singing to them. The camera also uses a HA shot to show an interesting formation, for example a triangle, as the dancers are otherwise usually in a straight line throught the dance.

The camera then zooms in and out repeatedly in time with the music as if to make the audience experience the dance rather than just watch it from a still perspective. It then zooms into the lead singer Beyoncé’s alone so the audience can be familiarised with the main artist being promoted through the video as well as see her expressions.

The dance moves seem to be inspired by the lyrics ‘If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it’ as the dancers wave their hands indicating their ring finger. The costume is very simple, all three ladies are dressed in a black leotard and black high heels, therefore showing much flesh. This gives the video a sex appeal, and so, whilst being quite a ladies’ song may also appeal to guys. The black costume also provides a nice contrast to the white studio background.

Overall, everything about this video, from the costume, to the location, to the shot types, is very simple. The dance routine and overall performance is key to keeping the audience entertained. This reflects how both a simple concept and a good performance can a make a successful music video.

GENRE

Pop
Pop music consists of a range of different styles of music and is therefore said to be a genre most accessible to a widest audience.
Famous Artists:
-Girls Aloud
-Kelly Clarkson
-Kylie Minogue

Rock
There are many different types of Rick music such as Punk rock or Heavy Metal. Rock Music is said to appeal largely to a white audience.
Famous Artists
-The Beatles
-The Rolling Stones
-Oasis

Indie

Indie is a genre of alternative and independent music.
Famous artists:
-The Kooks
-The Wombats
-Air traffic

RnB
RnB is a music genre of western popular music.
Famous Artists:
Beyoncé
Ne-yo
Rihanna

Hip-hop
Hip-Hop, like RnB is another African American style of music which is heavily dominated by rapping.
Famous artists:
T.I
Lil Wayne

Classical
Classical Music in the European tradition relates to music that includes forms such as chamber music, opera and symphony. It usually appeals to an older audience or those of music knowledge.
Famous Artists:
-Beethoven
-Mozart

...Here we go again....

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