Research 3, The Who, Who Are You

In this piece of research I will be looking at my first performance based video which is The Who's "Who Are You?" It's based in a studio where the song is being recorded and shows the band performing the song.

The first shot is a mid shot of lead guitarist and song-writer Pete Townshend, being the first person shown could show importance or signify that it is his song. At this point which is the intro there are no vocals and the guitar is the main focus of attention possibly another to why he is shown first.

The camera swings to the left slowly, this acts as an establishing shot to show the surroundings of the band which is a regular recording studio, as the camera stops and focuses the central focus is the drummer of the band, Keith Moon, here he is shown drumming to the intro. The light shining above him could be to symbolise his stance in music at that time or even as simple as a extra lighting

As before the camera swings to the left and this time we see the bassist John Entwistle, these 3 previous shots introduce the band as sort of establishing shots for each member.

This time the camera goes in the opposite direction, to the right where we see Roger Daltrey in a separate room to record the vocals for the song, he faces down as the song builds closer and closer to the first line

A high angle shot is used after the first line and then focuses on Keith Moon, this matches the track which has a drum roll at this point

A mid shot of Pete Townshend is used and shows him playing guitar, a fast edit is being used here from shot to shot to go with the fast paced nature of the song.

As before a drum roll is used as a way of focusing on Keith Moon as at this point he is the most important sound in the track. It also captures Moon's unique drumming style with exaggerated facial expressions and leaning into his drum kit.

The next verse begins and this is symbolised by giving Roger Daltrey a close up to show that he is where the listeners attention should be at this point

John Entwistle also receives camera time just as the rest of the band do, his shot is a close up, this could be to display his emotionless way of playing bass, which just like Keith Moon, was quite unique and instantly recognisable

The backing vocals are prominent in this section so we get a close up of John Entwistle singing into a studio mic



 Pete Townshend also gets a close up while singing the backing vocals

This mid shot facing the back of Pete Townshend shows him having swapped his guitar for a piano, the track has slowed down at this point which could be the reasoning for the dimmed light or since the piano is only the thing you can hear at this point the light has completely focused on Townshend.

There are quick bursts of drums in between the piano where we get an extreme close-up of Keith Moon showing intense facial expressions, this could be because the track is building up again and this editing is showing the fact pace at which it is coming.

The editing is getting faster at this point and this side-on mid shot shows a bit more of Townshend's piano playing which is increasing in speed and also his facial expressions which are becoming more and more intense

Pete Townshend is doing his typical thing and getting very much into his guitar playing, as he gets faster and faster the camera zooms in on it

The band other than Roger Daltrey are captured with mid-shots together, here they are shown messing about with Keith Moon dancing and Pete Townshend making gesutres

An over the shoulder shot of Pete Townshend shows Keith Moon while they are still messing about

  

The 3 are captured again, the music is almost silent at this point as it builds up again 



The track suddenly burst to life again and Keith Moon is captured again with a huge facial expression as the crashes the drums.

                           John Entwistle gets a mid-shot and this shows off his inconic fender bass

The backing vocals are shown being recorded, by Townshend and Entwistle

The 3 members are captured together from a different angle over a mxing board

The track is getting to its climax at this point, Keith Moon's facial expressions and hard drumming illiustrates this

Pete Townshend gets anothe rmid-shot as the rest of the band have, here the music getting more and more intense

John Entwistle get a close up of his bass playing to match the trac, all the shots are increasing in speed between the transfers to go with how fast and intense the song is at this point

We get more of a frontol Mid-shot of Pete Townshend this time, this shows us more of his technique rather than the restricted view we had before which was more side on

Throughout the video Daltrey hasnt had any different shots, its been a constant close up of him singing into the studio mic

During the last 30 seconds of the video all the shots are ones to have previously appeared in the video, the editing becomes very fast that shots dont appear for more than 2 seconds before the video fades to black as it ends with the last man to appear is Keith Moon whos drums are the last intrument to be heard

Research 2, The Smiths, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

My 3rd video for reseach is The Smiths, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out. The video includes a group of Morrissey lookalikes riding on bikes around areas of Salford.

The first shot is the picture featured on the front a The Smith's single "Girlfriend In A Coma", this could be done to promote the single, it could also be to do with Morrisseys interest in plays and the actors/actresses featured in it.

Morrissey is then seen with an extreme closer up gazing into the distance as the music starts to kick in more

To go with the run-down Salford theme we see a bike ride through a murky puddle in what looks a dreary and dull day in Whythenshawe

A poster appears on a typical Mancunian brick wall with an actor on a poster again linking to Morrissey's interests

The famous Strangeways sign appears, this could be due to the attention brought to it when The Smiths released the studio album "Strangways Here We Come" and there were several incidents where the sign was stolen.

The camera then tilts down and we see a group cyclists gonig through Manchester centre.

We see the same poster as before and a mid shot of Morrissey on his bike with other cyclists over his shoulder. As the shot carries on the other cyclists pass and we see they are also looking like Morrissey by having quiffs and large glasses

We see the same brick wall as before with the same poster and see many of the Morrissey look-a-likes riding past in various directions

2 of the fans have a close up seen to be holding magazines, both wearing T-shirts featuring the cover of The Smiths album "The Queen Is Dead"

We see the shirt much closer than before, this could also be to promote what is to many considered to be their greatest album

We then have a close up of another fan, also wearing a Smiths top, walking down a path looking in the typically Morrissey fashion of quite miserable

One of the fans recieves a mid-shot while checking over his bike



We then see Morrissey with a close-up as he brushes his hair back

An Over-The-Shoulder shot is used to show a fan with a custom denim jacket with The Smiths stiched onto the back, this jacket has become quite iconic among Smiths Fans

Just as we see Morrissey before we see one of his look-a-likes gazing into the distance with a close up

A tracking shot is used, it focuses on the real Morrissey leaning on a brick wall with his bike as it passes him from right to left

Another Look-A-Like passes on his bike, the camera tilts round to focus on him giving the effect he is going in a circular way

All the cast and Morrisey are captured on their bikes with a wide-shot, it is impossible to make any of them out as they are under one of Salford's many underpasses, this could be used to represent the publics view on Salford at the time, dark and run-down.

A backward tracking shot is then used as we see Morrissey and his cast prevail from the light to see Morrissey leading them like a break away from a peloton, this is done to show he is the main man in this video

This is the back of a custom jacket by another fan, it is a picture of Elvis Presley's face, this has been captured with a close-up because the sleeve for the single had Presley on the front cover

Morrissey gets an extreme close up which is again trying to get across his importance in the video

One of the key ideas of this video was to show the world how run-down an area Salford had become, this wide shot is extremely emotive in that sense, it shows Morrissey walking down streets that he probably walked down frequently when he was younger but in the background all the houses are boarded up with metal sheets showing how people have just abandoned the area due to crime, poverty etc

Most Mancunians are very proud people and this sign shows one of Manchester's most celebrated places, Old Trafford Cricket Ground and for some reason the football ground are 2 of the most famous sports arenas in the world and provide huge publicity and income for Manchester, particually the Trafford area

For The Smiths this is basically their version of The Beatles' Cavern Club, this is where they took one of their most famous photos as a group, it's located on Coranation Street in Salford and gets 100's of visitors each year, this close up is used to show other parts of Salford and something very close to Morrissey's heart.

We see another view of the Salford Lads Club this time, this time a high angle shot is used so we see more of the frontage of the victorian building.

 The camera tilts down and we see Morrissey and his fellow cast ride past it on their bikes

We then see a wide shot, this shows the custom denim jacket with Elvis Presley on the back again and we see more and more run-down boarded up houses, the weather as adds to the neglected town theme and it makes it look dark and dull, which Manchester is also known for.

All the look-a-likes are then captured with a wide shot outside Salford Lads Club, this could be a metaphor saying that all the people of Salford are in it together, although Morrissey is more well known than the rest of them to him they are just as important in saving Salford.

Various close-ups of the look-a-likes outside the Salford Lads Club

Morrissey is captured with a mid-shot outside The Salford Lads Club surrounded by other Smiths fans and Morrissey look-a-likes

The road sign is captured with a close-up, this is the location of the Salford  Lads Club

A wide shot shows all the look-a-likes and Morrissey departing from the Salford Lads club and heading for another destination

An arc shot follows the bikers from left to right and we see another street full of run-down houses

A small girl growing up in Salford is seen, to her right is a run-down collapsed brick-wall with various debry hanging out

A wide-shot shows us a backstreet with high red brick walls and graffiti, one of the Morrissey look-a-likes can be seen in the distance



Another wide shot, another back street, this time we see the cyclists come down it into another run down residential road will typical victorian terrace houses

The cyclists ride past the camera and in the background we another collapsed brick wall supporting that idea that Salford is a run down, crime ridden area, throughout the video Morrissey tries to highlight this as it's a place he deeply cares about

The small girl appears again, with an over-the-shoulder shot, down the road are more and more boarded up houses, next to her is a pram, this could be used to illustrate the rising number of teenage mothers in the area due to jobless woman having to sell themselves for money

Morrissey is seen with a mid close-up walking across a Salford green looking quite remorseful over the situation his homeland is in, more houses are seen to be boarded up in a huge terrace block.

An arc-shot follows Morrissey around and we see a house much closer up which is also boarded up, the amount of houses boarded up allows us the see the state Salford was in during the reign of Margaret Thatcher who Morrissey was public in voicing his hatred for her.

The cyclists have a low angle shot from a walkover to see them riding into the distance, this could be to symbolise the end of the video as a representation of the say riding into the sunset.

A local independent shop called Albert Finney is captured, this most likely has some relevance to Morrisseys early life such as the Salford Lads Club did so he captured it to show the world, apologies for the caption