Music through the ages: The Noughties

Flobots- Handlebars

This music video by Flobots is a fantastic piece of both storytelling and the use of animation in music videos. The video basically tells the story of a man who starts off with something small- riding a bike with no handlebars- and this small rebellious act leads to bigger and bigger things, until eventually he leads a revolt against society which leads to his death at the end of the video. The animation is well-done, with lots of colour and movement, along with rhythmic editing techniques to make the video flow. The video utilises emotion and uses controversial topics such as the Holocaust. I think this video shows just how powerful these type of music videos can be, as they tackle key issues and display the artists viewpoint.

Fat Boy Slim- Weapon Of Choice

This music video uses the popular "bad guy" actor Christopher Walken in a hilarious dance routine which shows just how much fun can be had with a simple concept. Most of the dance moves in the video were improvised, which makes some of them cringeworthy. This video uses tracking shots to follow Walken around the setting, a hotel, a very ordinary and boring place, which is what makes this so funny as Walken is pulling off these moves  in such an odd place. Walken's mise-on-scene, as he wears a full suit is also useful as suits make us think of businessmen, a boring profession which is broadly contrasted in this video. Overall this video is a great bit of fun and also helps to mass market the song with the publicity from the celebrity appearance.

Franz Ferdinand- Take Me Out

This video is a great example of a music video which combines both performance and other editing elements to form a stylised media product. The entire video is shot with a kind of cell-shaded style, with the band beginning in this style as normal people, but as the video goes on the band slowly turns into animated robots for a while, until they eventually change back. The use of these animation effects is great as it gives you no entire whats going to come next and makes you want to replay the video to see what you missed. This type of music video is one I personally prefer, as it can be artistic and fun without having to rely too heavily on storyline and other things which take away from the music.