Friday, 2 September 2016

Music Promo Analysis || Panic! At The Disco - Emperor's New Clothes


Panic! At The Disco is an American rock band that formed in 2004 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The bands current members are, vocalist Brendon Urie along with his touring band, bassist Dallon Weekes, guitarist Kenneth Harris and drummer Dan Powlovich. 

The band has changed members over time as two of the original members, Ryan Ross and John Walker left after the album Pretty Odd and Spencer Smith left after their album Too Weird To Live Too Rare To Die.


Record Label
Panic! At The Disco are signed to DCD2 records which was originally named DecayDance records, founded by Pete Wentz, bassist of Fall Out Boy.  Panic! At The Disco was the first band to be signed to the label and has gone on to sign many other artist like the band. The label was relaunched in 2014 when the label changed it's name, keeping acts that were already signed to it. New Politics and Lolo were the first artists to be signed under the new name.

Lyrics
Welcome to the end of eras
Ice has melted back to life
Done my time and served my sentence
Dress me up and watch me die
If it feels good, tastes good
It must be mine
Dynasty decapitated
You just might see a ghost tonight

And if you don't know, now you know

I'm taking back the crown
I'm all dressed up and naked
I see what's mine and take it
(Finders keepers, losers weepers)
Oh, yeah
The crown...
So close I can taste it
I see what's mine and take it
(Finders keepers, losers weepers)
Oh, yeah

Sycophants on velvet sofas
Lavish mansions, vintage wine
I am so much more than royal
Snatch your chain and mace your eyes
If it feels good, tastes good
It must be mine
Heroes always get remembered
But you know legends never die

And if you don't know, now you know

I'm taking back the crown
I'm all dressed up and naked
I see what's mine and take it
(Finders keepers, losers weepers)
Oh, yeah
The crown
So close I can taste it
I see what's mine and take it
(Finders keepers, losers weepers)
Oh, yeah

Mortal kings are ruling castles
Welcome to my world of fun
Liars settle into sockets
Flip the switch and watch them run

Oh, yeah, oh
(Finders keepers, losers weepers)
I'm taking back, back, taking back, back
The crown
I'm all dressed up and naked

I see what's mine and take it
(Finders keepers, losers weepers)
Oh, yeah
The crown
So close I can taste it
I see what's mine and take it
(Finders keepers, losers weepers)
Oh, yeah

(Finders keepers, losers weepers)
(Finders keepers, losers weepers)


Lyrics and Visuals
There are a number of links between the lyrics and visuals, for example the chorus, 
''I'm taking back, back, taking back, back//The crown//I'm all dressed up and naked//I see what's mine and take it'. This links to the visuals of Brendon transforming into the devil, like he is 'taking back' the crown of the devil.
Also the lyrics 'Finders keepers, losers weepers' may be referencing to how Brendon has 'found' the position of devil and taken it and the lyrics 'I see what's mine and take it' reinforce this idea.
On the line 'I'm all dressed up and naked' Brendon rips his shirt off allowing the audience to see how he is transforming into the devil, as his skin gradually turns from normal to a blue stone
 colour.


Music and Visuals
This visuals in this video are all very sharp and precise, this fits perfectly with the fast paced music, especially the start of the track and the fast camera movements alone with Brendon's actions, it hooks the audience. 
The quick movements and general fast pace causes the person watch to go back and watch it again, repeating this action to make sure they didn't miss out on anything. The video keeps you interested with its quick changing of scenes and Brendon's transformation.



Narrative/Performance/Concept
'Emperor's New Clothes' is a concept and performance based music promo, it is also a continuation from the video for 'This Is Gospel', the audience get to see what happens to him after he escapes from his inner battles.
The concept of the video is that Brendon has fallen into hell and is now becoming the devil. This concept may have come from the lyrics of the song such as 'I'm taking back the crown' after his struggle he is taking the crown of the under world.


Mise en Scene
Location
The location would have been a set/studio, by using a studio or set it allows range of effects to be used. For example at the start of the video Brendon is shown to be falling, this could either have been filmed in front of a green screen or a black screen, then in editing they could edit the footage to make it look as though he is falling, that would have been harder to achieve on a location.
Using a studio also means that any set desired can be created, so for this video they wanted it to look as though Brendon was maybe in a graveyard or maybe hell.
Costume and Make Up // Props
Costume and make up was very important in this music promo as Brendon is shown to transform into the devil throughout the video. Without the costume and make up this video would be no where near as affective. The transformation keeps the audience intrigued as they don't know what's happening at the beginning of the video, so they keep watching. This also keeps people rematching the video to see if they missed anything.
Lighting
the lighting in the video is used to recreate lightning, the flashing lights at the start of the video illuminate the black setting and a creature which the audience cannot fully see. This leaves clues of what is too come in the video and keeps audiences watching to find out.















Camera Work and Editing
This music promo was filmed with the music speed up so that in editing when the footage was played back at real time the movements would look sharper and more demon like. The fast paced movements also work well with the music as it changes. 
There are various close ups of Brendon when he is singing, but also long shots of him to show him changing. The camera is constantly moving around him, confusing the audience as they are trying to understand what is happening to him, this keeps them watching and re-watching.  
Editing has been used to take the video that was filmed with the music sped up to match it back to the music that is playing normally.


Focus Group
"The editing for this video is good, I liked how Brendon's movements looked really fast they make and the changing of him looks seamless" - Alex 16

"I liked how the camera is constantly moving and how it circles around him, giving you a 360 view of him as he is changing. It makes it different from seeing it from one angle" - Izzy 17

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