Music Video Directors- John Hardwick

John Hardwick is an English director who has directed many movie music videos. He also directed television programs, films and even directed plays. John Hardwick is a man with a lot of experience and this shows in his videos. John Hardwick is the director of one of my favourite music video, "Arctic Monkey's- Leave Before The lights Come On.

The reason this is one of my favourite music videos is due to the fact the video is nothing like I have seen before. The whole purpose of the video is to tell a story, there is no lip syncing, no glamour models, not an expensive budget and just using everyday surroundings, just two actors, a few extras and the simplicity of this video makes it a brilliant one.

John Hardwick is the type of director I would use if I where to create a professional video,  due to the fact he makes the use of his surroundings, doesn't have a high budget, just keeps the video about the objective and creates excellent videos in doing so. John Hardwick has also directed many other videos such as "Arctic Monkeys- Fake tales of San Francisco"and "Manic Street Preachers- Your Love Alone"

Mint Ive- White Straight Line- Lyrics

I am so sorry, But you confuse me,
For someone that who has a car,
I don't like your attitude that much,
You're just know one that's going know where soon,
                          (Chorus)
So what's your problem that white straight line?
Or do I talk to you in double time,
What's you problem that white straight line?
Or do I talk to you in double time.
                           (Guitar rift)
I am so sorry,
But you confuse me,
For someone that who has a car,
I don't like your attitude that much,
You're just know one that's going know where soon,
                           (Chorus)
So what's your problem, that white straight line ?
Or do I talk to you in double time,
So what you having that white straight line ?
Cause I don't ever talk in double time, double timeee
                            (Long Guitar Rift)

The length of this song is 5 minuets and 11 seconds long, the song is 3:24 seconds long where the band are performing the song, the final 1:47 seconds of the song is long guitar rift, I am going to edit the length of the track to shorten the song, Preferably I will be editing that guitar rift at the end, but if that does not work I will try edit the lyric section of the song but that will be the last case scenario.

The lyrics seem to primely based on a girl who is in a relationship with the main band member but it seems the relationship is going nowhere. The singer first says "I am so sorry, but you confuse me, for someone that who has a car" this suggest the relationship is on the brink of ending. It suggests the girl is confused and in the wrong relationship. We know this by the lyric "But you confuse me, for someone who has a car" which means she is dating the man for what he isn't.

He then says "Your just know one thats going no where soon". This could mean he is done with the relationship and that she is not the woman for him. This lyric is saying to the woman, You're nothing special, and that you have not got much going for her.

The chorus then starts, "So what's your problem, That white straight line? this lyric is a quite powerful lyric. He is saying to the woman Is that your problem ? that she is taking drugs or she is just confused about the relationship and him and her. The second line in the chorus is "Or do I talk to you in double time?"this yet again is suggesting he is not happy in the relationship and or with her.

In this song, there is a numerous questions in the song. This is yet again suggesting the singer is directing the song at the girl he is currently dating.

These lyrics are quite deep and meaningful. When you dissect the lyrics and break them down, their is a lot of thought behind the lyrics. Although they're not the most creative of lyrics, there is a direct message to his girlfriend and that their relationship is not heading in the right direction.

What is Andrew Goodwins 6 Points ?

In the music industry, Andrew Goodwin identifies that there are 6 key features which outline a music video. I will be linking these 6 points to my music video.

 - There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visual shown. This means, the visual and the music have to be relevant, and have a meaning.

 - There is a relationship between the music and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music.

 - He says that music are often constructed by the link between the visuals and the song plus the artist.

 - Relationships are built between these in the video, and the close ups of the artists gives them the representation and publicity they require.

 - Voyeurism is used to increase video's attractiveness, particularly to males, whilst intertextuality is often employed in humorous videos.

 - Intertexutality references, either to other music videos or to films and TV text's, these provide further gratification and pleasure for the viewers/fans.

About the video- Arctic monkeys-Leave Before The Lights Come On

The video Leave Before The Lights Come On is a very unique video. There is no lip syncing on the video, and the initial plot is not about the song at all. The lyrics are about, going out to bars, meeting girls, having a one night stand and the awkward situation of waking up next to a girl you do not know. An example of this "awkwardly stretching yawning, it's always hard in the morning"and " How you can you wake up, with someone you don't love". The video is directed by John Hardwick. John Hardwick is a famous music director who has directed popular music videos such as " Manic Street Preachers- Your Love Alone" and also " Blur- Out Of Time". He has also directed an Arctic Monkey music video before, so they know he does an excellent job.

The video includes well known actors, the woman is played by Katie Ashfield who is in the very popular and famous "Shaun Of The Dead". The man is played  Paddy Considine who has been films such as "In America" and "Cinderella man". So the actors have a host of experience and it definitely show in this video.

This video has inspired me and gave me a lot of ideas which I will include in my video. The main idea I like is that the video is more about a story and not really focuses on the initial lyrics. I will not completely steel this idea, I will include a few bits of miming but I do not want the video just filled of a close shots of a person miming the lyrics.
I also really like the idea of a lot of transitions between both boy and girl, which helps the video flow much smoother and helps tell the story a lot more and therefore allows it to be more effective.