La Dispute are a post-hardcore band from USA. The band came together in 2004, with the lead singer not having any experience in either singing or song writing. He was, prior to forming the band, a writer of poetry and short fiction. This is reflected in their music which takes on a more spoken poetry form than usual song lyrics.
Music Video
'For Mayor in Splitsville' is the most recent of three music videos by the band La Dispute.
Unlike many music videos, FMiS does not include a live performance of the band, instead it focuses on two characters after an, implied, breakup.
This goes against many of the usual conventions of a music video.
The story itself follows an evening of a couple, a man and a woman, who broke up, we assume, and the way each of them handle it. We never actually see the two together in the 'present' though we do see flashbacks of them together and happy. This is what implies that they were a couple that broke up.
This is a fairly clichéd story but in its own way, the way the video is created and edited makes is still fairly unique. Many of the lyrics in the song and fairly ambiguous therefore the video is closer to reflecting the mood of the song rather than the lyrics themselves, this is what Steve Archer calls amplification, expressing the mood of the song without directly referencing it. However, there are elements of illustration throughout the video also, showing literal sets of images relates to the song. For example, there is a line in the lyrics 'But I guess in the end we just moved furniture around', the music video shows both characters moving furniture in their rooms around. This shows Steve Archer's illustration theory.
The camera starts with a short tilt shot of a vintage style blanket(?) with the title layered over it before starting the actual video. This is an interesting way to introduce the video and is a nice way to start the video. The next shot is of a male actor driving a car, with a bored look on his face.
The video itself uses many jump cuts throughout the video, the first one cuts from the male looking bored in the car, to looking frustrated and pulling on his hair.
He then pulls up to a Motel and books in. this sets the scene for his parts of the video. Throughout the journey there are many more jump cuts. This could be to indicate the ellipsis of time and reflects the dazed way the actor is moving, almost as if he was not really aware of what's going on, as if he is lost in his own mind. The cuts also fit the beat of the music, which makes us feel like the song is narrating the video. He then goes into his room and sinks down onto the bed, this is where the lyrics actually begin, making it fell more like where the story also starts.
The camera then cuts to a female looking out of a window. This is the first shot we see that is not of the male and establishes a relationship between the characters, whether distant or broken is unclear yet. It then cuts to the woman trying to sleep on a sofa, which makes the audience wonder about the story and why she is doing what she is.
After a show of the man in his hotel room, we see flashbacks of the woman, underneath a sheet laughing and acting happy. This is the first indication to show they may have been a couple that broke up. The actual shot is much brighter than the others, they do this by brightening the lighting and adding lighter costumes and props, in contrast to the darker ones that were seen before. This reflects the feel of it being a 'happier time' in their relationship.
For a while, it then cuts to both of them trying to distract themselves, it seems, once again using jump cuts to reflect the passage of time. This is split up by more shots of the woman in a flashback.
The woman is then shown moving a keyboard out of the room, this is assumed to be the male's, though it is not directly indicated to be that way. She is then shown moving other furniture around, possibly to still try and distract herself. It cuts between her and the male distracting themselves, by doing a variety of things, for a short while, again split up by the flashbacks.
The jump cuts are still used in time with the song, and they become more aggressive and fast paced, along with the cuts between different scenes. This brings a sense of frustration and almost panic, into the video.
The woman is shown throwing many things away, that we assume to be the male's, incuding; food, medicine, pictures of them both and clothing. Whilst the male is shown looking at photographs he kept. This shows the different ways they reacted to the breakup and reinforces the idea they they were once a couple that split.
The video shows an almost mirror image, as the two characters both try and get comfortable/ get to sleep at the same time. The male then strips his bed. It is indicated that this is because of the flashbacks, as the male removes the sheets from his bed then a flashback appears. The first actual shot of them also appears around here, with them brushing their teeth together.
The flashbacks then change, and are shown to be the woman's flashbacks rather than the man's as they are the point of view from the woman, of the same scene with the sheet. She is then shown stripping the bed herself, once again indicating that the reason for the unusual behaviour is because of the memories she shared with the man. Both of the characters then continue to try and sleep but are still unable to, this gives the feeling of distress from the characters as they are unable to do normal things.
The song then talks about 'moving furniture around' and shows both of characters moving their beds and other furniture around. The beat of the song, along with the speed of the cuts shows them getting more and more frustrated, particularly the male who, once again, is seen with his head in his hands and pacing around. This contrasts with the woman who is seen sitting on the floor, looking upset.
The 'mirror image' is brought out again, with both of them putting on their coats and leaving their room/ house. This almost makes the audience think that they are going to meet up and get back together, but instead the man is shows sleeping in his car, and the woman driving round and then booking into the same motel. This repeats the same narrative that was at the beginning, with the female instead of the male. The male is outside said motel, sleeping in his car. This makes the audience feel almost sympathetic towards the couple as they are 'so close yet, so far' from each other and their happy relationship.
The video then cuts of from a clip of the male character finally asleep.
Magazine Advert for 'Rooms of the House'
This magazine advert not only promotes the new album, 'Rooms of the House' but also promotes a tour they will be going on. Whilst not relevant to the magazine advert we will be doing, it still helps with ideas for layout and font.The advert itself is very simple, compared to some others, particularly the photograph in the background. The photo would not meet A-level standards, however it fits well with the album as the photos use similar lighting, which makes the photo look slightly blue, and although the photo is in a completely different location to the one on the album, it is easy to tell that they are either in the same house or in a very similar location, which shows that the tour is relates, at least in some way, to the album and not just a random tour.
Another poster for a different tour also uses the same style photo and layout, though it is still slightly different. The pictures make it stand out as they are simple, not jam packed with different editing techniques etc. this makes them a refreshing change to the usual adverts.Both adverts are very simplistic in terms of layout, with all the information split into separate boxes. This not only makes it much easier to read, but it also makes it eye catching as the white boxes stand out.
The information presented is 'short but sweet' only showing what is necessary, including; the name of the band, which is the largest to make is stand out more, the name of the new album, plus the date of it's release, the location of the tour, the names of the two bands they will be touring with and some websites.
This makes the advert easy to read and easy to find exactly what information you want. The mismatched fonts reflect the style of the band and the album itself. All the writing is in white, this gives it a basic look and gives more emphasis to the pictures and the writing.
The pictures are of the band logo, the location of the tour (North America/ New Zealand's flag) and what looks like a photo album. (Also the name of two of the bands labels on the NZ one) This makes the advert look simple but still nice to look at and, again, makes the information very easy to gather as just by looking at the photos, you can gather what the poster is about.