Video Analysis: Martin Garrix - Animals

Video Analysis: Martin Garrix - Animals (2013)

Song Title: Animals

Artist & Label: Martin Garrix & Spinnin' Records

Release Date: 17th June 2013

Video Director: Mark Loonen

Genre: Big Room House (Sub-genre of House / EDM)

Video Style: Conceptual / Narrative

Music Video Conventions (Andrew Goodwin Theory):

A relationship between lyrics and visuals:

This song has only one line of lyrics that plays just before the beat drops; "We're the f***in' animals"

This is directly illustrated in the video through the main characters wearing animal masks. The video also amplifies this idea through the character's actions in the video; they act very recklessly, irresponsibly, and chaotically, exhibiting animalistic or primal behaviour.

A relationship between music and visuals:

The song has a strong relationship between music and visuals. Firstly, there are many uses of cutting on the beat, which amplifies the rhythm of the song. Also, at the first beat drop, the shot pulses once in time with the first drum hit, which reflects the rhythm in the same way as cutting on beat.

The changing intensity of the song in different sections is reflected in the changing speed of different shots. For example, during the first intense build-up to the drops, the shots are a mixture of full speed and slow motion shots which, when combined with many jump cuts, creates a visually chaotic sequence to complement the intensity of the music. Another example is the rapid cross/match cutting between the woman screaming and the image of a tiger. This rapid cutting mirrors the rapid drum hits just before the beat drop at the climax of the song. This serves to illustrate the high intensity at this point of the song.

Halfway through the beat drop there is a sound effect of someone screaming. This is echoed through the character in the rabbit mask holding his hands to his forehead and dramatically throwing them down again, giving the impression that he is the one screaming.

Finally, at the start of the song's build up, A ticking sound plays and slowly speeds up. This is mirrored by Garrix holding an antique clock above his head while the shot zooms in on the centre of the clock, illustrating the sound effect.

Record company demand for close-ups of the artist:

Many record companies want music videos to include close-up shots of the starring artist to help establish the face of the brand. In this video, Garrix is wearing a mask most of the time but at the end, he takes off his mask and reveals his face before the song ends. This is enough to establish his face as the face of Martin Garrix and solidify his brand identity which helps to market the song. His link to the tiger mask is also significant (See Iconography).

Genre Conventions:

Ironically, House music videos tend to not have many conventions, which in itself is a convention as it results in more freedom and creativity when creating a house music video. However, there are still some common conventions that are displayed in this video.

One of the main house conventions is the focus on young people having fun, whether it be sexual, drug related or more tame. This video does exhibit some sexually suggestive shots, but it is mostly composed of freestyle dancing, with some gambling shown at the beginning and some shots of destructive vandalism at the end when the masked people destroy the car. All of these concepts are part of the "party lifestyle", that are often integral to House videos.

Another key convention is the choice of setting. House and EDM videos usually include crowded clubbing scenes with people dancing and jumping around to create a wild and chaotic atmosphere. This is very clearly shown in Animals with the primary setting being a club, with almost every shot including dance. House videos use the club setting to emphasise the importance of dance to the genre.

The final major convention of House videos is that the video has a vague, strange concept or narrative that often has little correlation to the lyrics. Animals has lyrics that are in fact related to the video, but the video is nonetheless vague and strange.

Mode of Address and Iconography:

Animals has an indirect mode of address, meaning that what is happening in the video is not directed straight at the viewer / camera. The viewer is more of a witness to the events of the video. 

The Iconography of Animals is clearly evident in the video. All of the main characters in the video wear a black hoodie with a white image of a roaring tiger on the back. This image is the main cover image for the song CD, and has been included in the video to reinforce the brand identity of the song.

Also, all of the main characters are wearing various animal masks, with Garrix wearing a tiger mask. This is to link the characters to the identity of the song and establish their significance, especially in Garrix's case as there is a direct link between the tiger mask and tiger logo.

This results in the visual brand of the song being this tiger imagery, allowing the audience to easily recognise the image which helps to market the song and increase it's popularity.

Camera work and shot variety:

In this video, there are many medium close-up shots of Garrix's back to show the tiger logo. This is done to push the brand identity forward and make viewers familiar with the logo. These back shots are also used to anonymise the characters as the viewer cannot see their face. This emphasises the vague and strange nature of the music video that was earlier discussed.

The video also contains several close-ups of people's faces, which contrasts to the previous anonymity. This contrast perhaps highlights the wildness and chaos of the setting that house music is conventional for. The choice of close-ups also contrast with the crowded setting because it focuses on only one or two people while there are many more in the background. This aids the chaotic feel of the setting because it implies that there are a lot of different activities happening all at once. 

Animals contains many group shots of the masked characters, which range from long shots (top) to medium shots (bottom). These shots change frequently during the sequences in which they appear, alternating slightly between further and closer shot types. This too serves to amplify the chaos of the video, reflecting a key convention of house music. Throughout the video as a whole, shots jump between medium, long and close-up shots for the same reason.

One of the key shots in Animals features Garrix (wearing a tiger mask) up on the DJ stage appearing to play the music. The shot is filmed from the dance floor among people dancing to appear as though the viewer is part of the crowd. This encourages the viewer to dance themselves, and strengthens the conventional link between house music and dancing.

Camera Movement:

Camera movement in Animals is used very purposefully for specific reasons to emphasise certain aspects of the frame or to improve the aesthetic of the video.

Firstly, in the first shot of the video the camera slowly zooms out while focusing on a fire. This zoom out reflects how the fire is spreading, and shows more of the fire as the frame progresses. 

Another zoom shot later in the video zooms in on the clock, which is the main subject of the frame. This emphasises the focus on the clock, which mirrors the ticking sound effect that is gradually getting louder and clearer at that point in the song.

This is a dolly shot that slowly moves to the left during the shot. This is to retain focus on the subject of the shot as it moves as well, keeping it in roughly the same position in the frame. This allows the shot to present movement of a subject while keeping a consistent focus on the subject.

This is another dolly shot that is used in several points in the video, mostly in the shots of the character's backs. The camera follows the subject while they are in motion, keeping roughly the same portion of the subject in frame. This serves the same purpose as the other dolly. 

This shot is also handheld, unlike the other. This reflects the slight variance in height and position of somebody while they are walking, so the shot almost feels as though it is from the perspective of somebody behind them, making the viewer feel like they are part of the shot.

This is a slight upwards tilt of the group of characters in masks. The tilt echoes how the characters look up, adjusting the frame to give them more looking space from looking to the bottom of the frame to looking more towards the top. This prevents the shot from feeling tight and uncomfortable.

This is another tilt shot used for a different purpose. This tilt is used to slowly reveal more the subject as the shot progresses. This shot in particular is intercut with many other shots, stretching out the slow reveal even longer. This is done for dramatic effect, to intrigue the viewer by slowly showing more and more of the subject, ending with the shot of the clock as described previously. This makes the whole sequence at this point in the video more interesting and exciting, mirroring the build-up of the song at this point.

Editing and Special Effects:

The editing of Animals is used mostly to help drive home the chaotic nature of the video. This is mostly done via the constant use of jump cuts, cutting between the same shot, to create a sense of intensity and artificially speed up the dynamics of the video. When combined with varying degrees of slow motion, which is applied on the majority of the shots in the video, the cuts heavily amplify the chaos and wildness that is conventional of house music videos.

Also Rapid match / cross cutting is used between a woman sceaming and the tiger logo, the purpose of which I have already described previously. A match cut is when a shot cuts to another shot that is similar in composition. In this case, the woman's face with her mouth wide open is similar to the logo of the roaring tiger. Cross cutting is also used here, as the shots of the woman and tiger are rapidly interchanged in time with the rapid drum hits of the song.

Cutting on beat is used in almost every cut of the video to highlight the rhythm of the song, which is especially integral to house music as house often has a very clear, consistent rhythm.

In some shots, such as this, a blur effect is used on the edges of the shot to emphasise the focus on the centre of the shot, in this case the dancing masked character. It helps to lure the viewer's eye towards the middle of the shot by covering detail of unimportant areas of the shot.

There are 6 transition effects used in the video besides standard cuts. 4 cross dissolves, where one shot fades into another shot, and 2 flash cuts, where the cut is covered by a quick flash of white. 

Location and Mise-en-scène:

The video is primarily set in a dance club, which, as mentioned earlier, is conventional of house music videos.

For the costumes, each masked character is wearing the iconic tiger logo on the back of an otherwise plain black hoodie, with varying animal masks. As described earlier, this has been done to enforce the iconography of the video. The other background characters are wearing assorted casual and "night out" type clothes, which is suitable for the club setting.

Some props are used in the video to aid various concepts and ideas;

At the start of the video, money, dice and cards are used in a few shots to represent gambling activity. This is significant because it links to young people's "party lifestyle" which is conventional of house music videos.

The clock held by Garrix at the start of the video is also significant due to it's relationship to the ticking sound in the music (as mentioned earlier).

Towards the end of the video, there is a sequence where the masked characters destroy a car using various weapons and a jerry can of petrol. These props are used to amplify the danger and violence of the sequence, especially the petrol which causes a fire; fire being a symbol of destruction and chaos itself.

Target Audience:

The House / EDM genres are aimed towards millennials (and the older Gen-z ), because of their popularity in nightclubs, which themselves are used mostly by under 30s. The video itself takes place in a club, after all. There is little gender favour when it comes to EDM, only very slightly more popular with men than women. This is because the composition of nightclubs is very mixed in terms of gender.

In terms of social status, the video is presumably aimed at C-E level. This is because the kind of young people that often go into nightclubs are stereotypically less responsible with their money (spending money on drinks and drugs) than, say, older generations who are more mature and secure in terms of income. An obvious common psychographic with the audience is also the interest for dance and partying. The genre actively encourages dancing so it is of course aimed at people who are most likely to enjoy such a thing.

Representation:

1. What sense of the world is it making? Ideals and attitudes?

Animals presents a carefree world, with no responsibilities or rules. Everyone is free to do whatever they want without the consequences of their actions. Everybody can party all the time and even vandalise / destroy things without repercussions. The world is very liberal and there is nothing holding anybody down from their desires. 

This is the primary message of the song, as the characters are likened to animals who are also free from rules and responsibilities. The song is embracing a primal view of the world.

2. What does it imply? Is it typical of the world or deviant? Whose world is it?

The view of the world is certainly deviant as of course the primal beliefs depicted in the video are very reckless and unacceptable in the real world. However, it perhaps presents an "ideal" world for the target audience of young partygoers. It is idyllic in the sense that it reflects the whimsical desires of young people to be free from the law and societal rules and simply do as they please.

3. Who is it speaking to? For / To whom? 

The video is speaking for the aforementioned young partygoers who want true freedom and escape from the world that they live in. It is a popular belief among teens and young adults (of which I am one and can confirm) to desire increased freedom from authority and rules; common real-world examples would be parents, teachers and even the law in more limited cases. 

Animals presents to these young adults a world that they may well envy. This makes the video more appealing for the target audience of young people and increases engagement in the video because the audience may aspire to be in the position of the characters shown in the video.

4. What does it represent to us and why? How do we respond?

The video, as described, represents true, primal freedom. It is a very relevant concept for the song's genre and the song's title / lyrics, encouraging a carefree and perhaps reckless attitude towards life; much like an animal. The inclined audience response would likely not be as extreme as what is depicted in the video, but it would perhaps still invoke a desire to be more relaxed and less serious about the world around them, in pursuit of a more tame, but still desirable freedom.

5. What stereotypes can you identify and why are they used?

There is only one type of character in the music video, the carefree partygoers, which are presented quite stereotypically; they are all young, with makeup and casual or contemporary clothing. Some of them also have tattoos and piercings. All of these characteristics are stereotypical appearances of the clubbing partygoer. In some shots sexual behaviour is also shown, which is also considered stereotypical of young clubbing-types.

This stereotype is used to emphasise the concept of freedom and carelessness; the tattoos, piercings and makeup are all examples of freedom of expression. Using the extreme stereotype enforces the message of the song, thereby more effectively presenting the idyllic world of freedom.