System of a Down- 'Toxicity' Animatic

Here is an animatic that me and Daniel produced of the music video 'Toxicity' by the band System of a Down. I believe this video is typical of this genre of music, it is heavily weighted towards shots of the band performing and includes fast camera movements such as pans, tilts and zooms as well as the use of the fast paced editing technique. Although in my opinion this video is rather bland and boring as the whole video is a montage of shots of the band performing in a white room, however, this is effective at drawing the audiences attention the band and their performance, and in particular the emotions of the performers whilst playing the song. The element of the band performing is typical of the rock/metal genre for music videos, but unlike many other videos of this kind there is no audience watching the band perform.


This music video was directed by Marcos Siega who also directed the video for 'Chop Suey!' by System Of A Down as well as many music videos for other very well known bands such as Blink 182, Weezer and Papa Roach. Many rock bands saw Marcos' past experience in rock as beneficial hence why Marcos has directed so many videos like Blink 182's famous singles 'What's My Age Again?' and 'All the Small Things', Weezer's 'Beverly Hills' and Papa Roach's 'Last Resort' in which I can see many similar features throughout.

Michel Gondry

Michael Gondry is a French filmmaker who has received awards for various areas of his work that includes commercial directing, screenwriting and directing music videos. Among many he is renowned for his individual, creative manner.

Michael Gondry’s career as a filmmaker first started when he made music videos for his band, Oui Oui, in which he was the drummer. The interesting style of his videos for Oui Oui caught the eye of various other artists, especially Björk who commissioned him to direct the video for her track ‘Human Behaviour’ after which he went on to direct videos for another seven of her songs. Gondry made quite a name for himself in the music video industry and has directed videos for some artist on numerous occasions, these artists include many well know bands and artists like Radiohead, The White Stripes, Daft Punk, The Chemical Brothers, The Vines, Stereogram and Beck to name a few.

As well as music videos, Gondry has directed television commercials and lead the way in the development of the “bullet time” technique which is a special effect that refers to a digital effect in which the time and space of the photography appears heavily manipulated i.e. slow motion of time-lapse in which the film is slowed down to such an extreme that you could see a bullet flying through the air or move around a scene at a normal speed showing the events as slowed , this is near impossible to with conventional slow-motion as the camera would have to move very quickly in order to be normal speed when the footage is slowed.

Along with Spike Jonze and David Fincher he lead the way in the wave of  music video directors transferring their skills in the music and commercial directing industry into feature films which he first did in 2001. Some of his most recent feature films include ‘Be Kind Rewind’ and ‘The Green Hornet’.

Some successful videos include:

The White Stripes- Hardest Button to Button

This video uses pixilation animation which is a form of the stop motion technique. I particularly like this filming/editing technique because, although simple, the result of the stop motion used is very effective since it emphasizes the basic, heavy, repetitive drum beat and guitar riff that runs throughout the song. This is a great example of editing to the beat of the song, which massively improves a music video as it integrates the musical and visual element seamlessly creating one entity rather than a video that seems separate to the music, more like a slideshow of clips that never quite relate to the song.

Spike Jonze

Spike Jonze, born in October 1969, is an American film director who has had a diverse career and has worked on various media products including music videos, television advertisements, feature films and television. As well as directing he has also produced and acted in many things.

Jonze is famous for his collaborative work with Charlie Kaufman, including works such as ‘Being John Malkovich’ and ‘Adaptation’. He also directed the 2009 film ‘Where the Wild Things are’ and is well known for co-creating and being executive director of MTVs ‘Jackass’

He founded the ‘Directors Label’ along with two other film makers Chris Cunningham and Michael Gondry. Jonze’s directing career not only includes producing and directing feature films but also many music videos for big name artists such as Weezer and The Beastie Boys and he is well known for his knowledge in this field.

Weezer- 'Buddy Holly' Analysis

When I first saw this video it i found it very interesting how it had been edited in such a creative way, so I fully analysed it to get a better idea of the concept.




The song 'Buddy Holly' was the second single that was released from the début album (The Blue Album) in 1994 by rock group Weezer. The lyrics of the song quote the names of the 50's rock and roll star Buddy Holly, and actress Mary Tyler Moore.


The video for this single was directed by Spike Jonze and shows the band performing the song on the original set of Arnold's Drive-In Diner from the popular 1970's American television show 'Happy Days'. The video starts with an intro from the original TV series including the end of the theme tune and a voice-over stating "Happy Days is filmed before a live audience" whilst a shot of the "Arnold's" sign is shown. This then cuts to an original piece of footage in which a television reporter introduces a live event. A horizontal transitional wipe is used to give the effect of blinds of shutters closing and reopening on another scene. The next shot is a mid-shot of Al Molinaro, an original cast member who plays the owner of the diner, who introduces Weezer who are on a raised stage dressed in matching 1950s style clothes; white shirts, stripy ties, mustard colour cardigans and drainpipe tailored trousers. The props used in the video like the guitars and microphones are indicative of the era the video is depicting as are the lyrics "I look just like Buddy Holly" and "you're Mary Tyler Moore".


The rest of the video is mainly mid shots of the band performing and long shots of the whole band with the audience dancing around the diner before the band. The upbeat song and memorable lyrics go hand in hand with the 50's costumes and dancing to create a cheerful, warming atmosphere. Jonze has cleverly knitted together contemporary footage of the band filmed in the Charlie Chaplin studios in Hollywood, to which Jonze applied a slightly grainy and tinted filter, with period clips from the original TV programs. Any shot containing Weezer is staged with actors in vintage costumes, any shots where the band would not be in frame Jonze has used original material. Use of body doubles allowed Jonze to frame shots of Weezer picturing what appeared to be the same customers as in the original footage. An example of this is at 1:26 into the video which shows a mid shot of two original characters from 'Happy Days' which at 1:27 then cuts to a reconstructed shot showing Weezer in the background with people dancing in front of the stage and  two doubles in the foreground, who are dressed in very similar looking clothes and acting as if they are the same people as in the previous shot.


At 2:15 the music is cut in full flow and a freeze frame shot of the band is held on screen whilst "To Be Continued" is layered on the shot whilst you hear a studio audience sighing as the music has ended. After this the 'Happy Days' neon sign is shown with a voice-over saying "stay tuned for more Happy Days". Next the video cuts straight back to the performance in the typical American diner. At the end of the video when all the customers in the diner have left, there is dialogue between the diner owner and the band members. These elements plus the original television introduction and narrators voice-over give the video a feel that it is an episode of the TV show as it is shot and edited in the style of a short film. The use of some authentic recordings reinforce the episode-like nature of the music video and create an even more realistic portrayal of the past.

Kings of Leon- 'Use Somebody' Analysis

In this video the opening shot is a helicopter shot of a busy city- this insinuates a high budget video. A few shots later a crane/high angle shot is used in which still, long exposure photographs are merged and then sped up to create a stop motion clip of light paths from car headlights on the motorway. These are used to show that the band is travelling at night, the lights emphasise the animatedness of the city and the stop motion long exposure technique is used to portray a passing of time.
Long and medium shots are used to show the band members in a pub/ bar/ snooker hall. These camera frames are used to show the band playing pool, table football whilst drinking and smoking and possibly drug taking. These actions all relate to a stereotypical image of rock stars which derives from the punk rock era of the 1970s/80s.
Close-up and extreme close-ups are also utilised to show the lead singer's mouth, eyes and facial expressions. This effectively demonstrates the singer's emotional involvement and intimacy with the song and lyrics he is singing.

Project Brief

Welcome to my A2 media blog, this is the blog for my A2 media studies project which is to plan, film and edit a music video and digipack for an unsigned band. I will have to do some research on the internet to find an unsigned band.


In the meantime I will need to analyse existing music videos, research music videos directors and look at how different types of artists are marketed.