Analysing a Music Video By James Hargreaves

Galantis - ‘Peanut Butter Jelly’

• The genre of the artist is electronic/dance and their songs often use instrumental as well as sounds created from a synthesiser or sound board.

• The video captures the funky mood of the song and personifies the dance essence of the genre .

- The video opens with an establishing shot of a car pulling up to a supermarket. The use of this medium/wide angle shot allows the audience to see where the video will take place. The car may also be a use of product placement as it drives into the frame and parks in the centre, therefore grabbing the viewers attention as well as enabling them to notice the logo of the cars maker (Fiat). This is a form of ‘commercial exhibitionist’ in which the artist is selling to us a product or brand.

- The artists exit the car and proceed into the supermarket. We Cut to this panning shot of a speaker and then follow the worker carrying a box. From there the music begins to play from this speaker, showing the audience that the music is now diegetic and can be heard by the characters in the video. This adds an interesting twist on the video and entices the viewer to continue watching. This builds up the suspense that will tie in with the structure of the song.

- As the bassline of the song begins and an element of percussion is added and an attractive woman enters the frame ridding roller-skates and sucking on an ice lolly. Because she enters in time with the music on the beat it grabs our attention. The use of this actress is related to ‘adolescent male fantasies’ in which things boys would like to see (such as attractive women) are used to grab their attention. Because she is sucking on an iced lolly this is used in a provocatively sexual way to add to the fun and upbeat feeling of the song.

The colour scheme of the video is very consistent with the predominate shade being orange and light brown. This connotes feelings of happiness and joy which is what the song emulates through its tone and sound. The colours are presented through a number of ways in the video such as the orange clothing; including the workers uniforms, the woman's tracksuit. Also the food in the supermarket; the fruit and also the woman's ice lolly. One contrasting colour that also appears as a predominate one is blue and grey. This adds nice counterbalance to the more vibrant colours of the shop. The blue can bee seen on the name tags, lighting and also the mans dressing gown.

As the pace of the video speeds up to lead into the chorus the editing becomes much quicker as the shots cut to one another in time with the beat of the music. This is accompanied with a zoom into the frame each time we cut to a new face. This adds a comedic effect to the video and makes the audience want to continue watching as they are now interested as to what will happen when the bass drops at the chorus. The combination of all these shots is called ‘information overload’ in which too many things are happening at once in the video. Because the style of the video has been very simplistic so far with controlled use of the camera combined with basic editing this bridge in the song really grabs our attention as the filming style all of a sudden changes to match the pace of the song creating this stark contrast.

As the song breaks into the chorus the man wearing a dressing gown suddenly steps forward and has it blown off to reveal a white latex leotard. He then begins dancing to the beat of the song. This adds an element of comedy to the video as it is unusual but eye catching. This will mean that the audience are more likely to remember the video because it has a humorous moment. Therefore the listeners are more likely to want to share the song and make more people listen to it. This is a form of viral marketing in which the product (the song) is shared around on the internet by the audience for free, ‘a digital word of mouth’.

As the man continues to dance into the chorus many of the shoppers are confused as to what he is doing and remain still as he continues to dance adding to the comedic value of the video. He then approaches these 3 customers. Their clothes blow away revealing equally outrages latex leotards, they then begin an uncoordinated dance routine through the shop. It is clear that none of these actors are professionals at and that’s what adds to the comedy of the video. Watching people attempting to dance to a very upbeat and fast paced song creates the memorable element. It also becomes relatable to certain members of the audience by not including models but regular actors we feel more connected to the video.

We cut back to the woman ridding roller skates and as she moves forward the camera tracks her. This emphasises the importance of her as well as how she is used as a provocative item for the younger male audiences. Her importance is also shown how she begins to lip sync the lyrics of the song. This stands out as she is the only character in the video to do this therefore adding importance to her and making the audience more focussed on her. She also seems to be the only character who has control over when she changes into the latex clothing. This sets her apart from the other characters and shows that she is conscious of what she is doing.

In conclusion the music video uses the combination of both camera and editing to reflect the upbeat and happy mood of the song. By using non professional dancers attempt to dance to the song in the video it adds to the comedic value and hilarity of the situation. The artists themselves only make a brief appearance at the beginning and end of the video, and all we see of them is their backs as they walk in wearing a jacket with their logo printed on it. This could suggest that because the artists do not sing in their music they do not feel the need to be portrayed in their videos, they keep themselves hidden almost. In the video they act as if they are this omniscient presence overseeing the situation in the supermarket and then leave once it is all over. Overall the video acts well as a piece of marketing for the song because of the comedic and memorable situation.