The song Anti-Notice, is one of the original song that the utaite Akiakane has written and produced. The song is similar to Hatsune Miku's "Rolling Girl" as it is about the problems of an adolescent girl with issues on bullying and peer pressure.
The style used is similar to "Rolling Girl" as well, since it uses a black and white colour scheme and the way the text is messily edited in as well. The video also uses some animation, but not as complex or dynamic as "Rolling Girl" and mostly tries to convey the message through singular illustrations. The detail has more attention to them and has more depth then "Rolling Girl" though, I think this is because this video uses more illustrations rather then animation, so it did not have to simplify the art style. The only colour used is in the other student's hair and the other particular student near the end. These are highly saturated colours and when the video used it against the black, it gives a quite eerie atmosphere that unnerves the audience when shown.
Text is once again manipulated to the dynamicness of the video as well as the beat of the music. The Use of the word 'NO' in "Anti-notice" in the beginning I thought was quite smart as not only exposed the lyric, it also was a good way to introduce the title.
Another video that I like due to the creepy atmosphere given in the video, it also uses mainly illustrations so it would be more easier for me to create rather then lots and lots of animation so I'm definitely taking it to heart. The use of lyrics again I will also be mindful for as it is one of the main features.
Originally a song sung by vocaloid Hatsune Miku, the lyrics sung in Rolling Girl describes about a young girl who is constantly "falling" and "rolling away" constantly getting hurt in the process. Many fans speculate that the song is mainly about bullying and that the girl is not facing up to the problems faced in front of her. The version I have shown above is a cover sung by Utaite akiakane. Not only did she provide the vocals but also the illustrations used in this version of the video.
The video uses a monochrome colour scheme and is very simple yet quite dreary in atmosphere. This sets the tone of monotomy in the girl's actions as well as her feeling of hopelessness in her current situation. The lyrics of the videos move and are manipulated to give the video a sense of dynamic movement, but due to the font and the colour of the text it blends well with the video and rarely ever gets in the way of the animation. The art style is also quite simplistic at times, with details added on specific close-ups and low angle shots, making it easy for the audience to digest. There is a lot of animation in the video, more so then other utaite/vocaloid songs, making it more enjoyable to watch. At the end there is a moment when the video then transcends into a brilliant colour and shows the conclusion of the narrative of the video by exaggerating the joy and happiness featured in the ending. As with other utaite/vocaloid videos, the video is edited well with the song's tempo and lyrics.
I like Rolling Girl's use of simplistic art style, it makes it easy to watch and the way the colour is used to set tone is quite important to me as well. The video also uses a filter that makes it seem a bit more grainy and I might consider to do this as well to continue to give the audience an idea on what is going on as the general public will probably not understand the lyrics and thus the story that I want to tell.
Another song in the Kagerou project series, it features the "bad" ending of the series's story and shows almost every character in the series and features a unnerving and serious fast paced song. This version of the song is sung by Jubyphonic, a singer who takes these japanese songs and translates them into english. This is one of the ways that the genre can try to reach out to a more international audience. However so far, Jubyphonic is the only singer that I have found that can translate and sing these songs on a professional level.
Outer science has a unique colour palette as it mainly focuses on the colours red, blue and mostly yellow. Yellow being the colour of fear and generally too bright and unnerving gives the music video a creepy vibe that is kept consistent and is always consistent within the viewer's mind. Red is used to break out from the bright yellow and gives the blood an extra shock factor when incorporated. Blue is unusual and is noticeable when used, it is strange and shocks the viewer.
Once again the song is edited fast and quick, there's are a variety of ways the lyrics get presented. The video also show use of different shapes other then the characters like when it introduces the "eyes" the song uses a variety of circular shapes to present them. This makes it more simpler for the animator and fills up more space in the video but still keep the consistency in design.
The second video that is up for analysis is Lon and Soraru's Matryoshka. Originally a vocaloid song sung by Hatsune Miku and GUMI, the song was produced by Hachi, it has become quite a popular song with it's unique saturated art direction along with the song's dark overtone The video has a unique style of telling it's narrative, whilst the two characters are "pretending" to the outer world, the two put on masks and are drawn in a pain black and white style. When their true feelings are revealed, the video enters into bright technicolor and this transition fits in time with the music.
Another staple feature that is in most vocaloid/utaite songs is the way the typography is manipulated, making dynamic movements across the screens or relate with the images shown. They get flipped and overlapped and instead of being a separate added part to the video or just being a plain lyric video like in the west, this merges both types and create an interesting and crazy fast-paced atmosphere, where different elements begin to collide and intersect keeping the audience's focus at all times.
This is another song that I like, particularly the use of imagery and editing where the beat matches with the transitions making it interesting to keep watching. Another interesting feature is the way that some parts of the song are like dialouge for the characters, even though it is still part of the music, mixing both features together which I find interesting. The use of typography is something that I will be definitely using since you can't really make a vocaloid/utaite song without the lyrics, it's one of the codes and conventions!
The first music video I have decided to analyse will be Kagerou Days, a song composed by Jin and is part of the Kagerou Project series, a independent project that features a abundant of songs that when put together creates a story. A popular internet phenomenon, the series had been commissioned with novels, comics and a television series that is currently in production. This is one of the first in the series that explains the story of two children who are constantly trying to save each other's lives at the prive of their own, forever trapped in a time loop. This is personally one of my favorite songs from the series and is actually the first song that introduced me to the Vocaloid and Utaite genre. The video starts off in a grainy textured video that reflects a grim and dire situation. This is further supported by the fact that a character is crying over a body. We cannot fully make out the character's faces, which makes the situation raises a variety of questions. What has happened? Who are these two characters? Is this something that has happened or is happening? The video also makes use of the blood splatter or splatter effect to simulate movement when there is any actual blood being created, setting a specific scene, or creating suspense and foreshadowing as well as being a overall border when anything traumatic or gorey has happened. This is also makes the animation, much more darker even though of i's simplistic cartoony style. The characters themselves are in black and white as well as some other elements of the video, making it more graphic, which contrasts against the coloured elements to bring them out (like the blood splatters for example.). The blue hues used is often used with a gradient to create a serene atmosphere, in any tension packed scene, it is more subtle and creates an unsettling look when mixed in with the red of the blood.
Analysing it with western music videos, it is very rare for any music video here to include any animation at all. There have been quite a few that have like Brittany Spears "Break The Ice", but there are not any very notable examples to name. This animation is still a major part of Japanese pop culture and I think it is one of the main reasons why it is still mainly used. Whilst in the west animation, especially 2-D animation is still very much judged upon as being quite childish and not entirely suited for adults. But as anime has shown it is a medium that can be used to create something quite dramatic and is easy to edit into with music.
I would like to take the simplistic use of colouring of the animation into consideration for my own music video, as well as the way it is edited to fit into the beat. The use of textures and different shapes too is something to think about as well as making colours stand out, or using no colours at all to make it even more ominous and dark.
So I have decided to go with a music video, since my soul yearns to be released on canvas...or something like that. To be different and also to not get copyright infringed I have decided to go with mostly japanese songs! Wanna know what they are? You do, don't you!? All right, well here's the shortlist!
Nominee number 1: Rosutowan with "I Shake With Stupidity" or
【まふまふ】ロストワンの号哭＠歌ってみた
Nominee number 2: CAT with "Lost Time Memory"or
【きじねこ】 ロスタイムメモリーを歌ってみた
Nominee number 3: Limit with "Children's Record" or
チルドレンレコード 歌ってみた リミット
Nominee 4: Outer Science (English cover by Jubyphonic?)
I don't know if I want to use the english version or japanese version. ; __ ;
Nominee 5: Konoha's State of the World by Touya
Finally! Nominee 6: Limit (again) with "FACE"! or
FACE 歌ってみた リミット
As you can see a lot of choices. Two by Limit but ya know, she's pretty good so.....
Next time, I'm gonna try and analyse some of these as well as other music videos for the idea I have....which I may or may not have an idea for yet.
