UPDATED: Case Study: How are the conventions of a rock music video evident in The Darkness' video ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love' ?- BEN RODWELL

The Darkness are a British rock band from Lowestoft, Suffolk. Formed in 1999 by brothers Justin and Dan Hawkins, The Darkness took heavy inspiration from 70s Glam Rock, Metal and Hardcore Rock to create music which "put entertainment back in to rock music" (BBC). The Darkness' debut album 'Permission To Land' went straight to number two in the UK charts upon its release on the 7th of July 2003. It then rose to number one and stayed there for four weeks, eventually selling 1.5 million copies in the UK. 'I Believe In A Thing Called Love' was the third single from the album and peaked at number 2 in the UK singles chart. The New York Times wrote that the song "Sticks to the listener like hair gel.". Such as much of the Darkness' style and music, the video for 'I Believe In A Thing Called Love' boasts 70's inspired, Glam Rock outfits, an over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek performance and a narrative that was designed to portray the fun and entertainment of the song itself. Directed by Alex Smith, the music video laid the foundations for the rest of the bands music videos; latex catsuits, exaggerated performances and bizarre, comical narratives are omnipresent throughout the The Darkness' video discography and were all pioneered in the video for 'I Believe In A Thing Called Love'. The Darkness have since gone on to record 3 more studio albums, win 3 Brit awards, break up, have a reunion tour and change their line up twice. They are a band based around fun, entertainment and not taking themselves seriously and the video for 'I Believe In A Thing Called Love' encapsulates this. As Scott Plagenhoef from the online review website Pitchfork described them "I can't think of a more entertaining band than The Darkness".

Figure 1

The Darkness take conventions of glam and hard rock and exaggerate to a point where the video becomes a self deprecating, tongue-in-cheek performance. An example of this would be the mise en scene of the video. The costumes of the band members are direct inter-textual references to 70s glam rock bands such as Slade and T. Rex. For instance in Slade's video for 'Everyday' the four band members can be seen to be dressed in flamboyant, abnormal outfits such as a latex cat suit, a yellow tweed suit and a latex dress (figure 1). The Darkness take clear inspiration from this wearing outfits such as cat suits and flared suits as shown in figure 2

figure 2

. What is perhaps more obvious is the style of the Darkness' hair. Two members have long, dirty blonde hair another has a frizzy afro held in a bandanna and the other has long dark hair. One of the main elements of glam rock was taking unusual hair styles that hadn't been seen before (or had but on the other gender) and using them as a medium of expression. The Darkness' are fitting with this generic convention through the outfits they are wearing. However because of the time period in which The Darkness made their music video as well as the extent to which they took inspiration from  absurd glam rock costumes, the audience can infer an almost comical, purposefully over-the-top attitude. Modern day music videos are often used in a very serious way to sell and advertise the band. As Andrew Goodwin stated "the record label to which the artist is signed have certain demands". The Darkness however do not necessarily conform to this convention. The video is focused far more on absurdity and exaggerating glam rock influences to create a comical, entertaining video rather than creating a 'modern', fashionable looking band that are commercially successful. Dan Hawkins, the groups guitarist described the song as "party music,  it just gets people going." The music video reflects this; borrowing outrageous and bizarre costume conventions of  glam rock yet rejecting modern commercial based conventions to create a video focused around entertainment.

Figure 3

figure 4

Andrew Goodwin states that "Music videos more often than not tend to include a demonstration of typical genre characteristics" and the video for 'I Believe In A Thing Called Love' conforms to this statement. Broadly rock music videos are based around a performance to highlight the energy of the band. They may feature shows or crowds with focus on the lead member as a way to advertise and sell the band as well as to ensure audiences know who leads the band. The camera work and shot construction throughout the video places focus on Justin Hawkins, the lead signer and guitarist in the band. While there is some narrative in the video, performance is the key aspect and focus is very much placed on this. An example of the way camera work and shot construction is used to place focus on Justin Hawkins and so conform to general music video conventions is in figure 3. This shot uses vanishing lines to draw the audiences eye to the dead centre of the shot- where Hawkins is running in slow motion towards the camera. Vanishing lines help focus the audiences eye on the lead singer and so this highlights his importance; he is the leader of the band. Furthermore the use of slow motion in the shot, slows Hawkins's running down. This is a conventional technique used to show power and dominance throughout film media. It connotes that he is in control of time. Additionally it allows the audience to focus on his movement more again allowing him to be better advertised (linking to Goodwin's theory). Another example of how camera work and shot construction is used comply to typical rock conventions is in figure 4. Figure 4 is a long shot that shows the band performing during a breakdown in the song. The way the band are arranged is a direct reference to

Figure 5

the video for Queen's song 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (figure 5).In this very famous video the four members of Queen are positioned in a diamond formation as copied by The Darkness in this shot. Queen adopted styles and haircuts of glam rockers of the time and so by using this inter textual reference, The Darkness are further complying to influences and generic codes of glam rock. Figure 4 not only makes this reference but again places focus on Justin Hawkins. Placing the other members on a lower platform is a visual metaphor for the hierarchy within the band. Automatically the audiences understand he is more significant than the other members as he is physically higher up than them and so their focused is pulled toward him. This focus is strengthened via the camera movement. As the band continue to perform the camera zooms towards Justin Hawkins until the shot has become a mid-shot of just him. As well as physically pulling the audiences view towards him, by slowly removing the other band members from the shot it makes certain that the audience knows that Justin Hawkins is who their attention should be on. Throughout the video, the combination of camera shots, camera movement and shot construction places the audiences focus entirely on the lead singer. This is done not to sell or advertise Justin Hawkins commercially but instead to portray him as the leader of the "visual style which occurs across their work". The Darkness' motif is their exaggerated mise en scene and performance. In the video for 'Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End)' Justin Hawkins can again be seen clad in a 70s, galm-rock-inspired cat

Figure 6

suit leading the band in an over-the-top performance (Figure 6) .By ensuring the audience know that Justin Hawkins is the leader of the band it places their attention on him which consequently lets the bands motif become clearer and apparent. The Darkness conform to Goodwin's theory that there will often be "close ups of the artist" and that "artists will have a visual style which recurs across their work"

Figure 8

Instruments play a key part in the music video. This is a typical feature of rock music videos. In contrast to rap or hip hop which are based primarily around electronic instruments and computerised instruments, rock instead uses physical instruments and so the generic conventions of rock music videos reflect this. Classic rock videos such as Guns and Roses 'November Rain' uses an iconic moving mid shot that zooms in, and tilts off balance yet keeps the guitarist and his guitar at the centre of the frame (Figure 8). By having an organic, panning shot that maintains the position of the guitar in the middle, the audience's entire focus is placed on the one, stationary object: the guitar. This technique is imitated somewhat by The Darkness in 'I Believe In A Thing Called Love'.

The shot in figure 9 is a dolly shot that slowly moves in towards the soloing guitarist. Although the rest of the frame is moving the dead centre of the shot is stationary and focused on the guitar. The dolly shot gives the audience a feeling of being drawn toward the guitarist and so their attention is pulled fully on to the instrument. Using instruments to portray the excitement and power of band members is a conventional technique of rock music videos as their instruments and ability to play them is what sets them apart and makes them special. The Darkness fully conform to this convention, using instruments throughout to draw audiences in. They are part of The Darkness' motif as they are part of the exaggerated, over-the-top performances.

In conclusion The Darkness both conform to and challenge conventions of rock videos in their video for 'I Believe In A Thing Called Love'. The costumes worn by The Darkness in the video, although fitting of glam rock conventions, challenge the modern day expectations of music videos. The outfits worn are not used as Goodwin stated to conform to 'record lable's demands' for commercial success but were instead used to exaggerate the glam rock ideology of wearing bizarre and different clothing. The Darkness do use lots of closeups of the lead singer, Justin Hawkins which is conventional of all music videos. They do this not to advertise or necessarily sell him but to give the audience a clearer understanding of their motif; an amplified glam rock aura and performance. The Darkness conform to the rock music video convention of placing focus on music instruments. They do this do again strengthen the portrayal of their motif but also to add an element of power and dominance to them as a band.

The Darkness' video provides a large well of inspiration for my own music video. The challenging of generic conventions is particularly intriguing to me. The Darkness, while creating clear links to conventional Glam Rock motifs, challenge modern day expectations of Rock videos. I feel that challenging convention provides an originality that is refreshing and furthermore appeals to an audience more effectively than an average, completely conventional video. The costumes used by The Darkness are especially interesting. They use completely abstract costumes that would not be seen in everyday life. I feel that I could take an element of this on board for my music video. For instance combining ordinary clothing with bizarre, abnormal aspects would be refreshing and furthermore would add meaning to the costume. Additionally the camerawork and compositional techniques used in this video are of the highest standard and look very professional. I want my video to look as professional and industry standard as possible and so by studying the way each shot is composed and making note of how they have done so (for instance by using rule of thirds, quadrants etc) I can make my video look more professional. Each shot is clearly planned and so by me planing each shot just as meticulously, my video should look as well shot and composed as possible.