Now, there are three mild variations on this, often all being used in the same video at once. The first type revolves around showing both the performer and the instrument being played all in one shot, to show complete movement of the performer and show him/her in complete control of the instrument. Below is an example from our video.
The majority of the guitarist is shown in this shot, showing his movement and energy in playing the song, as well as the full extent of his clothing. The upturned collar, and the undone top buttons on the shirt showing a great mix of smart attire and very casual appearance and demeanour. The colour overlay is in evidence again here, as you can see the sunburst colour of the guitar is minimised and darkened. The advantage of using a full shot such as this means that the viewer can see the performer's emotion in playing along with his technical skill and proficiency with the instrument in relation to one another. Below are a few more examples of this, the first coming from Green Day's 'American Idiot' video and the second coming from Rise Against's 'Re-Education (Through Labor)' video.
The one tradition we do break from here, as you can see from the example shots, is that these shots commonly seem to use low-angle shots, to give the performers a sense of real presence and dominance. We revert this by using high-angle shots predominantly to give a greater sense of space and a feeling that the viewer is almost like a 'fly-on-the-wall' to this performance. However, as you will see when I continue on to the other types of performer shots, we do use low-angle shots more prevalently.
Speaking of which, I'll now move on to the second variation - extreme close-ups of the performer's instruments and the performers actually playing them. Below are multiple examples from our music video, involving the guitarist, bassist and drummer.
This is another record company driven convention, mainly, and it is understandable, as it is designed to show that the performers have high levels of technical proficiency with their instruments. By showing close-ups of the performer's hands playing the instruments, this demonstrates high-energy and technically skilled playing of the instruments. Below are several more examples from our video of this technique.
These shots, particularly in this case the close-up shots of the fretting of the solo section and the close-up shot of the cymbal being hit, can serve a dual purpose - not only can show technical skill, as mentioned above, but they can also be used to emphasise certain aspects of the song; for example, the close-up of the fretting of the guitar can emphasise the solo and the skill of it, and the close-up of the cymbal being hit hard can be used to effectively accentuate crashes and transitions in the song, by using quick cuts and fleeting shots right on the beat. Below is a real-world example of this type of shot, which has been taken from the music video to Bad Religion's 'New Dark Ages'.
The third and final variation on this type of shot are shots focusing entirely on the performer's face, with maybe some snatches of their instrument in the shot too, but the main focus of the shot is centred entirely on the performer's face to show the emotion in his face. Here are several examples from our video of this type of shot:
As you can see, this accurately portrays the performer's emotions when playing the song. There are definitely differing emotions and body languages in the performers; in my mind, the bassist looks like he is calmly focused on the performance and playing of his instrument, and the guitarist fits his clothing style, in that he looks cool, casual and unflustered. Now, what is important here is to reflect on the emotions - although the song is energetic and rocking to a certain extent, there is still an element of atmosphere and mild restraint, significantly in certain parts of the song, such as the verses and the bridge - it is the sort of song where the blasts of pure all-out energy are not common across the entire song, but the energy ebbs and flows, and increases the impact of the high-energy sections of the song. Ergo, it is important that a degree of restraint is shown by the other members, as the singer, as we have already seen, is an energy-charged frontman, so therefore this must be tempered by his fellow bandmates.
That concludes Part 2.
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