Music video analysis Mat Keneary “Hey mama”

According to Steve archer (head of media studies at Charles Darwin school) there are five essential parts in which evaluate whether that an “ultra-cool” new video really does do justice to the music or if it’s just a glorified marketing tool. These include “thought beats” or seeing the sounds in your head, narrative and performance, the star image, visuals to the song and the technique aspects to the video.  

The conventions of a music video vary depending on genre of music. However, some general conventions are: The artist is shown performing; the lyrics of the song have influence on what is shown in the video, the pace of editing fits the pace of the music, and the codes of dress reflect the mood of the song.

With indie music videos there is often a mixture of narrative and performance and sometimes the whole band performs and other times just the main vocalist sings. When Indie music videos do have a narrative they are often quite symbolic and do not literally follow the lyrics.

-There is a variety shots used especially of close ups to show the main artist singing and other band mates performing as well as wide shots of the whole band.
-The colour of the video changes depending on the lyrics of the song and the tempo of the music it can be bright, dark and sometimes black and white.
-Special effects are sometimes used.
-Editing is usually quite fast paced depending on the music.
-The band wears casual clothing.

Mat Keneary “Hey mama”
She don't know what she wants to be
With all the pictures in the magazines
Holding hands when she's mad at me
'cause she don't wanna go, don't wanna go

I met her at anthropology
Purple boots and her golden dreams
Standing there like a Tennessee queen
Singing don't look at me, don't look at me

Singing oh oh
won't you help me sing this song
Singing ee ee ee
She don't ever want to go to sleep

Singing hey mama, don't want no drama
Just a kiss before I leave
Hey lady, don't say maybe
You're the one that I can believe
Hey lover, don't want no other
finger for my ring

Hey mama, hey hey mama x4

Oh oh x3

I can see it in her Cherokee eyes
Those baby browns and the golden thighs
What you doing for the rest of your life?
Cause you don't want, don't wanna go

Singing oh oh
won't you help me sing this song
Singing ee ee ee
She playing like a mystery

Singing hey mama, don't want no drama
Just a kiss before I leave
Hey lady, don't say maybe
You're the one that I can believe
Hey lover, don't want no other finger for my ring

Hey mama, hey hey mama x4

Oh oh x 3

Couldn't be more opposite
I'm hard to please and you're hard to get
You're Mississippi and I'm Oregon
You're sun tanned and I'm porcelain skinned.

Singing hey mama, don't want no drama
Just a kiss before I leave
Hey lady, don't say maybe
You're the one that I can believe
Hey lover, don't want no other
finger for my ring

Hey mama, hey hey mama x4

Oh oh x3

‘hey mama’ from mat Keneary is a 3minute 8seconds performance, the video is shown in black and white and has a variety 146 shots within it including the artist and extras.

Camera

The first shot in the video is of a man facing sideward’s from the camera clapping his hand to the beat of the music the location is not known however it appears to be near a large bridge and a town can be seen in the further distance. The camera swiftly pans towards the left a little to get a better view of the male and then cuts to a new shot of a woman’s legs and shoes dancing. The camera continues to cut from shot to ‘random’ shot until the male at the start of the video is revealed to be the artist; the camera is on a slight low angle tilt and in moving backward to allow the artist to walk, the shot quickly changes again to another sequence of random shots both in mid shot. The camera cuts away and goes into a close up of the artist singing. This type of fast cut montage is very effect to this type of music genre as it simulates multiple viewing as well as creating something dynamic and artistic to watch. The video has an almost handheld type of effect and feel to it however this is only used within parts of the filming such as when Mat Keneary is walking though people on the streets, this is effective as it creates the illusion he’s walking with no one around him and makes the audience feel as though they could easily recreate a moment like this. The camera moment within this is also very important and throughout the video there is speed, fast cutting and digital effects which are all motivated by shots in which people are dancing, moving, running and playing around in these types of shots are placed extremely well as they have to represent the beat and pace of the music. Another technique in which the director has captured within this video is representing what’s being spoken in the sound or the beats and the rhythm in the music great examples of these are at 1:26, 1:35 and 1:42.

Lighting

As mentioned previously the whole performance is captured in black and white, this is done for a number of reasons. Firstly to add individuality as most music videos are shown in colour, concentrating a video around black and white also gives it a vintage to a performance. Another reason in which the director has done this is to not create emphasis on one particular part of the video. As there are a range of different shots from extravagant to extremely simple showing the video in colour would create emphasis on a more extravagant area rather than focusing on the song and artist, Evidence of this can be seen in areas such as 0:33 and 1:32. Even though the video is presented in black and white a viewer can easily tell the video is set in daylight and has a sunny atmosphere.

Sound

Sound is obviously an important part to a music video; the lyrics, beat and rhythm of a song introduce the general feeling and mood an audience have towards a song. In Mat Kearney’s ‘Hey Mama’ a fast and energetic beat is used to make people feel happy and energised as soon as they hear, lyrics aren’t used until 8 seconds inwards and once they are used it quite simply uplifts you without having heard it previously. The simple lyrics are also easy to grasp with the repetition of the chorus;

“Singing hey mama, don't want no drama Just a kiss before I leave
Hey lady, don't say maybe
You're the one that I can believe
Hey lover, don't want no other finger for my ring
Hey mama, hey hey mama x4
Oh oh x 3”

Mise en scene

Location

The location changes throughout this video, it starts where what appears to be under a bridge along a river or ocean with a town in the back ground. The camera then cuts to a montage of various locations such as streets walls, shops etc. The location of a music video is very important as it creates atmosphere and narrative to a performance. The ‘Hey Mama’ video shows a sense of freedom, individuality and joyfulness through the way various locations are used and how the characters within them stand and portray there personality.

Costume

Different types of costume is widely used in this music video, concentrating on the lead singer Mat Kearney; he is dressed all in black, black jeans, top, shoes and hat. The effect of dressing him in this shows equality throughout all other extras the costume for him also creates focus on the song rather than looking at the artist appearance. However other elements of music video show characters dressed extravagantly or out of sync with the artist this to create a visual aspect of the video. Without some visual content the music video would become boring for a viewer, this is where the lighting also comes into question due to the fact the video is shown in black and white. The more visually dressed characters can be died down so allow the song to heard yet keeping the video interesting and exciting to watch.

Target audience

I believe this music video and song is aimed at in particular at older teenagers to young adults, however can be suited to older generation because of the bubbly joyful tone of the song. It is known that Mat Kearney is within the pop/rock genre so people who enjoy music within these areas are also targeted.