Music Video Inspiration – ‘Chameleon’ by Andrew WattJason SulitA2 Media

‘Chameleon’ by Andrew Watt

Meaning of the song

The lyrics of this song is not portrayed in this video as it is purely a performance base with no narrative.

• The song is about woman who keeps changing her mind and leading the singer on – “you’ll start me up and then you’ll leave”

• The singer also refers to the woman as femme fatale and he will soon take his revenge - “you better watch your step... Run, run, run, hide, hide, hide”

• However the singer also states that enjoys her manipulating him – “things you do makes me feel alive”

The Artist

Andrew Watt is fairly new, therefore it was a good idea for him to do a full performance video centralising him in order for his audience to gain recognition.

The artist was in the band called California Breeds however they later split up.

The artist is within the hard rock, and rock and roll genre and the typical instrument that he uses is the electric guitar.

Andrew Watt is influenced by the 90s Seattle Era and also The Beatles.

The director of his music video ‘Chameleon’ is Mick Rock who is best know for his iconic shots of rock and roll artists such as Queen, Syd Barrett, David Bowie, Sex Pistols etc.

How does this relate to there genre?

The band portrays many of the codes and conventions of rock music videos and it is also the type of video that would be the typical first music video of an artist.

• Use of lighting to cast shadows creating a dark contrast• The artist’s imagery is very rock and roll; scruffy long hair,

dark clothing, make up, eyeliner, • Performing in a photo shoot studio with a guitar, the setting

emphasises his rock star appearance.• The use of low angle, high angle shot and singing closely at

the camera is common in this music video• There is use of typical concert lightings such as spot lights.

CameraworkClose up and extreme close up shots were predominant in this music video, the singer almost seems to be up in your face giving the artist the identity of a rebellious, punk, rude rocker. The close ups also helps you to remember the artist

CameraworkThere is the use of high angle and low angle shot making the artist seem bigger/ smaller, it also gives the viewer more perspectives to view the singer’s performance making it interesting.

CameraworkThere is frequent use of overlays and dissolves, this is usually used in the slower verses and jump cuts on the faster parts of the song

EditingVarious dissolve transitions, overlays, colour filters were used in this music video, this effect is interesting as it distorts the original shots providing the audience with something else to look at. As well as this editing to the beat of the music was well executed in this music video.

Mise En Scene

The mise en scene used in this video is very limited therefore the main attraction is the use of camerawork and editing

• The main prop used in this music video is his electric guitar with the amplifier in the background and also his microphone

• There is also studio lights in the background implying that the video is set in a photo shoot

• Andrew Watts is wearing dark rock and roll clothing, there is frequent change of clothing of red and black.

• His facial expression is very wry and confident

Why this video interested me?

The reason I like this music video is because of the editing style and camerawork, I also like the camera movement and cutting to the beat of the song and I think the visuals accompany the music quite well even though it is purely performance of the artist. Another reason why I like this is because it shows me what I can do when producing a low budget video, as the editing and camerawork used in this video is doable with the equipment that I have access to.

This music video showed me how to make a video interesting just by using a variety of camerawork such as angles and movement, as well as this the editing to the beat also influence the overall viewing of music video