Bohemian Rhapsody

Queen (1975)

Personally, when I think about influential music videos I

instantly think about Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' is the true definition.

When growing up, I was brought up around my parents listening to Queen and I truly admire how they changed rock forever. Even now, people still admire the work that

Freddie Mercury, John Deacon, Brian May and Roger Taylor put into their passion for music and how they created a

new meaning of sound for rock.

Introduction

Directed by: Bruce GowersProducer: Roy Thomas Baker Written By: Freddie Mercury Starring: Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, John DeaconProduction Manager: Jim BeachAssistant Director: Barry Dodd

Information

When analysing the music video of Bohemian Rhapsody, it says

on all blogs and forums that most visual effects and illusions were done during the recording, and only a small part of it was done during post-production. The video was directed by Bruce Gowers and recorded in only 4 hours on 10th November 1975 with a budget of £4,500. The length of the video is a lengthy

6:07 minutes long. At the time, the length of this video was very long, however it burst through expectations and did a lot better

than expected..

Analysis

The music video opens with a shot of the four band members in

near darkness with a vertical light just slightly revealing the faces of each band member. Within this, you can just make out which band member is who, however identity is very mysterious and hidden. I think that this idea is extremely well thought-out as it

shows that they weren’t famous because of their looks. Which is something you don’t see in today’s society.

Beginning

The light fades which cross-fades to a close up of Freddie Mercury. I think the use of this is fantastic, keeping the same mystery in the eyes of the band members. Not forgetting, post-production editing

was new at the time so the use of it makes its use very significant in this video. The use of this helps show which member of the band is the lead singer for the certain song, or which band member who is

most popular etc. Which is sometimes used in music videos which can be found in today’s industry.

Cross-fade

Live Footage

The video also includes shots of the band playing instruments, I really like this part of the video because it makes you feel like you’re at a real Queen concert. It can also make your mind run wild with the possibilities about what it could be

like at one of their concerts. This is something which is used in today’s music videos. I think it is something which can be either be very positive or very

negative. Something which can make you want to go to a concert or make you not want to go to a concert of the certain artist.

Close-up and extreme close up shots are used to show the passion in Freddie Mercury’s face. I think the use of close up’s mainly on Freddie are used because he is the main band member, the one

who writes all the songs, talked about in newspapers, and the one with the strongest voice. However, he was not the prettiest band

member, which if you compared it to today’s society- it goes against everything you would see in music videos today.

Close Up

Shots of mainly Freddie playing piano and also Brian May playing guitar are shown. Below is a screenshot of Roger Taylor playing the drums which is seen

in the video. He is filmed throughout the video but not much as the lead vocalist, Mercury. I do think that this could be to do with the talent of Freddie

compared to the other members as he could sing, play piano and guitar whereas other members could not do all three. However, this could also be because of the arrangement of the stage which is shown. The further back,

the less footage. However it would be silly if the drums were right at the front as you would not be able to see or hear the rest of the band

Instruments

In few the last seconds of play, it shows Roger

Taylor stripped down to the waist striking a tam tam which is the trademark of Rank Organisations

Gongman famous in the opening of all Rank Film Production films which are mainly familiar in the UK.

Rank Organisations

I have used my own knowledge, however I had to research more into the song and band members to feel confident that what I was writing was true. I enjoyed researching more into this song and the history of the band etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_(band) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Mercury http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_Rhapsody

Bibliography