Textual Analysis: Blur - "Song 2"

Camera
The video starts with a loose frame which makes the drummer look isolated, as the drums are the only instrument playing at the beginning of the song, this creates ambiguity as to where the rest of the band are - keeping the audience interested. It then shows the guitarist on his own in a loose frame on his own, then a close up of front man Damon Albarn before using a mid shot introducing all of the band together as a whole. The gradual introduction of each band member creates a suspense that keeps the audience guessing. Mid shots are used often in this video as it is a performance video, which documents the band performing the song, although not live. Occasionally, extreme close ups are used to focus mainly on the front man to convey his importance to the audience, who are traditionally most interested in the lead vocalist. The camera also uses an incredibly fast zoom to zoom into certain aspects of the shot, whilst occasionally a whip pan is used in order to suprise the audience.

Mise en Scene
The band perform in a rather obscure environment, decorated by wallpaper that has clearly been influenced a paisley 1960's design. This, like with many other bands, gives an 'indie' style to their video as it is a retro design sported by other successful bands such as The Beatles and The Who. The band themselves wear very casual clothes such as plain t shirts and dark wash jeans. This is worn as these styles were at the height of fashion during the 90's 'BritPop' era and therefore this sense of fashion would have appealed greatly to a young demographic at the time.

Editing
Cutaway shots are used to cut away from the original shot and show another aspect of the musician, for example, in the opening the drummer is playing the drums, and the camera cuts to a close up of his foot pounding the bass drum.  This is used to provide the audience with more information about that particular shot, allowing them to see the mechanics behind the process of playing the song giving them a detailed insight. Continuity editing is used throughout the video, unlike some other videos in which parallel editing is used, this video provides a chronological account of the performance of the song, this continuity is favorable to some people, who don't like jumpy videos. It is suprising that the director has chosen to include continuity in the video, as the song is incredibly fast and aggressive. The different shots are seperated by standard cuts, which allow the audience to see each band member individually, although the frontman is given the most exposure, which is a commonality in music videos.

Sound
The soundtrack used is the original recording of Blur's "Song 2" written by Blur, though the audio has been specifically adapted to match the visuals perfectly, as the visuals are also fast and aggressive.