As you may know, I am a Video Editor – and one of the things (probably the main thing) that inspired me to work in television post production was actually music videos.

Music videos are one of my favourite things in the world and I spent hours and I MEAN literally hours when I was growing up watching them Even now in the modern world, I can find myself getting lost on YouTube watching music videos for hours on end – they are an addiction.

This month we look at an artist that I solely made a decision to see him live by looking at his music videos. I tend to go to a lot of music gigs the nights that I work over night because they heighten your energy on shift. I saw that one of the evenings that I had a shift, Yungblud was performing a special album launch show. I had never listened to his music before but knew his name as it kept popping up everywhere. I knew that there was a lot of discussion and news around him at the time so I was intrigued to know what he was like. So I turned to his music videos and tried to make a decision as to whether to see him live.

I had recently watched Gotham and his whole persona instantly reminded me of Jerome. Also I could instantly see the Marilyn Manson, The Cure, Oasis and many more influences in his style and the way he was being portrayed in videos. At this point, I wasn’t sure if I liked him musically but the videos were definitely enough to convince me to go and check him out live. Seeing him live was a fantastic decision as he is a very talented and can put on an amazing show, read the full review here. This month however I thought it would be interesting to look at an artist who I totally judged first by his music videos. So, enjoy!

YUNGBLUD – Weird

Why did you choose this particular video?

This video I felt had to be included in the music video selections this month, it was made for $100 in the middle of the Covid-19 lockdown and the editing in it is really effective that I had to include it. The last video of this month was originally going to be another video but when I saw this one in April I had to change my mind as the editing in something made so cheaply is probably in the top three of Yungbluds videos.

So, what is the narrative?

Even though the song was written last year, the song and the music video was released in April in the middle of lockdown. It means that the video was filmed around the house that Dominic and his band made were staying in when the virus broke. At the top of the video the camera man directs Dominic by saying ‘If you knew the world was going to end tomorrow, what would be the last story you would want to tell’ so I guess that is the direction for the video.

Favourite parts of the video?

The video is very bright in pastel colours and this kicks in right from the start of the video – the promotional material that was released alongside this video was also all in pastel colours so it all intertwines with one another and goes with the theme of the song – weird.  It is used predominantly throughout the video in the shots with the sky – lots of different editing techniques are used on this to create a sort of psychedelic feeling to the video. Since the video was filmed in such a small location it creates a massive punch to the visuals.

Right at the top of the video there is a hyperlapse of the walkway through to the bedroom where Yungblud is lying on. It is a really quick shot but it is super effective and like other videos we have spoken about this month, it drags you into his world. Effects like this work really well in this music video because the whole video is based around the way we are having to survive by online at the moment of lockdown and this is a really unique technique to also heighten this. If you watch the behind the scenes video you can see how this was filmed.

There are few filming and graphic effects throughout the video that really heighten the fact that this video was filmed at home and it is super effective and relates to anyone that watches the video. There is one near the top where the camera switches from a normal to a handhled one that Dominic picks up from the side of him to connote he is on video chat – such a simple technique that is super effective.

Throughout the video there are graphics that heighten the fact that it is relevant to the world of the lockdown. Pop ups which look like the interface for something like Skype, Zoom or video calls pops up with different members of the band, friends and family. It is a simple effect but really hits home of where we are as a world during this time.

The song as a whole has a real sort of eighties feel to it and this is reflected in the style of editing in the music video that brings this to life. It is very psychedelic in its effects that have been used in the edit such as glitches, a sort of colour smudge when Dominic moves about and really bright colours a really interesting video.