Blood Orange- "Charcoal Baby" (2018) : Music video analysis

 Devonté Hynes (born David Joseph Michael Hyne December 23, 1985), also known as Blood Orange and formerly Lightspeed Champion, is a solo English singer, songwriter, record producer and director. 

This music video was directed by Crack Stevens and produced by Nuuksio Films. Edited in Final Cut

The song apparently falls into the alternative and indie genre/ neo soul. Music videos from this genre usually tend to be concept style videos making it hard to identify conventions however they usually have this vibrant, s curve colour correction with a lot of the videos being shot on vhs or film. Here are some similar examples;

One noticeable thing about all of these videos is how they all feature close-ups and extreme close-ups, always focussing on the eyes. This allows the director to convey a certain emotion judging by the artists facial expressions, adding to the overall mood of the song. In the Blood Orange video i counted a total of 26 extreme close-ups (not including many more close-ups.)

Throughout the entire music video the director uses a split screen effect. These split screen shots are usually matching composition wise and sometimes content wise but the director often contrasts the content on either side of the split(Intercut).This can help emphasise the emotion and feeling of the song especially when close-ups are used.

The composition of the shots usually amplifies the song and its lyrics. Typically in this video we see the shots being framed wider when there is a happier, higher energy feel to the song.Whereas when there is a more solemn feel to the song the shots tend to be framed more close-up to reflect the mood. The majority of shots in the music video are shot from eye level to allow us to form personal connections with the people in the video. However some shots are shot from a high angle in regard to children and some are shot from a low angle to show location.

The director likes to use jump-cuts, he does this not only to show the passing of time but also to cut on beat in order to keep a good flow and maintain the continuity. One example of this is seen inthe birds eye view of the food near the start. As the pace slows at the end of the song and it begins to fade the director stops using jump-cuts and just shows one continuous shot. Apart from the artist's performance shot I only noticed a few other cutaway shots which usually revolved around certain characters such as the children and the old woman.

We are directly addressed by the artist at times in the video when he's performing and looking into the camera. The artist does have a fairly significant music video style usually created by the colour grading, use of slow motion and strong conceptual writing. Heres another video from Blood orange.

There are no special effects in the 'Charcoal baby' music video besides the constant split screen but I can't see how special effects would've added to this concept.

This video is set on two different days in a 'Family restoration centre' (scouted by Andrew Gillman) . The concept of this video really focuses on family and socialisation, you can see a whole range of emotions from sad to ecstatic, accurate to what will happen in a place like this. The artist himself clearly feels a connection to the place and the people in it, so he probably wanted the world to see it. We see how confident he feels around these people towards the end when they are all dancing and he joins in.

En scene we have seen a focus on people, food and the setting. Also there is a motorbike shown on both sides of the split screen at one point as well as some very cool and vibrant outfits that reflect the personalities of the people.

Compositionally both sides of the split screen are similar, usually with central compositions. To add to this continuity and overall theme both sides also match n terms of movements, angles and framing. The filmmaker has used low angles frequently to make the subjects seem powerful and confident, supported by their surroundings, props and outfits. When the director wants us to form more emotional connections with the subjects the angle switches to eye-level (or high angle in the case of children.) The eye-level angles are usually accompanied by tighter framing, these close-up shots allow us to see smaller details on the subjects such as freckles, allowing for a more vulnerable and personal connection. We see a few angular anomalies when other aspects of the location are shown such as the birds-eye view showing food or the floor-level angle when near the end when chairs are packed up. The movements in this video are all very smooth and professional, created by the use of a gimbal and/or slider rig. This allows the camera to move smoothly between a scene when following a subject and helps differentiate framing - In addition it adds continuity and means that transitions between shots are seamless and don't disturb the viewer.