Shot Count Task - Bradley Hope

1.) Count how many shots/cuts are used in the whole video?
171 shots/cuts are used in the video Starlight by Muse.

2.) What are the main shots used in the video?

Mid body shots of the lead singer
Mid shots of the bassist
Long high angle shots of the container/oil ship
Helicopter/Birds eye view of the ship – swooping effect.

3.) Are there any creative editing techniques used in the video?

Right at the start of the video we see a shot of the ships radar system. The editor has edited this specific shot in such a way that it seems that the camera is being shaken and that the camera is losing focus and signal on the picture that is, in this case the radar system. We see this at 0.04 and 0.08 and also at 0.20 in the video. At 0.44 we see the that the editor has slowed down the shot of the drummer striking his symbol. This is both a close up shot of the symbol but also a shot that allows us to see the drummer in the background. The mixture of this specific shot and the fact that the editor has slowed down this scene allows the audience to see the symbol vibrate and move as the drummer strikes it. At around 0.56 uses fast transitions to transfer through around 4-5 different shots in under 2 seconds. We also see this again later in the video when there is a scene in which there is a variety of shots of the ships engine room and the ships engine. However, in this part of the video they get through around 15-20 shots in under 5 seconds thanks to this clever editing technique. There is also a part in the video at 3.40 where thanks again to fast transactions we get the impression that the ship is firing off a lot of flares when in fact it is only firing off one. We get this impression because of the fast transactions and the different/variety of camera angles.

4.)

Genre

The band itself has a alternative/space rock genre about them. We see in most of muse’s music videos that they are shot with a futuristic feel to them and a rather space age theme.The actual video is shot on an oil tanker. Moving away from Muse's normal theme of Sci-Fi. However it doesnt move away from the feel of the video. In most of Muse's videos they have a very weird feeling to them. Almost out of this world and very unnatural. We see this in this video as they practically a band playing on a ship in the middle of the sea. That itself is very.... weird.