Thursday 13 October 2016

Pastiche in Music Videos

Pastiche: openly imitating past artist's works, often with satirical intent.

Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen


Concluding commentary: imitating theatre styled themes as well as referencing several artists, the music video also complies live audience performances and incorporates it into the music video. It humorously refers to the various styles of dance and theatre known as Scaramouch and the fandango. Meanwhile, Galileo Galilei (Italian mathematician) is referenced as well as the character Figaro from The Barber of Seville. In addition, the demon Beelzebub is named and referenced as a character in the song, including the phrase Basamla (translated from Islam as, "In the named of God"). The combination of works of fiction, as well as real life characters such as Galilei during the "Opera" part of the song, make for a imitating picture. “Figaro” is probably an allusion to Mozart’s classic opera The Marriage Of Figaro. “Bohemian Rhapsody” has an intense, operatic style, especially in this middle section. 

Dare To Be Stupid - "Weird Al" Yankovic 


Concluding commentary: a musical pastiche of the band Devo. In an interview on VH1's Behind the Music, Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh stated in reaction to the song that: "I was in shock. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. He sort of re-sculpted that song into something else and... I hate him for it, basically." Yankovic and his band wear the yellow radiation suits from Devo's cover of The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" video throughout. Many of the performance segments of the video are modeled on the "Satisfaction" music video, including the man having a fit on a wallpapered wall and floor. This is a parody of dancer Craig Allen Rothwell, nicknamed "Spazz Attack," who was featured in Devo's video with his signature flip onto his back.

No comments:

Post a Comment