Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai and Im On A Boat

Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai contains many signifiers such as a crow, beetle and blood within his music video, which gives the video quite a dark connotation, and of course, insanity.

To begin with, the audience instantly notice a clinical mise-en-scene, and the bleak white colour connotes a feeling of emptiness. The beginning mid-shot of the setting focuses on Jamiroquai's entrance, which is him sliding down the symmetrical room and landing in front of the camera. Throughout the beginning of the music video, the camera is held very steady throughout the beginning scenes, enabling the audience to focus on Jamiroquai's dancing, as the editing of the video remains quite slow paced, as the camera doesn't switch angles that much. For example, the steady pace movement of the camera matches the symmetrical feel to the video, and is in fact used as a hooking technique due to the fact the audience are completely involved in Jamiroquai's dancing.

Another hooking technique which is used to engage the audience is the moving furniture, which of course connotes insanity. The moving furniture also connotes a sense of mystery within the music video, as the audience can associate the moving furniture with the supernatural. This technique is followed by the camera panning upwards into a high angle of a crow flying above, which furthermore connotes insanity and the supernatural, and the colour black of the crow and beetle contrasts against the clinical white of the setting, making them stand out more. After the camera pans down and focuses on the beetle crawling beneath, it pans up again into a mid shot of a group of white dances, allowing the audience to fully engage into the chorus of the song. As the chorus is playing, you can still notice the black beetle crawling down the wall, which connotes darkness upon the video, despite the sing itself being quite up beat. However, the clinical setting matches the lyrics, as Jamiroquai mentions the future, and the clinical white setting can itself be interpreted as futuristic.

There's one shot where Jamiroquai slides to the camera, and despite the camera staying steady, it turns into a extreme close up of his face, allowing the audience to see his facial expression. However, toward the end of the music video, the camera pans down and the audience see blood appear on the floor, which connotes darkness, and again the red contrasts strongly against the white setting. Therefore, this shows that music video defiantly connotes insanity, and furthermore, connotes a sense of darkness.

Im On A Boat

I'm On A Boat is a music video, which is clearly mocking rap artists, from the over use of swear words and exaggerated mise en scene of the boat.

The music video begins with a mid shot of a group of guys eating breakfast in a basic mise en scene of a kitchen. The beginning shot is effective in the way that at this point there is no music playing, therefore the audience are purely just focusing on the men's conversation - which it's made clear that there acting very immature. The shot then transitions into a panning long shot of a mise en scene of a boat in the sea, and then into a mid shot of the men standing on the boat. The colour at this point in preliminarily blue and white, connoting the sea, and quite an open air feel. The editing is quite fast paced, and uses a variety of shots, ranging from panning mid shots, and close ups of the guys rapping. It becomes very apparent to the audience that these are clearly three men mocking rappers, and you can tell this from there over the top use of dress code and "bling."The use of the low angle shot used makes the men seem powerful and loud, furthermore portraying certain aspects that a typical R&B video has.

The shots being used aren't held as steady shots, instead the camera is shaky, and the purpose of these shots gives a motion of waves in a sea, matching the mise en scene of a boat. The camera continues to stay "shaky" throughout, and becomes more exaggerated when the mise en scene changes to the men rapping from inside the boat. The lighting is very effective, as it shines through window, giving the effect of actually blinding the audience, resulting in the audience engaging more in the song.

The main hooking techniques of this music video is the way that the men act and rap within the video, and are clearly acting immature in the way that they are dancing. Their costumes are also a hooking technique as it engages the audience in the genre of music, for example the suits and hats. Overall, this video is clearly amusing to the audience and clever in the way that it mocks R&B rap artists.