'Foals - Miami' Analysis (Directed by Dave Ma)

I have chosen to do a minute long analysis of the video for the Foals song Miami which is directed by my artistic influence, Dave Ma. Above is the embedded version of the official video taken from Youtube. 

Shot 1

This shot shows a Medium Shot of a man 'working out' in the mirror against a bright red brick wall. The man is also wearing a vividly yellow shirt, contrasting with the bright red bricks. The bright, bold colours are seen throughout the video to highlight the brightness and the beach related themes heard throughout 'Miami'.

In term of sound, we can hear the inhale/exhale of the man working out as well as faintly hearing the sound of the beat box playing a previous Foals hit from the debut album 'Antidotes' called Olympic Airways. 

This shot lasts for 14 seconds before we see a simple cut to the next shot. 

Shot 2

The transition shows continuity, as the man moves from his seated position and the next shot to a pan and tilt diagonally from a slight low angle shot to level with the man crouching to change the tape on the beatbox. Again, in terms of mise-en-scene, we see the vivid colour in this shot. 

The sound of Olympic Airways can still be heard coming from the beatbox before the man changes the tape. 

The shot lasts 13 seconds before we again see a cut to the close up of the tape.

Shot 3

The transition again is an example of continuity editing, showing coherency from the previous shot. This shot is a simple close up of the blue tape in to the beatbox with the title 'Total Life Forever' - the title of the new album of which Miami is a single from. The blue colour of the tape is an example of a motif which is seen throughout the 'Total Life Forever' franchise, including other videos from Dave Ma, such as the video for Spanish Sahara. 

The natural sound of the tape put into the beatbox and the clicking of the buttons can be heard from this shot.

This shot lasts for 3 seconds before cutting to this shot:

Shot 4

This shot only lasts for about 0.5 seconds and shows a close up of the man withdrawing his hand from the frame as the initial song 'Miami' in introduced and the montage editing begins. This shot is used purely for continuity purposes. 

Shot 5

This shot is again is introduced by a simple cut and is shot by a still camera, presumably with a tripod. This shot is the first shot we see of the introduced montage of a series of shots from which we see a group muscular males and females doing various exercises. this shot uses the depth of field concept, where the field of focus is shallow. 

This shot is an unusual variation of a mid shot, excluding this persons face from the frame. The effect of this concentrates the audiences focus onto the activity rather than the facial characteristics of the person in the frame, in this case it is the action of the curls of the dumbbells and in the background of the frame, a female doing lunges exercises.

This shot is coupled with the intro to the song, with a thumping drum which matches the effect held within this shot. As we hear the intial kick of the bass drum, the shot is slowed from real time speed to slow motion. The effect of this again concentrates the audience's attention upon the activity when it is slow paced. 

This shot lasts for about 1.5/2 seconds before cutting. The cut to the next shot follows the kick of the bass drum, giving the video and the song a synchronisation.

Shot 6 

This shot follows in the montage editing style, again showing an exercise with dumbbells. This shot is a still shot, again presumably with use of a tripod and is a medium close up. This shot, unlike the previous shot, shows the face of the person within the shot. I believe this is to show that this person in this specific shot is female, showing that not only males have an obsession with gym and physical perfection, to which is one of the themes of this video by Dave Ma. 
This shot again synchronises with the song, with the bass drum changing the tempo within this shot to have the effect of concentration on the exercise, rather than the individual in the shot, yet the focus on the face of the individual is more significant in this shot, as explained above. 
The duration of this shot is aproximately 0.5-1 second

Shot 7

This shot is probably the shortest of the montage sequence. A close up shot with a shallow focus and again using the slow motion technique, showing the movement of a rising dumbbell. The reason for others in the background is due to showing the collectivism and group solidarity of these individuals who enjoy to perfect the appearance of their physique, this video showing the extreme.

The shot appears for a split second before continuing and cutting to another short shot.

Shot 8

This shot is a close up of the chest of a muscular male tensing his chest. The close up is used numerous times throughout this video to emphasise certain small details for the audience, and again this relates to the theme of extreme physical definition.

Again, not showing the face of this individual can focus upon more specific details, such as his upper body here. This is part of Dave Ma's directing technique which is alike a documented style, by focusing on specific details. Other videos by Ma follow the similar technique of close up shots varied with long shots of scenic views or locations.

This shot is another very short shot, lasting between 1 and 2 seconds as part of the montage.

Shot 9

This shot is a medium close up of another muscular male's upper body as he tenses. This is the  same man from the first shot of the video, which can be identified by the same yellow vest and sweat band.

The transition of this shot to the next synchronises with the introduction of the guitar riff that we hear. This is one of the conventions of Dave Ma's music videos, that his artistic visuals will always harmonise with the music. This shot lasts approximately a second before the cut to the next shot is made. 

Shot 10

Shot 10 is a repeat of 'Shot 5'. For Dave Ma this is an unusual concept, as he tends to have his videos with coherency and linear as opposed to repetition. However, I believe that the reason for this shot repeated in the video of Miami is due to its significance of the introduction to a new instrument within the song:

• Shot 5 - the introduction to the drums and rhythm of the song
• Shot 10 - the introduction to the main guitar riff of the song

Shot 11

This shot is another that uses a previously seen actor, this time from 'Shot 7'. This shot has the same set up, a close up in slow motion using a shallow focus, however, this is of the opposite arm curling the dumbbell. 

With the pairing technique used by Ma, we get a sense of familiarity and empathy with the actors that are shown multiple times, for example this actor shown in 'Shot 7' also as well as the actor from the first shots and 'Shot 9'

Similarly to 'Shot 7', this shot only lasts a split second (2 notes of the main guitar riff) before cutting to the next shot