Grandaddy Music Video Analysis

The band I have chosen to study is Grandaddy since they are a similar genre to Dinosaur Pile-Up. Formed in 1992 in California, you could classify there genre of music as Indie Grunge.

From there first studio album release, under the western freeway, Grandaddy’s videos for there singles have had certain consistent characteristics which identify the band from others. Firstly there are the band members, specifically the front man. In all there videos, starting from Crystal Lake, the front man has worn a baseball hat which has either Grandaddy written on it or other words. This stays consistent through out possibly used as a trademark or so we can identify him easier. Another feature is there space-like, psychedelic theme which carries on throughout the bands videos. Using toys (now it’s on), house hold objects (El Caminos in the west) and children (El Camino and I’m on standby).  A main feature is blue sky in the videos. The weather in all stays very consistent through all there videos. These are some of the basic similarities for all the videos.

Over time Grandaddy’s image has stayed the same. Checked shirts with a grungy feel to there whole set up, there self image doesn’t change at all from there early videos. The only possible thing which is different is the video budget meaning more can be spent on effects and computer additions but overall the actual band image has stayed the same.

In majority of Grandaddy’s videos the mise-en-scene stays relatively consistent. There clothing stays similar with there content use of hats, checked shirts and ripped jeans, which supports there music genre style as grunge and throughout there videos these features stay the same.

Camera work on Grandaddy’s videos however varies. In there earlier videos (Crystal Lake, now it’s on) the techniques used on the camera are generally simple with long shots and the narrative mainly based on the bands performance. But for there later albums, the videos become more in-depth. On ‘el Caminos in the west’ not only does the video have a narrative and tells a story but also the camera uses different filming techniques to add to the overall video. It uses fish eye, close up shots for emotion, special effects i.e. green screen etc.
These additional changes helps the viewer relate the videos to other media texts. The story’s Grandaddy use mainly parody real sitcoms/ reality shows on American television. The shows the copy are A-team, Wife swap and big brother. 

Antonio Panzera