Video Analysis

Don Diablo & Example – Hooligans

This music video is both performance & narrative, but it is mainly performance throughout. A brief introduction of about 30 seconds sets up the story for the music video, where a rude boy is queuing outside a club & pushes to the front & then gets chucked in by the bouncers. This then continues to the club where the artists are performing. According to Andrew Goodwin’s points in ‘Dancing in the distraction factory’, this music video has a relationship between the lyrics & the visuals. For example when Example sings ‘loose your Rolex rip your t-shirt’ he pulls at his t-shirt which directly relates to what he is singing. He also sings ‘where’s all the hooligans’ as all the people in the club are jumping around in the background which would suggest he is referring to the ravers at the club as hooligans as they are going crazy & all look wild & rowdy. The lyrics of the song are about people going out raving & so the video is of people at a rave which therefore directly links to the lyrics.

The music also relates to the visuals because the edits are very fast & snappy like the music is which makes it interesting to watch. The editors have also managed to make perfect cuts with the beat & the ravers are also jumping to the beat so it looks realistic. Also, in the background of the music there is a loud horn often being played during the song. At about 2:32 minutes in we see a boy pressing the air horn which therefore relates the visual to the music.

These horns are often associated with the police & craziness & as the song is about hooligans is fits in well. Also, as the music turns to just the horns, you see clips of girls holding their bleeding ears which shows how loud the music is.

All these things amplify the relationship between the music & visuals & make the music video more exciting & interesting to watch.

Andrew Goodwin’s fourth point in ‘Dancing in the distraction factory’ states that the record labels demand lots of close ups of the artists in their music videos. This music video follows this point as there are over 55 close up shots of Example & Don Diablo throughout. The camera often does straight cuts from the artists to the crowd as well as to other shots. Example & Don Diablo come across as wild ravers with a lot of energy & have a lot of fun performing & partying. This ties in well with the type of music they make. These are also sometimes seen as stereotypical characteristics of young people now days.