Redundancy and Entropy

Redundancy in a music video is that which is predictable or conventional. Entropy is the opposite of this, something unpredictable or unconventional.

Florence and the Machine - Spectrum:

Redundancy:

• Dance routines: There are choreographed dance routines that contain moves which fit with the beat of the music.  The ballerina costumes worn by some are these dancers are accurate to how you would expect them to look for professional ballet dancers. 

• Portrayal of the artist: The artist is being portrayed in an elaborate way due to the design of her clothes and the large use of makeup, which is in fitting with her brand identity and the alternative genre of her music.  There is also close up shots of her face to promote her.

• Link from lyrics to visuals: The lyrics do have a relation to the visuals.  The song is all about light and colour which is clearly being expressed throughout the video.  There are also certain lines of the song that are matched to particular colours as shown below.

When we first came here, we were cold and we were clear

This line is reflected in the image by the use of cold colours such as blue and reflective or clear decorations.

Entropy:

• Mise-en-scene: The overall image being portrayed is very wacky and although it contains things we recognise, such as Egyptians and Big Ben, it is combining them in a very unexpected way.  It almost appears more like a theatre production with sets than a music video.

• Performance:  We don't not see any of the band or microphone style performance you would often see in a music video.

• Genre: The genre of the music video is indie ar alternative.  Usually in these types of videos we have more of a narrative that fits the lyrics, whereas her video is more like a stage performance in a theatre.  This links with the idea of synergy and how music videos often share characteristics with other media types.