Written by: Will Kennard, Saul Milton & Takura Tendayi.
Directed by: Dave Baum
Produced By: Alice Ceresole
Media Representations
The artist Takura is being represented in the music video 'No Problem' as he is the only person shown throughout the whole video, Chase And Status are also represented though as the song is in their name. Many close-up shots are used of Takura specifically on the parts where he is singing the lyrics and then long shots of him when he's dancing to the beat of the song, as this is happening a transition is used and lights flash to the beat to make it seem as if Takura is moving faster than he actually is. I think the representations of the music video are fair and accurate to the genre and artist, it's difficult and almost not possible to determine the characteristics of the artist as there is no clear narrative, the video also has no clear connection with the lyrics either.
Media Languages and Forms
Due to the costume of Takura it could be a possibility that the video is tribe related, therefore connotating the culture and dancing of a tribe member. There are several specific non-verbal structures of meaning in this music video, mainly the artists facial expressions, after the lyrics 'It's no problem for me, but it's a problem for you' the artist is seen laughing in slow motion, whilst light flash to the beat of the song, this laugh almost looks quite 'evil' connotating the lyrics to come across as sarcasm. Also every time the word 'you' is said in the song, Takura's face dominates the screen with a close-up whilst he says it, this is personally directing the audience, whilst entertaining. The setting of the video is continuously in one place, just a dark setting, which is obviously just a black back drop. I would say the significance of the setting is to come across as quite dark, scary and mysterious, but yet still fun and entertaining and i think the significant concepts are definitely met, specifically being scary as it still manages to be entertaining at the same time. I think the visual techniques used in the music video such as the transitions are a huge part of the video, without these it would seem very boring.
Narrative
The music video has not literal narrative. The whole thing consists of a Takura singing the lyrics in a close-up shot and dancing. The only narrative of some sort is that there are relations to the tribes in the way the artists dances and his accent when singing. When it comes to the narrative theory, this particular music video doesnt really relate to anything specific. A narrative would be easy to distinguish if the lyrics related to the video, however they dont.
Genre
The associated genres of Chase And Status are Drum and Bass, Breakbeat, Grime, Hip Hop, Dubstep and liquid funk. Because there is no narrative to the music video, it's hard to determine whether there is actually any iconographic features, however due to the long hair, him holding a skull and the bongo drums played at the beginning of the song, it's a possibility that the influence of the video is a tribe. The theme of the video also follows this concept specifically when he's dancing in a tribal sort of way. I think if you're already a fan of Chase And Status or the genre of the music then generic expectations are definitely fulfilled. Dance music videos hardly ever have narratives, but are generally just interesting to watch, 'weird' would be a suitable word to describe these videos, it's never really clear on what exactly the purpose of the video is, and therefore the video just entertains. The music video also comes across as quite scary, Takura's costume and face paint is bright white, making him look like a skeleton against the black background of the setting.
Media Institutions
Chase And Status are signed to/involved with several labels such as Ram, Mercury, Vertigo and Roc Nation. Ram just being a genre and Drum and Bass, Mercury having various genre's, Vertigo being rock and Roc Nation also has various genre's involved within it. After researching the artists and the labels I found out that the song No Problem which was featured on the album 'No More Idols' was released by the labels Mercury and Vertigo. Because Takura, who is the artist actually singing on the song, isn’t signed to or involved with any of the labels that Chase And Status are involved with, it's hard to determine how much involvement the labels had with the music video. The conventions of the video might of only been meant to represent Takura.
Media Audiences
The general audience for the music video are people that are already fans of Chase And Status or fans of Takura, as their songs always have other artists featured with them to sing because Chase And Status are just a music production duo. Another main audience would also be anyone who enjoys listening to the specified genre of their music. The music would be generally aimed at 18-30 year olds as it'd dance music which is more likely to only be played in places such as night clubs and not radio played. The audience of this type of music, or specifically Chase And Status isn’t exactly widespread, however in recent years dance/Dubstep music has definitely become a lot more popular. I think the video fits the expectations of the media audience as this generation are very interested in things without narrative, the video is strange and fun which I think would attract many people.
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