About 'The Fighter' Gym Class Heroes

Cinematography

There are two main focuses of this video, one is on the band and one is on the gymnast whilst he is training. The shots of the band are often very similar. A lot of close ups are used especially on the lead singer and the pianist as they carry the song. We also see a few shots of the guitarists and the drummer on their own but they're often mid/long shots so we can see their instruments. There are a lot of long shots used on the band as a whole too so we can see the layout and who is doing what so the whole focus isn't on the lead singer all of the time. During these shots the rest of the band are often out of focus in the background though so we still know who is leading the band.
Various shots are used on the gymnast as he's doing different things in each shot and certain shots wouldn't be suitable. Close ups are used so we can see his emotion as he is either training or afterwards. If the gymnast is on gym equipment, more often than not long shots are used so we can see what is happening.
I liked the way the camera was used in this video as it almost became a part of it. For example in the last shot on page 6 the shot is on an angle. This is because the camera has been placed on the mat that the gymnast jumps onto and it therefore moves with it. Steadicam is used a lot in this film especially when we see the gymnast which makes it seem a little bit more real and not as staged.

The camera does pan around a lot in this video especially when the pianist is involved. Zoom is also used during long shots to get closer to the band and when Travie is stood in the locker room. A tilt is used when the gymnast is doing pull ups off  a high bar to track him back up to the top. As the movement of the person in the shot changes, the camera does too.

 

Editing

 

A lot of the transitions used in this video are just straight cuts from one shot to the next. There are a few examples of jump cuts were the shot is continued with a slight change in what the camera was doing. I found these very effective and they make the video run smoother.

In the shots of the band performing in the gym, I noticed that Travie McCoy's headphones kept changing position almost like they had shot the footage a few times and hadn't checked where his headphones were positioned. I think this is the only thing that changes which makes me think it wasn't intentional but it continues throughout the whole video so I'm not one hundred percent sure. It could be an error of continuity.

In some of the shots of the gymnast there is a grey scale tint. It doesn't occur all the time as there are a lot of colour shots too and I haven't worked out if there was a routine as to when they've used the grey scale. It seems quite random to me although I'm sure that is not the case.

Montage editing is used throughout this video and so is text that is layered onto of the film. In this video it told us the location of the gymnast's training as he prepared for the Olympics.

 

Mise-en-scene

 

The band don't leave the location of the main gym although Travie and the pianist change location without their mics and the piano. Travie relocates to gym locker rooms and here he does some vocals and dances around a little bit more pretending he is boxing. The pianist moves around later on in the video.

Everybody in this video has their own individual style. Travie is wearing what he is known to wear in the media. The gymnast wears his gymnastic kit throughout most of the video or training kit when he isn't in the gym. This would be common sense to recreate depending on the roles of who I have in my video.

When the band are in the gym there is often a streak of light shining through from the top window of the gym hall. This adds to the instrument players been out of focus in the background but creates enough light for us to see the band as there aren't any other lights on in the room that we can see on screen.

In the locations we see the gymnast training properly there is a lot of gymnastic equipment in the shots like mats, high rings, bars etc. This makes the video very realistic and clever. I also like the use of the park in this video as the gymnast is training somewhere accessible to everybody and this is a point I can consider whilst I'm deciding on locations to shoot my own video. The Olympic rings are often in the background of some shots as the gymnast specified at the beginning of the video that he was in Olympic training.

 

Sound

 

We are lead to believe that the band are all playing the music that we're hearing and that therefore makes it diegetic. This is a narrative video because the song is telling us about a 'Fighter' and that fighter in the video is the gymnast. At the beginning of the video before the music begins we hear a voice over from the gymnast introducing himself to us and this allows us to understand the rest of the video (although it would also be obvious who he was without this too).