Pentatonix holds a special place in my heart as they were the first band that I was a fan of. Even at a young
Age I had heard of other bands before but they were the first group that I became truly obsessed with
I learned the names of each member. I actively recommended their music to other people and they
Single-handedly made me think that acapella was the coolest skill in existence
And pentatonix was and continues to be one of my favorite producers of music. I still listen to all their albums watch the videos
They post on the channel and consume the music that individual members have made on their own time
Pentatonix is amazing
Now that we have established this I would like to offer criticism to one specific aspect of the content that they create
music videos now
Obviously the members of pentatonix
Are not the people literally directing the camera crew nor are they the ones editing the videos?
They certainly have a lot of creative input when it comes to how these videos are made as they should
based on the behind the scenes videos
It seems like the band members are the ones who come up with at least the general idea of what the music video
Will look like but I need you to know that none of the points
I'll be making are directed towards any individual member since it's almost certain that no
One person is responsible for what i'm going to be critiquing. This video is not about placing blame. It's about making observations
Now then what do I mean when I say that pentatonix music videos have gone downhill?
Well, first of all
We should establish what the purpose of a music video is other than to rack up millions of views on youtube
In my opinion a good music video is one which enhances the experience of listening to the song through its visual accompaniment
Allow me to use an example to elaborate pentatonix's cover of starships by nicki. Minaj. Not only does this video feature plenty of
Well-choreographed dancing a variety of costumes and sets and strong and fitting editing
But it tells a story it creates a narrative for the viewer to follow along with
It may be kinda corny and not very complex
But if you were to tab away from the video at any point
You'd be left with the question. What happened next?
It starts off by having everyone seemingly wake up looking all messy like and then shows them putting themselves together fixing their hair teeth
They're obviously preparing for something which prompts the question. What are they preparing for?
Well soon after we learned that they are astronauts or aspiring astronauts or something along those lines
Then it is revealed that the asna space program which they work for has been shut down forever preventing them from going to space
This establishes a conflict for the group to overcome leading the audience to wonder how will pentatonix get to space?
And this question will linger in the viewer's head as we watch the group come up with a plan
Launch into a sort of montage sequence containing a clip of kirsty emitting the most perfect energy imaginable
And a scene of the group presenting their invention to an audience that laughs at them
Then we get the payoff of the group powering up the machine it works and they celebrate now
like I said, this is not a very deep or
Complicated story but for being a music video it hits the nail on the head
It holds your attention and remains entertaining the entire way through and it was not uncommon for old
pentatonix music videos to incorporate a story of some kind into the visuals even if starships is the most overt example
Papoute has the band members play as dolls in a little boy's toy box who entertain the kid but frees whenever the dad is around
Rather b sees each of the members exploring a big city crossing paths and eventually meeting up with each other coldest winter is a tragic
snowmance
Aha is literally a scary story that the band members are telling their friends you get the idea
And the more recent music videos just kinda lack these elements, of course
They are not entirely absent but simply far more rare the only music videos which have added some type of story to the experience
In the past three years have been god only knows and debatably perfect
Of course adding a narrative of some kind unique to the visuals is not the only way that a music video can enhance the song
It's being played over there is also the factor of simply how visually stimulating the video is to watch
This is why I often hold animated music videos in such high regard the expressiveness and variety possible in animation is nearly limitless
which makes them by far the most fun to simply look at whether or not they have a narrative attached to them and
of course old school pentatonix seemed almost
Predisposed to doing this and one of the biggest reasons that was the case was because of how often they traveled to real
Locations to shoot the video rather than recording on a small set this gave them access to far more variety in what they could show
Look at radioactive's music video. For example, the group literally looks like they are in a
post-apocalyptic wasteland
there's broken down buildings cars and rubble everywhere this gave them enough room to have one individual set for each member on their own and
One for the whole group together and the fact that it's a real location meant that they had way more depth to work with
Just look at this shot where the camera uses the building remnants to frame
kevin
Or in this shot where they zoom out and focus the camera on the building behind mitch leaving him
Out of focus thus placing more emphasis on his environment or just the fact that there are so many unique backgrounds
mountains deserts broken down buildings washed out sky
It all serves to immerse the viewer
in the scene by convincing you that this is a real environment that the band members are performing in which it is and immersion is
Inherently engaging another great example is where are you now?
which actually may have been filmed in a studio, but I can't say for sure again because of the variety of different set pieces and
Attention to detail in creating this warehouse looking area
And the fact that some of the band members can even be seen walking throughout the warehouse from one room to another only
Amplifies this by connecting these sets in the viewer's mind
the visuals also complement the audio especially well in this case because this is the exact type of location which would create the type of
Echo that can be heard in the vocals. All of this is very immersive. Wouldn't you say now?
Let's look at for example the sound of silence which keeps the warehouse aesthetic but ditches everything. I just praised the where you now
Video for we get one location the band members are just standing in a line in that one location
there's virtually no detail or
personality conveyed by the location and the entire video is just the camera desperately trying to find new angles to look at the band from
This is a problem that has plagued videos
Like can you feel the love tonight waving through a window deck the halls come along and havana?
And you don't even need multiple real locations just one location can be far
More effective than a set because you don't have to worry about maintaining the fourth wall
Mary, did you know is the perfect example of this pentatonix is just standing still in a sort of cave area
But because it's a real location the crew just has so many more options for where they can put the camera
Outside the cave inside the cave inside the cave looking outside the cave facing the band head on being inside a circle
Created by the band members, etc
Even in the early days whenever they did a one-set performance where they didn't have the freedom that a real location offers
It felt like they were doing more with the choreography and cinematography to make the video as engaging as possible
Despite the barren sets for example in royals
They placed kirsty scott and avi behind mitch and slowly have each of them walk out from behind him as they get
Introduced into the song this combined with the fact that the video stays on
up close shots of everyone's face for the most part gives the visuals and the song a stronger sense of progression and makes the wide
Shots where you can see everyone all at once a lot more impactful
then at the end of the video
they switch everyone's outfits from the classy shiny golden black suits and dresses to a more casual attire, which not only
Re-grabs the audience's attention right before the song ends but enhances the meaning of the song by applying it to pentatonix suddenly
it's not just a piece of music that they're doing a cover of but a message that they
Identify with there's also somebody that I used to know which is not the greatest music video
It's just literally a brick wall background and the band members are standing in a line
but they do a decent job at offsetting this by having everyone be as expressive with their bodies as they
reasonably could be in such a small place pair that with a
Well-timed camera zoom out and a slight shake to the screen and you get moments in the song like this
Which have way more impact than moments in more recent videos like this
In newer videos everyone just seems so much more stationary five plus years ago
It was much more common for the band members to be moving around whether it was choreographed or not
Even if they were on a set and didn't have a real location to interact with
You see this in music videos like can't hold us cruising for a bruising and cheerleader
now at this point you've probably noticed that i've been avoiding discussing a particular type of music video that pentatonix is kinda known for
That being the split screens and the thing about the split screens
Is that whether or not they enhance the experience of a particular song rides largely on the editing because it removes variables which are present
In normal music videos this is because these types of videos inherently only show the faces and sometimes upper bodies of the band
So interesting choreography isn't an option
The whole point of these videos means that each member has to have a static camera angle the whole time and it's virtually
impossible to create a set to immerse the audience in
As a result of all this it's all a matter of making up for those losses in the editing department making it as visually interesting
as possible
Yes, you can give each band member an interesting outfit and makeup
But you're gonna need more than that to keep an audience visually engaged for minutes on end
and the earlier split screen videos generally did this very
Successfully and by that I mean daft punk and love again because they really didn't make that many of these
in both not only are the cuts timed perfectly but extra effects are commonly thrown on top of the video and
Lighting is often played with changing the entire aesthetic which keeps audiences on their toes
on the other hand while the well-timed cuts and strong arrangement of each member on screen has remained consistent the more
Recent split screen videos don't succeed as much at capturing a unique aesthetic for each song
This is due largely in part to the less fantastical costume design lack of interesting uses of lighting and the bland static backgrounds
Attention and your mean one. Mr
Grinch both just use flat colors as the backgrounds and everyone is in generic studio lighting the entire time
Which is not as interesting as the nearly constantly shifting color palette and creative lighting usages in love again and aft punk
Though I will say that winter wonderland don't worry be happy is definitely more similar to the modern split screen videos
while writing this script I was continuously going back to each of the videos i've talked about to make
Observations and take notes. And while I was watching the behind the scenes video for havana, I noticed something that had flown over my head
the first time through
So we just wanted a beautiful setting
Where we're just lounging and chilling and singing the song and I think it really matches the vibe of the song
this quote struck a chord with me because it felt like a confirmation that i'm not crazy that the changes i've noticed do
Exist and that I shouldn't feel bad for pointing out my problems with them nor
Offering my opinion for what direction. I think this band should take their music videos in the future
I don't want pentatonix to create music videos that match the music
I want them to create music videos that enhance the music
Okay throughout the course of writing this video i've realized that I may have come across as though I dislike the newer music videos
But that is simply not the case. I think the newer videos are good and often great
I love the music videos for perfect and their most recent video happy now was genuinely fantastic
It's just that in my opinion on average pentatonix music videos used to be even better and in complete honesty
They very well might be back on an upward swing
the last two quarantine music videos break my heart and dreams were the best split screen videos since love again if you ask me and
Like I just said happy now is genuinely fantastic great editing multiple unique sets engaging use of lighting and cinematography
And implementation of color which was absolutely genius before any of the visual elements have time to get old on you
They throw in some color which immediately makes it jump to life and gives the audience more information about the scene
Remember how I talked about starships keeping the audience engaged by setting up questions within the video?
Well happy now has the question of what would that look like in color for the majority of the video?
So yes
Pentatonix is still more than capable of making amazing music videos
And I also don't want to seem like I think that making a really great music video is easy in any way
Recording at a real location is way more challenging than in a studio
Choreographing dance moves takes a lot of time and effort the editing of many old pentatonix videos must have been a pain in the ass
And this is coming from someone who has done complicated edits like that before and in complete honesty
It's probably not even worth the effort in the long run. The appeal of pentatonix is not the video
It is the music the most popular pentatonix music videos are entirely dependent on how popular the song that they are actually singing is
And even beyond this pentatonix is not obliged to knock it out of the park every time with these videos
And I don't feel entitled to that. I
simply wanted to voice an opinion that I haven't seen anyone else on the internet express and even if
Every single point i've made in this video sounds crazy to you
We can at least agree that pentatonix is a fantastic band that has always and continues to make fantastic music
Thank you all for watching this video. This has been a topic
I've wanted to get off my chest for a while now, and I didn't know if I wanted to make a full scripted video about
It but the more I turned it over in my head the more stuff. I knew I could talk about and
Yada, yada yada, here we are
If you enjoyed this video give it a like if you want to see more content from me subscribe
Hit the bell icon to get notified of future uploads, you know the drill, but with that said have a wonderful day
Thanks again for watching and i'll see you in the next one
