James Bolton - Artist's Non Verbal Communication

Above is The Futureheads video for the song 'Heartbeat Song'. It is important to analyse the way in which non-verbal communication interacts with the audience and helps develop a relationship between artist and viewer. This video uses non-verbal communication in the following ways:

1. Costume
Throughout the video, the host of the game show in this video is wearing a flashy suit and tie, which is typical of a game show host. The band are also wearing fairly plain clothing, which is in keeping with the  our band image research when we first did our pitch. This helps the viewers, who are likely to dress in a similar way to the band, feel part of the 'indie look' and genre. In contrast the opposing contestants are dressed in a rather 'uncool' and old fashioned way, which juxtaposes them and makes the band have a more appealing image.

2. Posture
The singers and guitarists often lean into the microphone when they sing, which alters their posture. It suggests that they are engaged with the song and putting effort in to the song. It promotes they are a bit more entertaining band to watch and they dont just stand their robotic. This helps to sell the band as it makes people interested in seeing them live and may even encourage people to go to the gigs.


3. Gestures
The 'glamourous assistant' character in the video waves her hand as the magic wheel appears, again, this is exaggerated and is adding more humour to a light hearted video. There is lots of cases of exaggerated emotions and gestures throughout the video, whether is banging a fist on the desk, putting your head in your hands, or celebrating wildly when they get a question right.
When the host is holding the tennis racket prize, he pretends to play tennis as well as pretending it is a guitar. It makes he character seem appealing and humourous which makes the video more entertaining to watch and is likely to prevent people from either changing channel or clicking off if they are watching online.


4. Facial Expressions
At the very beginning of the video, the game show host does an exaggerated smile, probably making fun out of the media and people on television. He does this on multiple occassions throughout the video, especially when he is dancing around the band as well as holding the prizes, which include an old tennis racket, which is a pretty rubbish prize for a game show.


5. Space (Use of location and distance between performers and camera)
During the sequences of the band performing, the most common shot is a mid shot that features all or some of the band members. There are quick cuts and zooms to close ups of the singer, from the front and from both sides.


6. Voice (Change in pitch and tone etc.)
The only really noticeable change in pitch is during the choruses, during the line "Your heartbeat song" and the facial expression of the singer noticeably and he almost lifts his body as the pitch of the singing increases. This makes the lip synching and performance look a lot more realistic and convincing.