Bastille – Fake ItVideo Analysis

Notion of LookingThe Fake It music video by Bastille instantly references Andrew Goodwin's theory of voyeurism and the notion of looking through the TV screen. This also introduces the underlying meaning of the video and the song and that is how perceptions of media can be altered and manipulated to have a different effect on the consumer/audience. This video is used to juxtapose how the main character who is a speaker for WWCOMMS can change his perception of him to the audience though the media. All the way through this video there are many different references to looking. One of the main ways is though the close up shot of the camera. This is used to represent the eye of the audience as it is the way through which they see what is happening. The narrow shot on the camera could suggest and represent the narrow view that the audience has on what is actually taking place and how easily their perception of events can be manipulated and changed. A lot of close ups are used on the main character which puts a large focus on his eyes which shows us a lot about his emotions and personality. Throughout the video you see him get gradually more angry and irritated and these close up shots on his face exaggerate this.

Link Between Lyrics and VisualsThere a huge link between lyrics and visuals in the video for fake It as the lyrics to the song is the words in the speech of the politician or news presenter. This is a key part of the video as he is almost talking to himself as he it tell the audience to ‘Fake It’ and in the video that is exactly what he does at the end. We see his true personality as he shows his aggression and frustration earlier on but then at the end is professional and composed. This shows how the media can be filtered to only show us what they want us to see and is the main underlying meaning of the song. Another place in which lyrics are linked to the visuals is later on in the video when he gets angry and starts ripping apart his script. This is right on the line which say ‘we should rip it straight out’. This gives context to the lyrics with the video.

Close Ups/Star AppealThis video does not have anything that conforms with Goodwin's theory of Star Appeal in it as the Fake It video does not have any members of the band in it. However it does have the main character who is speaking the words of the band. This is the closes way that this video gets to having any star appeal which means that this video doesn’t allow for any connection between the audience and the artists to be created. Usually this would be a bad thing but because of the way that Bastille use their music videos to create a narrative that flows between the songs it was important for this video not to include them as it wouldn’t make sense as part of the story.

Technical AspectsThis video uses a lot of editing to show the change throughout the video. At the start when the character is very calm and collected it is a slow cutting rate with smooth cuts. Once he gets angrier and more energetic the cutting rate increases, we see more different angles and shots and also a change in the lighting from white to red.Another way that editing is used is through the grainy TV flickering filter. At the start of the video you travel through the screen of the TV into the studio. By using this filter it shows what it looks like to viewers watching the TV and give you the view of what's going on from their perspective.