Music

Video

AnalysisBY Afiya Small

Miley Cyrus – We Can’t Stop

Miley Cyrus – We Can’t StopOn the 3rd of June 2013, Miley Cyrus released ‘We can’t Stop’ taken from her

fourth studio album ‘Bangerz’. The release of this song marked her change of

sound/genre and appearance. She dyed her hair bright blonde, cut it short and

changed musical genre form country/pop to a more dance/hip-hop and pop

style (this is a dramatic change as country music is quite innocent and calm

while hip-hop and Pop is usually a lot more explicit). Since the release of the

video, on the 19th of June 2013, Cyrus has been famously criticised for her

antics in the video. Though it has received mixed criticism it is clear that most

people took to it in a negative way. Most of these opinions and criticisms are

regarding Cyrus' increasingly provocative image, she is a classic example of

‘good girl gone bad’. The song was originally written for Rihanna which does

explain some of the provocative lyrics Cyrus has interpreted as her own.

The video racked up 10.7 million views in the first 24 hours of its release.

This video includes more Rap and hip-hop conventions than that of

a Pop music video. Cyrus has drastically changed her main genre of

music from County Pop to Hip-Hop & Rap.

Looking at the hip-hop and rap aspects of the video there are

several references to her being a ‘good girl gone bad’ in the video.

Within the first second she is seen trying to cut an Electronic ankle

tag off her leg, depicting to us she is trying to break free and that

she is as bad as a criminal.

Reinforcing the hip-hop/rap genre you also see her and

her friends rolling around the floor grabbing and smoking

illegal substances, again showing the criminal aspect of it.

The lyrics ‘we cant stop’ accompanies this nicely as it

could looked at as an addiction, they cant stop smoking

illegal substances -literally.

The lyrics "dancing with molly", is a reference to using

ecstasy (molly being a slang term for ecstasy).

More lyrics such as, "trying to get a line in the bathroom”

refer to doing a line of cocaine in the bathroom.

Grills are notably worn by rappers. In rap and hip hop

culture, grills is jewellery worn over the teeth, similar to

braces. Grills are made of metal and are removable, they

often have a lot of diamond in too and are used to reflect

the person wearing them, being wealthy and stylish. At

the start of the video, Cyrus inserts her Grills and pulls a

typical rappers face. This could be linked to her inserting

her change of genre and appearance.

Screen Shots

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Genre and Conventions

Outfits/CostumesHere she wears a

fur coat while

carrying a very

skinny almost

furless dog.

Here she wears a

see through body

suit of which there

are ‘X’ covering her

bodily parts. She

holds a Barbie doll

also wearing the

same outfit.

Here she wears

very short black

shorts and a

cropped top.

Here she wears

very short black

shorts and a

cropped top.

Here she

wears a white

bodysuit with

the logo

‘DOPE’ on

the chest.

Here she

wears a

white crop

top with

pants.

All of the outfits she wears in this video have been

disapproved of as they quite provocative and she is

wearing very little in all outfits. She has been branded

a bad influence.

Screen Shots

In the video, Cyrus’ main outfits are all the colour

white. White is a colour that represents purity, when

women they get married, some often where pure

white to show they are pure and sinful. Miley on the

other hand is clearly not pure in the video, the song

include lyrics of a provocative and explicit nature, as

well as there being moderate drug references

throughout. Nothing in the video is of decency.

‘The male gaze’ theory by Laura Mulvey can be used on this

video. Throughout the whole video we are viewing Cyrus from

what a heterosexual man would like to see. There are many

close up shots of her body and her skin (showing how little she

is wearing); this does regulate her to the status of an object (she

is being shown off as if she can be sold). The camera lingers on

her body for most of the video, while she pulls what can be seen

as ‘seductive faces’. She is being shown off to the world and

does not seem to mind, in fact it appears to be her choice when

looking at the lyrics. The main focus of the video is her body, she

has clearly lost weight and is now much skinnier, changed her

hair and her overall image, this video truly emphasises this. She

has gone for the typical ‘Blonde Ambition’ (using your body/looks

to get what you want). Blonde Ambition is also used to describe

Brunettes who dye their hair blonde as the think they will be

treated better. It is apparent she is going for the image ‘Blondes

have more fun’ and ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’.

BeforeAfter

Screen Shots

Image 20132010

Lighting

• The main areas of the video the

lighting is exceedingly bright,

making her white outfits intensely

lighter and adding a lot of contrast

to her surroundings, though most

of the backgrounds in the video

are also white. The light is always

most reflective on her in attempts

to accentuate her body shape.

Screen Shots

• The end clip of the video is Cyrus in a darker setting among

friends, wearing darker clothes. The sun appears to be

setting in the background and there is no direct light shining

upon her. It appears as if she started off pure in the start of

the video (wearing white) and ended becoming sinful

(wearing black) and the rest of the video is the transition –

she becomes increasingly explicit and provocative from

start to finish.

Product Placement/ Synergy

Cyrus’ video endorses spherical lip balm product

‘EOS’ or ‘Evolution Of Smooth’. Cyrus is seen with

a collection of them in video, then making a choice of

which one she wants to use and eventually using it.

The first shot of the lip balm lingers on the logo for

awhile. The producer of the video has clearly made

sure the logo is on show at all times in this section of

the video.

EOS

Beats

Cyrus also endorses the beats ‘pill’, a new portable stereo in the shape

of a pill. As she presses the volume on the pill to increase, the actual

song increases.

Beats by Dr Dre are a famous Specialist Headphone and speaker

brand, co founded by rapper Dr Dre, the Parent of the Company now

being Apple. This brand has become one of the one of the most popular

and iconic Audio and Consumer Electronics brands in the world, being

valued at 1.5 billion as of 2014. She would have been paid a significant

amount of money from endorsing this product and brand alone, the fact

that it is in the format of a music video which has had its fair share of

airing on Music Television (MTV, Viva,) and Online (YouTube, Vevo etc.)

shows how much money potentially could have been made from

endorsing this product.

Screen Shots

Screen Shots

Many

celebrities

have

endorsed

the brand

beats By Dr

Dre

Celebrity Appearances

Celebrity producer and the man responsible

for this song Michael Len Williams II, aka

‘Mike WiLL Made It’ appears briefly in this

video. Mike WiLL executive produced her

album Bangerz.

Since this video was released, ‘Twerking’ a provocative dance (if

done correctly) has gone global. This is because Cyrus is seen

attempting it in the video as well as singing about it. She has

become famous for not being able to ‘twerk’ very well and has

also been greatly criticised for this.

Other Issues

Screen Shots

Screen Shots

Eminem - Stan

About the song• Stan was the third single released from The Marshal Mather's LP on December 4, 2000. The

song was a originally recorded over a year earlier in November 1999. The original length of the

song is 6.44 minutes long while the radio edited version stands at only 5.32 minutes long. This

is because the song strongly depicts an over obsessed fan of Eminem writing letters to him

about his life in an almost sadistic nature. Throughout each verse ‘Stan’ becomes increasingly

infatuated and fixated on Eminem to the point he ends up killing himself and his pregnant

girlfriend by driving off a bridge in to the sea. The song ends with Eminem replying to Stan's

letters saying he hasn't had a chance to and trying to , ending with him slowly realising he has

already learned of Stan's death on the news. It is easy to see the two perspectives. The video

and song are both not very conventional of the rap Genre.

About the Video

The video is Narrative storytelling Video, it has been noted as ‘film like’ because it is exceedingly

longer than the average music Video (the short version being over six minutes long). The song and

video have been massively praised for Eminem's grasp on Fan Addiction and Obsessions. The video

is set from perspectives of both Stan and Eminem. The first 3 verses of the song from Stan's

perspective as he writes his letters to Eminem you see all of his encounters that he writes about.

When in the fourth verse Eminem reply's to Stan's letters, you see how Eminem was not entirely at

fault for not seeing Stan on these occasions. He apologises when it cuts to clips of a news program

playing the news of Sans death. He says he saw a kid on the news that made him sick and slowly

realises the ‘kid’ is Stan. It ends with Stan's image being shown in the lightning strike by the window

and Eminem's ‘Damn’.

Throughout the video thunder and lightning can be heard and seen. The sound of a pencil scratching

(writing on paper) can also be heard during Stan's verses. In the song, Stan says “I read about your Uncle Ronnie too, I'm sorry, I had a friend kill himself over some bitch who didn't want him”. This is haunting as Stan kills himself because Eminem does not want him.

Genre/Conventions• The genre of the song is indeed rap, however it does not include the majority

of Rap conventions. Rap conventions include the rappers talking about

money, sex, wealth, women, gangs and rivalry. Though money, sex, wealth,

gangs and rivalry are not associated in this song. Women however are less

formerly. You know by ‘Stan's’ characteristics in the song that he suffers with

mental health issues and has quite the temper. In the video he is fairly rough

with his girlfriend (Dido) and due to his troubles with contacting Slim ends up

tying her up and putting her in the boot of their car. He does mention while

recording a tape for Eminem that he ‘didn’t slit her throat’ (as Eminem would

in his songs), he just tied her up and declaring he isn't like Eminem as he

does want his girlfriend to suffer more by suffocation. He ends up killing

himself and his girlfriend by driving over a bridge.

• Eminem has previously been criticised for having double standards on the

way females should be treated. He has in the past called women ‘whores’

and frequently rapped about how they should be treated and how he would

treat them (violently), even rapping about slitting his ex wife and mother of

his children's throat and disposing of the body. On the other hand, when

rapping about his daughters he tends to be sweet and sincere, never

mentioning them in a negative way and being very protective over them,

also warning other rappers to leave his daughters out of it and not to

mention their names.

LightingIn the video, lighting is used to foreshadow danger. Whenever

something bad is about to happen there is lighting strikes outside that

light up a character to show they are in danger. This is a reoccurring

factor throughout.

In the opening sequence, the we are shown the outside of a houses

upstairs window. The house looks old and worn and the use of the rain

and lightning lighting up the house adds to the affect of ‘a broken

home’. The video then continues getting closer to the window until you

can see through it.

Because Dido is innocent in the whole video, when the light flashes on

her it makes her lighter, showing us that she is pure (white is seen as

pure). However when lightning strikes with Stan around the room he is

in becomes lighter and he himself becomes darkened. These images

are a screenshots from the video that reinforce this.

The whole video is darkly lit/tinted in order to make the presence of

light and lightning seem more dangerous. The lightning foreshadows

the inevitable things that are about to occur (Stan going crazy with rage

and desperation). These images are a screenshots from the video that

reinforce this.

In concert Footage• The music Video ‘Stan’ includes a short clip of Eminem performing, you can also see Stan in the

audience with his younger brother. You see Stan smile in appreciation and awe while he watches

Eminem in the front row. He appears to be quite emotional. This clip is played while the lyrics are:

• “If you didn't want to talk to me outside the concert you didn't have to, But you could've signed an

autograph for Matthew, That's my little brother man, He's only 6 years old, We waited in the

blistering cold for you, For 4 hours and you just said "No“, That's pretty s***** man, You're like his

f****** idol, He wants to be just like you man, He likes you more than I do”.

• The visuals do reflect the songs lyrics, you see them in concert and then later waiting out side in a

mass of people while waiting to hopefully meet Eminem.

• ‘Stan’ and his brother were most probably filmed after the actual concert occurred, and the video

shots of them later added during editing. Having in concert footage truly shows us how Stan

obsession was progressing. The fact that he took his six year old brother to a Explicit Rap concert is

shocking as it is not appropriate. In Stan's verse he says, 'You're like his f****** idol, He wants to be

just like you man, He likes you more than I do’. This most probably not the case, Stan's brother

looks bored throughout, though he is a fan of Eminem, in all the shots of him you can see how Stan

is the one really enjoying himself. It implicitly becomes apparent Mathew, (Stan’s brother) wants to

be like his brother not like Eminem.

• At the end of the full version of the video, you can see Stan's brother unveil his new bleached/dyed

hair, just the same as his brother (a further attempt to be like Eminem), while at Stan’s Funeral by

his grave stone. This shocks his mother.

Screen Shots

News Clips• All versions of the video include staged news clips of Stan's car being found in the river as

a reporter is explaining what has happened, you can hear her speaking in the background. There appears to be a lot of traffic as Stan's suicide has clearly caused a lot of commotion. It is the day after and it is still raining heavily, the use of this pathetic fallacy truly emphasises the impact of Stan's death.

Voice Over

• While Eminem is singing and performing the song, in the video, it is made to like Stan is the one singing using a voice over. To do this the actor playing Stan would have had to memorise the words to the song and then himself perform/sing them while he is acting in order to make it look realistic. Though at the end of the video the perspective of the signer changes and it becomes Eminem replying to Stan's letters. Eminem does not voice over all the words as he is thinking about what he had earlier heard on the news.

Change of Perspective• At the very start of the video we see things from Dido's perspective briefly. We are

introduced to the fact she is heavily pregnant and how she is being affected by Stan's change in personality and appearance. After the first chorus ends, we then begin seeing things through Stan's perspective. Throughout the majority of the video we are seeing things through Stan's perspective until the 4th verse where Eminem replies to Stan. While we are seeing Stan's perspective it appears as if Eminem does not care about his fans or Stan, but when we do see things through Eminem's perspective, we do see that he cares and that sadly he just has not had the best opportunity to see Stan dues to overcrowding, etc.

Start Finish

EminemStanDido

Censorship• Dido has specified that she was indeed gagged in the

third verse of the video, but this has been censored so

broadly that versions of the video with her gagged are

enormously rare.

• There are several versions of the video. The full uncut

version is no longer played on any music channel.

• In the Official short version of the video that is played on

most television/music channels (at 6mins long), in the

final clip you see ‘Stan's’ face flash on the window as

there is a lighting strike and Eminem realises he already

knows of Stan's death. It appears that Stan is looking at

Eminem, though it is from a clip previously used. Many

people fail to notice this.

A picture of the original version with Dido Gagged.

Other IssuesThe name ‘Stan’, since the song and video were released, has become a

popular term for an overly-obsessed fan of someone or something, mainly used

in the Rap community and other celebrities. Putting it into context, fans of

celebrities would say, ‘I Stan for you’ which could also be associated with ‘I

Stand for you’. Others view it as a mixture of ‘Stalker and Fan’ both of which

the Stan is, in the Music Video and Song. It can be used as a Noun or Verb.

Coldplay - Paradise

About the Song and Video

VideoThe video was released on 19 October 2011. Coldplay originally announced that the songs music video would be directed by Hype Williams but that version of the video was later scrapped after shooting it. Coldplay then decided to record a new version directed Mat Whitecross. The video is styled like a nature film documentary, the concept was thought up by Chris Martin. In the video, Chris Martin plays a man dressed as an elephant that escapes Paradise Wildlife Park in London (a zoo) and attempts to hitch-hike his way to another country and eventually gets there by stowing away inside a suitcase. He ends up in cape town, and continues travelling from there. The music video was shot on location in London, Cape Town, the Klein Karoo in the Western Cape and Johannesburg.

SongThe song was released on 12 September 2011. It is 4 and a half minutes long and is of the genre Alternative Rock.

These screenshots from the beginning sequence of the video show a vividly orange sunset with wild animals in the foreground. The setting itself as well as the visuals are picturesque and link with the name of the song ‘Paradise’. There is also a clear relationship with the lyrics of the song and the visuals.

The next shot you see juxtaposes the previous. You go from seeing real life animals in the wild to someone dressed as an elephant in a zoo. You can immediately tell that the person elephant does not want to be there whilst also implicitly telling us that animals kept in captivity “are not real” just like there surroundings, trying to show us that it is not fair. The person has his hands on the rails of the gate as if waiting for help/to be let out. You instantly feel be for this character.From this camera angle, it places the audience outside the gate, just like at a zoo we are watching this ‘animal’. We are looking directly at him vice versa. The surroundings have a strong contrast to paradise.After this we are taken inside the gates as we see the elephant counting the days he has been inside which explicitly references imprisonment and being in prison. The surroundings are gloomy and there are gates all around him. The continuation of the elephants presence show us there is a narrative. He next continues to shake the gates in an apparent cry for help.

The video has a narrativeScreenshots

He eventually breaks the lock on the gate and runs free, being chased by police men. Various camera angles are used to show the chase. He finds a bike in the floor and use it to make his escape. The setting shows how high the gates of the zoo are and through the next shots how close to civilisation it is.

The elephant peddles through the streets of London on his new acquired bike. He soon ditches it and heads for the London underground to catch a tube. The band have used well known locations to show explicitly show us that it is not a natural setting for an elephant to be in.

All of this happens before the first line of the song is even sung. As the first line is sung, it switches to a shot of the elephant holding up piece of cardboard which also says the same line.

“When she was just a girl,” – Coldplay

Various other shots are used to show us how odd it is for an elephant to so easily be roaming London. The use of such familiar locations really adds emphasis to this.

The elephant regularly looks at the camera which reminds us that this is a nature documentary. He is fully aware he is being followed with a camera and even enjoys putting on a show for us.

Close ups of his location/ desired location are used to help us decipher his journey.

Everyday signs we see often are used to do this.

This panning shot is used to show he has

finally reached his location. The use of a long

shot emphasises the importance of this location

to the elephant.

Mis En sceneTypical British things like news papers and

magazines are common in this video. These types

of props are used to show the vast contrast of

setting once he ventures abroad. You'll notices there

is little props used in the footage from Africa.

In this shot we see the elephant reaching for some

spilt peanuts with his trunk. This shot is effective as

it adds humour to the video. The peanuts, his trunk

and a flight attendant are the only focus in the shot.

The peanuts being central adds significance to

them.In this shot you'll see he has contained himself in an old

suitcase and is riding the conveyor belt to the bagging

area. This also adds humour as he has left his trunk out for

air. The simplicity of the props in the shots make it easier

to understand the concept and meaning of the video.The use of these cardboard cut outs remind of the

song itself paying to guide our attention away from the

visuals, despite being a visual. The cardboard cut outs

have the lyrics-playing on them. He also has a Pease

Give sign in the background as he is trying t make

some money by performing the song.

• Chris Martin wears this elephant costume for

the whole video, only briefly taking the head

of the costume off for some air. They

costume is made of a body and a head. The

costume does somewhat resemble an

elephant but it is clear the humorous side of

things was also considered whilst picking.

The elephant costume is more cartoon like

than a real elephant.

Outfits/Costumes

When making the video Chris martin asked for

the least serious looking elephant costume they

could find.. This is because they didn't want the

seriousness of the song to hinder the vision of

paradise, the video isn't about the elephant

himself, it is about his journey to paradise, thus

the way the elephant looked was not important.

This is most probably why Martin decided to

take the elephants head off whilst filming to

allow us to remember it is still about a human.

Editing TechniquesThe majority of the shots in the video cut on the beat.These screenshots here are a good example of this. The lyrics these shots play on are “dreamed of Para-Para-Paradise”

The use of the cardboard signs are effective as well as the movement of his position but the same camera angle. The use of this technique is repeated at the start of the second verse.

Para

Para

Paradise

As the video has a narrative it does not cut back to previous shots, it keeps moving forward. You never see a shot twice and the location changes vastly throughout. The video as a whole has still managed to keep to a familiar rhythm and kept the shot changes to the beat.

Lighting• For the majority of the video the shots a naturally lit.

Some artificial lighting is used but nothing

substantial nor obvious. The areas used to film are

all very bright and mass of the video is shot outside

in very sunny locations. Silhouetting is also used in

the shots filmed in Africa. The use of focus on a

bright background is used to allow the colour and

clarity of the foreground to fade creating a silhouette

effect. This is done several times throughout the

film.

Audience and Demographic

Genre and Conventions

The audiences ages varies. This song was very popular among all ages despite the

genre regularly targeting 16-32 year olds. Again, with this song and video it is clear it

was made to be suitable for younger and older viewers by not including nudity, violence,

drugs, sexual references etc. Instead, using humour to make it suitable for all (Chris

Martin dressed as a Elephant is quite amusing).

The genre of this song is Alternative Rock which emerged in the 1980s. The video for

this song is not very conventional to the genre. Typical conventions of Alternative Rock

video are close ups of the band with there instruments, Long Shots of the entire band,

establishing shots of the scene, POV shots and hand held shots. Most videos have

some kind of narrative included in them. Lots of footage of them in concert. Prominent

themes in alternative rock usually refer to negative images such as drug/alcohol abuse,

self harm, pain, heartbreak, depression and anxiety. Still this is the majority, many videos

of this genre do have happier themes.

In concert Footage• Some in concert footage is used at the end of

the video which shows all the band with there

elephant heads on. This is used to make it look

as if the elephants in the video miraculously

became famous singers at the end of there

journey.

Sia – Elastic Heart

About the Song& Video

• Elastic Heart is a song by Australian recording artist Sia.

• It was released on 1 October 2013 at the length of 4.18 minutes.

• On 7 January 2015, the music video was released.

• It was directed by Sia and Daniel Askill whilst choreographed by Ryan Heffington.

• Maddie Ziegler, who has previously been in the video for Chandelier by Sia, and actor the Shia LaBeouf play the main roles in the video.

Concept• The video depicts two wolves (Ziegler and

LaBeouf). Ziegler plays the stronger wolf, the

pair constantly fight which is shown through their

contemporary dancing. LaBeouf throughout the

video is trying to become stronger whilst fighting

off his enemy. Sia herself, does not actually

appear in the video.

At the start of the video we see the wolves facing each other in what appears to be

a face off. The pair stare each other down before finally approaching each other.

The greet each other by pulling faces.

LaBeouf being the weaker wolf is shocked by her faces, retreats. Throughout the

video Ziegler on various occasion throws LaBeouf around. These actions show

that despite their difference in size she is in control.

The shots are kept simple in the video as

it is the content which is important.

Genre Conventions• The genre of the song is Electropop.

• Electropop is a genre they came about in the 1980s.

• There is, if any, scarce reference to the lyrics at all. The main focus is the story at hand in which the artist is trying to convey, by doing so as implicitly as possible. The idea of wolves came about from Sia herself who describes it as the two sides of her. It is common that videos of the Electropop genre explores voyeurism broadly. This video has been criticised for portraying themes of paedophilia; a lot of people disagree with the fact there is a man dancing with a very young girl in some graphic ways. Sia has defended this by explaining her concept more thoroughly.

• The genre of the song is reflected in the costume choice also. They are both wearing nude coloured leotards/briefs with mud smeared all over them, it is rather odd which reflects the theme.

Costume

• The lead females costume is a nude (skin coloured) leotard. It is

covered in mud patches and dirt to reinforce the idea of them being

wolves. She wears an electric blonde wig, similar to the artists own

hair colour and style.

• The lead male has nude coloured briefs on, also smeared with dirt

and mud. He also has a bandage on his arm which reinforces the

idea of the female being the stronger wolf.

• The hairstyle the female has is also used in Sia’s popular music video

‘Chandelier’, where Ziegler also played the lead female. The fact she

is dressed the same adds a sense of familiarity to the video as you

distinguish for yourselves it is Sia’s song long before the music starts.

• The lead males beard has not been groomed which also make him

seem more rugged compared to the female who has well groomed

hair.

Editing/Creative techniques• The video has been edited to have swift continuity, though it was

filmed across several days it does not appear so. The camera is tracking throughout the whole video the actions of the pair. The only time it does not do so is at the very start of the video when you are first introduced to their characters.

• No specific camera angle is prominent and the creative style is minimalistic. There are no cut away shots used; no in concert footage or other found footage is used in this video. The video is original because it is unique in the sense the is no conspicuous story line that is apparent to the viewer yet the video does carry a deeper meaning. The video has a narrative but not one that would be clear at first glance, it is not the typical video meaning there is no setting of the scene or major introduction of the characters. The style of dance is interpretive, therefore you are left to ponder what they are trying to portray, the style of dance fits in with the genre of music. It is mysterious. The average viewer would not necessarily understand the meaning of the video without further research.

• The video appears simple, but has its complexities. The dancing is elaborate and minimalism always gives the impression that there is something more, perhaps that you are missing.

Mr Probz ft Robin Schulz - Waves

About the song/Video

• Robin Schulz remixed the song originally just by Mr Probz, the original song did not perform as well as the remix did, only making it to the top ten in the Netherlands.

• The music video for Waves was shot in Tulum, Mexico.

• The song topped the UK Singles and Dance charts and also went to number one in over 19 other countries.

• The video was released on 3 February 2014, whilst the song was released on the fourth.

VisualsThe video starts with picturesque visuals of a beach and the water

against the shore. Long shots are used in the first clip to set the

scene. We learn that they are on an island within seconds and as

the video progress the idea of a ‘happy holiday’ disappears when we

see the lead male emerging from deep under water.

We next see him laying face down on the floor, clearly exhausted.

He raises his face and surveys his surroundings whilst looking

awfully confused. This is followed by another aesthetically pleasing

long shot of the waves hitting the shore.

These first couple of shots give us insight as to what is to come.

With most narrative music videos it is apparent that after the scene

is set and the main characters are introduced we are then their

story: who, what, when, where and why. So far we have found out

who and where, our next questions instantly being why?

This technique is effective as it keeps viewers attention and

becomes just that more engaging, it makes you want to know what

is going on.

Seeing the male in this state makes you immediately feel bad for

him without even knowing what is actually going n. Having him

emerging from he water before collapsing on the sand makes you

empathise for him, he is clearly down on his luck. His face is

covered in sand, as if h has completely given up, this evokes many

feelings within the viewer as they can elate to points in their life,

when they too have felt like this.

We learn later that he has been living on an

island, that he and his girlfriend at the time had

been exploring. Due to his alcoholism she

leaves him, and he stays – living like a cave

man. You can see through his change in

appearance, that he has been there for some

time. He has grown a shaggy beard and also

has become more muscular.

Plenty of images of him alone and desolate are used to convey his emotion to us. This may trigger lots of feelings in the viewers. Though in some shots he simply seems peaceful, the viewer knows that is not the case as they to o have been in these situations.

The end of the video sees him turning to alcoholism and eventually passing out inside of

a swimming pool. He ends up deep underwater, from which hi rises from at the start of

the video, making the creative style of the a loop series.

The screenshot bellow shows how

helpless he is. His arms are spread

wide, making you think he is

drowning, luckily he does not. The

imagery used in this video goes

hand in hand with the songs lyrics.

Bellow you see the final shot of him

‘drifting away’ as he floats in the se,

arms still spread wide. You are just able

to see him as the perspective is from the

shore. This emphasises how far out he

is and makes you wonder if he will be

helped.

The lighting above (possibly staged) is supposed to

show the sun he is falling from. It remind viewers of the

saying “don't look into the light” a phrase commonly

used if someone may possibly die. The light is bright

and shinning directly above him, he has not choice but

to do so. Whether or not he is alive is left to the

imagination

Lighting/ColourThe video is naturally lit throughout. In

scenes prior his break up, the colour

of the shots are lighter with brighter

tones. Right before they break up the

colours become dark and gloomy.

After they have broken up and he is

alone, blue washes are used on the

shots, reflecting his mood.

Even his clothes relate to this, he

wears a blue raggedy shirt and khaki

shorts (which he has not changed

from since they broke up).

He has given up, there is not more

anger or happiness. The colour

changes are useful to help tell the

story and the set the mood.

CostumeThe lead males outfit changes throughout the

video. Though our first image of him is raggedy

wet clothing , chronologically, he starts off

wearing a clean shirt and a clean cut fresh

face, accompanied with shades. His hair is also

gelled back. This first costume is of great

contrast to the end result. His outfit choice

conveys a happy young and carefree man.

He also wears a luminous green rain Mack.

By then of the video his appearance changes

dramatically.

He wears the same clothes only much more

raggedy and wet. His beard is full grown and

hair is much thicker. His body is also covered in

sand and dirt. Many people follow the theory he

died in the swimming pool and I now retracing

his steps, despite his change in appearance.