Elleah Stanton

The video is ultimately a performance clip as the band are performing the song upon a stage throughout the whole video. However there is a slight element of narrative clip with the little boy collecting money off the party attendees. However, I would call this clip a conceptual clip due to the fact that there is very little story to the characters in the video. They are simply dancing around at a masquerade ball. The hidden meaning behind the lyrics is the idea that a couple in love is faceless and worthless in the grand scheme of society, shown in the lyric “Are we just sinking in the ocean of faces?”. This idea is also demonstrated through the use of the dancing couples wearing masks. The masks make them completely un-unique as they are all wearing the same kind of clothing with their faces hidden. It shows how unconcerned society is about the individuals within it and that the system considers people just faces without any emotion or purpose.

Regarding matching the visuals from the song with the lyrics, there is not much to say due to the fact that the whole clip bounces back and forth from close up shots of the singer and the instruments and the long shots and close ups of the dancing couples. This ultimately reinforces the idea of faceless people within society.

The couples are dancing perfectly and dancing with “all the right moves”. The fact that each dancer is completely in time without any fault represents the way that society has been structured and how people are expected to follow a certain system. Also it represents the idea that everybody is regarded as the same with a severe lack of individuality.

The band One Republic are considered Pop Rock, however I would class this song as a complete pop song. Despite this, the band are not really conforming to the pop music video conventions. The colours are not bright and vibrant, they are in fact quite dull and dark. There is no element of happy love or freedom within the clip or the lyrics, it is more about how people are trapped by expectations as opposed to the usual empowerment through love seen in many pop music videos. There is synchronised dancing, however it is not used in the same way. In most pop videos the dancing is used as an aesthetic piece only, however in this video, it used as a narrative device to represent and tell a story. I can’t see an example of voyeurism in this video as there are no provocative characters or props.

The video falls further into the rock music video category because the lead singer is the main focus of the camera, the whole video is a performance clip and it is set at night with low lighting.

Conventions of Pop Music Videos-Bright or fun colours/lighting/clothing-Clothing/costume is up to date with the current fashion trend-Young actors-Element of love or freedom in the narrative-Performance/artists acting-Synchronised dancing-Close up shots-Motifs-Voyeurism, regarding men and women

Andrew Goodwin says that the demand of the record label includes the need for a lot of close ups of the artist, which is definitely fulfilled in this clip as approximately 50% or the video is shots of the lead singer or another member of the band, the other half being the shots of the conceptual dancers.

A lot of longshots are used to show the dancers in order to fully reveal how synchronised they are, and how perfectly in time they are with each other. The way they dance gives the illusion of clockwork machines, each cog turning to contribute to the wider society.

Personally, I really like the general aesthetic of the video. The 15th Century-esque Masquerade Ball creates quite an ominous atmosphere (however this many be due to my fear of Doctor Who’s clockwork droids). The emotionless masks prevent any emotion or feelings to be portrayed through the characters dancing, leaving quite an uneasy and mysterious atmosphere.

It is possible that I might adopt this style or certain elements of the masks in my final piece.

Conspicuous lighting is used as the setting adds to the ominous atmosphere as it looks quite dark, apart from the white lights used to light up the dark room. The yellow drapes behind the band make sure that it is completely clear that the band are in the same ‘world’ to the conceptual part of the video as the drapes stand out in the background of the long shots of the dancers.

Regarding editing, there are no effects added to the shots.

There is a lot of action match occurring throughout the video, used mainly in the shots of the dancers to make sure that the picture flows properly. This would have needed to be done very carefully since there are a lot of hands, arms and heads that could have been in different places. If I decide to use a lot of characters in my final piece then I will also need to take extra precautions when filming to ensure that continuity is high.

The song is synched with the dancing. The dancers tend to reach a pause or do a rather flamboyant move on the beats of the drum.

Usually, the cutting in the video is synched with the tempo or the beat of the song. However some of the time in this video the cutting is not synched with the beat or the tempo, which could connote the message of the song and how society is starting to show its cracks.

The artists are portrayed to be passionate about the subject they are singing about. The shots show the lead singer putting a lot of effort into his performance, ultimately selling the band. It is showing the audience that they are an engaging band to see live which will help promote their ticket sales. Performance is a common theme through rock music videos.

It seems to be a realistic portrayal of the band, however the effort shown that be puts in could just be a front that he puts on for music videos as a selling point.

SoundLike Fall Out Boy’s Young Volcanoes, the start of the video does not match with the

start of the song. There is a pause with the sound of light chatter in the ballroom. Then when the small boy starts to lead the band out to the stage through the crowd, a ticking sound gets gradually louder, representing the nerves that the band are feeling. This then further represents the way that society puts pressure on the faceless beings that is controls. When the crowd turns to look at the band entering, a very subtle sound effect of a ‘whoosh’ is used to emphasise the intimidating nature of the crowd.

SingleThe black marks look like roughly drawn people without faces, again showing the idea that the song is about how society doesn’t regard people as individuals.

Album Cover