Right from the start we see a low angle shot of a women’s legs, causing questions to who is this and then we see a close up shot of the main singer, jump cuts are used while these are shown, this dazzles the audience and causes a mystery around the video. The shots last generally less than one second; this is to satisfy the utopian theory of entertainment to keep the audience entertained. The video uses a mix of subjective and objective filming, we see many women wearing short skirts, and this reflects Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze theory, which objectifies women and sees the man as the powerful one.
The women are sexualised, they wear revealing outfits and dance or go into revealing (sexualised) positions, with some wearing large dresses which are blown up revealing their legs, this may present women as vulnerable but also appeals to the male target audience and reflects th emale gaze theory. The women are used as filming tools, holding the camera to give us a point of view shot and a subjective view to make us feel as though we are there. The costumes of the women are unusual, there is a large unusual dress as well as grey bikini like outfits with slanted triangle hats, this is to help entertain the audience and keep them engaged in the video, the unusual is interesting. Escapism is also one theory used, the unusual costumes and the POV shots help us escape reality and join the video. The majority off shots are of the women, and only one of the band members, the singer is mainly filmed, but there are wide shots that include the rest of the band and even some POV shots of them which, with the close ups help us engage with the band.
The target audience is between 17- 25 and is male dominated B, C1 and C2 social demographic. This video is a performance video rather than a narrative video so it does not tell a story the main singer is presented as an icon, with close ups and women filming him, showing he is important. The lyrics also link with the visuals which supports Andrew Goodwin’s theory, such as when “No” is repeated it is printed out also when “kiss me” is sung it turns red which has connotations with love and with the white weeding dress getting stained suggest love goes wrong which is supported by the tilted camera at the end.
The Script, We Cry (2008) Pop/Rock
At first we establish that it is set in an American city, we see an extreme close up of the side of the singer’s face, which makes us want to know who it is. The introduction uses very quick edit cuts to give us an idea of the location and who the main singer is going to be. We then see a medium shot of the lead singer as he walks down the road and then a tracking shot as the singing starts as though we are following him, using subjective filming. We then have close and medium side and front shots of the singer, which makes us feel as though we are there. After this part the rule of thirds is engaged, the singer switches to the corner left of the screen, which allows us to see what is behind him and his surroundings, maybe suggesting he is leaving things in the past.
The band do appear sometimes together, this suggest that the narrative story focuses mainly on the singer as the majority of shots are of him and the mise en scene which suggest we are all the same, such as a homeless man and a women and a child, we are all equal. The filming of close ups while the band performs helps keep the audience entertained and breaks up the footage outside. The surroundings suggest a working class society where we all struggle with images of abandoned building and graffiti, which could suggest the target audience of a lower social demographic who can identify with the song. Although women are not represented in the video, the lyrics suggest women are less superior “women in a man’s world”. The video ends with a pan over the shoulder shot of the singer as the sun is going down, maybe telling us to look into the future and to forget about the past.
Snow Patrol, Chasing Cars (2006) Alt Rock
In this video there is a narrative. The man in the video is trying to find love; he travels to many places around the city looking for her. Throughout the video, the idea of loneliness is portrayed throughout, there is always an empty space next to him, and to portray the emotion there is a lot of close ups of his face and lets the audience potentially identify with him who have been in the same situation. A technique they have used to enforce this idea is the rule of thirds such as at the start as he is sitting he is in the corner of the screen and we can see an empty seat next to him, this helps portray the loneness.
This video also supports Andrew Goodwin’s theory, the lyrics “if I lay here”, this is represented by him lying on the floor in each location. An example, which reinforces his insignificance, is when he lies near an escalator and people walk past him as though he is not there. Most shots are a mixture of close, medium and long shots with fade in and out as well quick edits. A particular shot that is effective is when the character crosses the road and he lies in the road and there is a low angle, side shot I think this is effective as it shows the cars waiting for him and it seems he does not care anymore.
He physically represents the lyrics of the chorus, ‘If I lay here’, by lying down, this represent the idea of Andrew Goodwin's theory linking the lyrics to the visuals. He changes this common motif by changing the location so the it does not become boring to the audience. The shots where he is to the far side of the screen shows how lonely he may feel. The final shot of him lying by himself emphasizes the idea of loneliness. The aerial shot of the bed makes it look as though there should be someone lying next to him; this in a way makes the audience feel sorry for the singer.
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