The video has been filmed so that it is a Hybrid: Performance and Narrative. The video has been edited so that its in black and white, this connotes pain and suffering, it also connotes that the decision 'Adele' has made is final - either yes or no.
The beginning of the video shows a smooth transition from colour into black and white 0:00-
0:13. Along with this technique, they've used slow motion 0:53-0:56 and overlapping of certain frames 1:56 to show the narrative of the song, the overlapping also shows a connection between lyrics and visuals (Andrew Goodwin). From 1:29-1:30, they've have used fast cuts to mimic the quick beat of the song, it works well because it's in time. In terms of their own props, they've used a smoke machine and a rain machine which connotes pain and lies. The close up's of the 'artist' 2:04 denotes clearly that the video is about her and not the other actor. The lip syncing is really good throughout but in some parts it goes out of time 1:25-1:29. At the last shot, she goes from being soaked and then dry which connotes that she is over the pain. The male actor she uses is good , but sometimes he over exaggerates certain movements, gestures or actions that makes it kind of cringeworthy and embarrassing to watch. There change of costume shows their thought over the characters emotions and actions. A traditional black and white shows that they are mourning and vengeful.
The intro of the music video begins with a single male walking through the corridor, to put the focus on him, they used a panning/tracking shot 0:05-0:022 to show which direction he is heading. They use a lot of fade techniques in the music video, which works well because the genre of the song is quite mysterious and abstract. Various close up's of the male and female show that he is the main character in the narrative. The males face is placed higher than the females 0:24-0:32, even though she has a certain facial expression on her face, it shows she has a deadly plan. The close up of another male makes it obvious that he is the artist because he is lip syncing, there is a close up of him but half of his face is obscured by shadows. connoting mystery and illusion. They used a handheld camera to film the artist's scene, as it is shaky-this connects with his voice and the way he is moving. The camera also pans to the left and then the right, which connotes disorientation. Moving towards the bridge, the camera pans in different directions, while displaying a mid shot and close up of the camera and his costume 0:40-0:48. The frames aren't shaky, just purposely uncontrollable. There is Binary Opposition in the video as well, as the males costume reflects a geeky/nerdy stereotype, while the girl reflects a flirty, cheerleader type stereotype. The next time the 'artist' shows up, the camera slowly zooms in to the let side of his face as he lip syncs 'guilty conscious grows...', this connotes that the artist has also experienced what the protagonist is experiencing currently. At 1:13, the lyrics say 'she burns like the sun, I can't look away', they've used Andrew Goodwin theory (relationship between the lyrics and visuals, as they have used a close up of the male actor staring at the female. At 1:18, the female flicks her hair and stares into the camera mischievously, as if she knows that she's in control of the male. She is also building a relationship with the audience, as we also know what her motives are. The artist then comes in again and pulls himself out of focus, which works well. The characters then exchange words, but they have been edited out, which looks good, as the music begins to ascend. It then switches to the Performance part of the video 2:20-2:34, this time not with singer, just his band.
It is a really good music video, I just didn't understand the link between the lyrics and visuals towards the end of the song.
In the beginning, the use of multiple screens makes it seem authentic to the audience, because it looks like she's watching the audience as they watch her. There is a close up of the artist straight away to show who the audience should be focusing on. From 0:04-0:06, they have used stop motion to show what the artist's band is called. The quick cuts reflect the genre-'Rock/Punk Rock'.
You can see that the music video is Performance because there are shots of guitars, drum kit and a microphone that the main artist is holding. At 0:20-0:21, they have promoted the drum kit they're using, 'Yamaha'. This shows that they've have thought about synergy in the media.
The use of props is good, for example the pictures relate to the lyrics and the cigarette she used to burn a hole in the artist's face, shows that the idea has been well thought out to portray the other character as obsessive.
At 2:35-2:38, the use of flickering and static looks really good, as the mannequins head is switched with the artist's head and then reversed.
The costume used for the main artist was a little boring, as it was just a white t-shirt, shorts and tights, which didn't look very 'rockish'. The other band members, however, looked a lot more like they were an actual rock band.
No comments:
Post a Comment