Analysing Music Videos
The song I have chosen to analyse is 'Rue' by Girl in Red (Marie Ulven Ringheim), this music video was shot and directed during 2020 and published/premiered on 26th of August 2020. My chosen artist works for the 'AWAL' Record Company in London, UK and was directed by 'Niels Windfeldt' as well as produced by 'Aleksander Aurdal',Edited by 'Henrik Pedersen' and Creative Director being 'Clare Gillen'. Although the artist is an Indie Pop Singer, the style and tone of her new music video juxtaposes her familiar approach with a twisted, dark and ominous atmosphere, almost as if it were a horror music video.
In the opening of the music video the artist is seen sat in a chair in a modernistic room whilst heavy rain is falling in the background, the artist sings "I remember you couldn't stop crying", I feel this is a direct correlation to the lyrics. The atmosphere being extremely melancholic with dark lighting and grey colour palette tones creates this effect, to emphasise this I feel the heavy rain is a symbol of the tears that someone is "crying". Furthermore, the lyrics following say, "I tried so hard to change", the shot immediately changing to a separate scene that is even more unlit, giving the sense you are diving deeper into the narrative, creating a smashcut. Moreover, the lyrics, "the long nights you helped me through", immediately after this a large light is scaled above the artist standing in a field, almost alien like. This contradicts the lyrics with a visual light overpowering the dark tone of the song, creating subtle symbolism of positive verses negative within the music video.
The lyrics stop for a moment while there is a music overlapping, where the artist was once seen having a close up creating an emotive moment between the audience and artist and uses a smashcut to immediately change to a wide long shot of the character is action running while the music gets progressively louder. This creates a relationship between the music and the visuals by the sequenced change in visuals and quiet to louder bass within the song. Moreover, the beat in the rhythm mimics one of a heartbeat, maybe being a symbol of the characters fear as she runs through a field, creating audio suspense. As well as this the lighting changes drastically later on to an even further darkened setting in the midst of a wood while the lyrics again become quieter and less auditable, a symbol of possibly the darkness overpowering the character.
As 'Girl in Reds' genre is Indie Pop, her target audience mainly being teen girls from 13-19, the video style and iconography is purposely darker and moody, being more relatable to younger teenagers. The signature style this artist always wears is oversized black clothing; being an iconic fashion statement from this artist. In the music video there was little use of close ups of the artist, the company possibly not wanting that to be included in the music video and more of a narrative to be told. The close ups that were used in the music video there to convey emotion and to possibly be a matchcut to keep the story going.
As 'Girl in Red' is a majoritively unknown and indie artist they have not established their own star iconography, although the singer is a well respected member of the LGBTQ+ Community and many of her lyrics and songs are to raise awareness of the community and become a relatable icon to look up to for a young target audience. Although there is no voyeurism within the music video, the artist I feel has created an intertextual reference to the hit show series, 'Euphoria'. The title of the video being 'Rue' a main character within the show, as well as the style and outfit mimics/copies the fashion from the same character in the show, showing a clear connection between the two medias. The depressive tone and mood in the music video imitates the atmosphere of 'Euphoria' as well as themes of depression, therapy and running from mental illness.The artist herself in a interview described her music video to be about 'escapism' inspired by 'Euphoria', as well as the reflection on mental health, "a lot of people don't know about mental health. People lack knowledge and don't understand that your mental health isn't necessarily who you are". This invokes the idea that the artist admires the series and wanted to dedicate her music video towards the show or a subtle reference that her song was inspired by the TV show.
The genre convention of the music video is a subtle theme of horror and action, the setting being in an eerie and uncomfortable atmosphere set within a forest, makes the audience feel fearful for the main character. The colour scheme for the music video is made up of dark shadows, greys and deep greens, as well as the lighting being specifically unlit and difficult to see, sets up an even further sense of horror and fear. The camera work within the music video follows the main character throughout, seemingly tracking them, this enables a feeling of the character being hunted by something. The audio of the forest, rain and river is still heard within the music and lyrics, immersing the audience into the setting, this use of dramatic irony in film lets the audience be apart of the music video and creates a relationship between the viewer and artist. At the very start of the music video, the artist ensues a direct mode of address towards the audience, the camera work invoking the audio she is looking into the eyes of the viewer. This creates an emotive response when we see the artist crying towards us; contorting a personal touch, generating a relationship with the singer and viewer. I feel this is ironic as at the very end of the music video, a hostile mode of address is displayed when the artist bellows/screams at the audience; this direct feeling of hostility and anger ends the music video in a serious tone the way it originally started with, leaving the audience with a feeling of catharsis. However, throughout the majority of the music video, a restricted mode of address is commonly displayed; the narration/story is focused on the following events as the artist experiences them, this generates a sense of suspense. This is often used in music videos to draw us into the protagonists experience and create empathy. On the other hand, there is glimpses of omniscient modes of address, where the camera laves the main character to show the audience something the character doesn't know; this is used in the music video when showing the shapes of people around the artist.
Throughout the music video the artist is nearly always in mise en scene. At the very beginning of the narrative we see a therapists office setting, props off books and secondary characters are used to even further portray the theme of the setting. The composition of the shot originally starts with a long shot, a dolly shot then being used to zoom into the characters expression with a close up. Furthermore, the camera is nearly always on the artist, either in action or portraying an emotion in a still shot, the ever changing long shots to close ups demonstrates the continuity filming while the artist is singing. Even further, the setting within the music video is all filmed at night, this I feel would have proved a challenge to the director and production team by being under a time limit after dusk. This ominous aroma creates an unsettling feeling throughout; as well as this, the never ending night scenes may be symbolic for the character to always be in a dark place, invoking symbolisation of depression.
Shot #1 - This is the very first shot seen in the music video, it being an extreme close up of a 'Newtons Cradle'. The fast paced rhythm of the desk decoration sets up the tone for the music video, the sound progressively getting louder and faster. Within the shot, the Newtons Cradle is in a clear fixed camera shot while the rest of the panel is blurred, drawing the audiences attention to the desk decoration; as well as this, the camera is set to be directly in eye line of the Newtons Cradle, invoking the idea that the audience is only a viewer/spectator of the next scene or music video as a whole. Moreover, this could be a symbol for the mental health theme of the music video, a common item found in movies/videos/shows in a therapists office, as well as having a cyclical nature of the rhythm having an everlasting clink of spheres mimics her everlasting mental health.
Shot #2 and #3 - This is the proceeding shot from the opening extreme close up; a dolly shot is used here to transition from a long shot to a medium close up.The dark and dreary atmosphere is introduced in this from the unlit set, only using one light shade to illuminate the two character's. As well as this the enclosed and seemingly tight ambiance creates a feeling of the artist feeling trapped or overwhelmed, again demonstrating an eerie and unwelcoming undertone. The medium close up displays the main character, giving clear evidence that the artist is the focal point of the music video; medium close ups are often used to create a relationship between the audience and protagonist. Her hooded figure and dark lit face again shows emotions of sadness and depression even without the audio beginning, setting up the tone for the music video, almost foreshadowing the later events.
Shot #6 - This extreme close up of the artist looking up at a bright light source invokes a feeling of hope and positivity in the video or on the other hand the character looking into heaven. By looking upwards and away from the audience draws attention to the question of what the light is, letting the audience query the subject matter of the light. One could interpret that the light source is alien like character. This practical effect is used repeatedly throughout the music video.
Shot #12 - This wide shot off cross cutting, lest the audience jump into the action of the scene. The protagonist running through the unlit forest, the cameraman/women using a dolly shot to follow the artist, emanating the feeling the audience is following/tracking the character. You could also say this is an example in the music video of the character in motion cutting to the beat or cutting on action. Again the character is seen running from the light source, a further attempt of symbolisation of escapism; the now later scenes evolving into almost a montage of action.
Shot #13 - This point of view (POV) angle is a direct use of audience perspective, the viewer almost to be running with the protagonist. This action scene again is edited to be cut on the beat, each running scene to be in time with the music.
Shot #14 - This bird of view angle/camera shot concentrates on the face of the protagonist, a possible symbolisation of the character looking up for help from the audience. Again, with the rest of the panel being in complete darkness demonstrates a clear understanding of the narrative revolving around the artist; possibly giving an emphasise the lyrics said in this scene, "I try to get it off my mind".
Shot #15 - One of my personal favourite shots from the entire music video is this use of practical effects in this mid shot. The camera is rotated to create an illusion of the forest being turned on its side, this quick and easy shot adds flavour to the music videos panels that have repeatedly been dolly shots of action or mid/extreme close ups. Although I feel it doesn't completely fit with the music videos original theme, I feel it demonstrates a feeling of mirage like imagery. As well as this, it is a use of cutting on action/beat; within the scene when the artists feet touch the floor the beat essentially drops and the bass becomes lower, emphasising she is feeling lower and lower mentally.
Shot #16 and #17 - The shot the audience sees here is a close up, the light emitting onto the protagonists face gives a clear view of her facial expression. At this moment in the narrative the artist is running from the symbolisation of light, trying to hide again within the darkness. This eerie atmosphere is followed by a pure horror theme shot of the secondary extreme close up of hands coming out of tree branches/soil of an up turned tree, again creating an uncomfortable, shocking atmosphere, now involving themes/genres of horror.
Shots #18 and #19 - The panel zooms out from a close up to a mid shot of the artist, light emitting from the background nearly swallowing the artist; this slow repetition of light sources demonstrate she cannot outrun the light, either a metaphor for positivity and warmth or a form of a monstrous character we have not yet discovered from a viewers perspective. The next shot is a wide/establishing shot of the artist being overwhelmed by the light, seemingly being people holding lights towards her, a possible symbolisation of people trying to help her escape her escapism. Throughout the music video, light has been used to follow the protagonist, nearing the end of the music video it is something the character can no longer avoid.
Shots #20 and #21 - This mid shot demonstrates the protagonists expression with the help of clear visual light. Her once confused expression turned to anger/sadness is shown through her rigid body and motions. The secondary shot of an extreme close up emphases her emotions of distress and makes it evident to the audience the feelings now in the narrative. Moreover, as a viewer we see these emotions coming out for the first time when she is being absorbed by light, the camera even having reflections of light emitting across the panel, demonstrating she cannot withhold her feelings when in this state. As well as this, within the 21st shot, the camera angle seams to shake and create the illusion the whole scene is doing so, this could be a use of practical effects to emphasise the characters feelings.
Shot #22 and #23 - Concluding to the end of the music video, the artist returns to a setting of darkness, ironically reflecting the original starting scene of the character sitting in the therapists office. This long shot is quickly mash-cutted to fit the beat of the music, the tone of the audio becoming lower and more melancholic mirroring the dark visuals and start of music video. As well as this, we can see the character is looking downwards, contrasting to whenever the unknown light source is in shot, she is always looking upwards away from the camera in restricted mode of address.
Shot #24 - Once more we see the character spotted by the alienating light in this mid shot; a sense of defeat is felt by the audience as they perceive themselves within the narrative.
Throughout the music video the editing used is create a quick montage of the artist running through the metaphorical forest, commonly using match cuts and cutting on the beat. The angle of each panel although doesn't have much variety from long shots, mid shots and close ups helps convey a story. I feel the editor may have used a filter over the footage to even further emphasise the darkness in each shot and to create more of an immersive atmosphere as well as when working constantly at night the light may not always fit together when working on multiple days on a set. Although no special effects of CGI were used, the production team repeatedly used practical effects of the large light emitting over the character throughout the musics videos narrative helping to generate a compelling story.
In this music video it creates an ominous sense of the world, including themes of aliens, horror and the supernatural. The narrative told is mainly adventure, surrounding the artist, showcasing attitudes of an un ideal world and she reacts to it. As the music video is more surreal it doesn't imply many themes, although it showcases some topics of mental health/mental illnesses/ etc. This isn't a typical type of music video, the meaning of the music video surrounding around the show 'Euphoria' although the setting is stereotypical and simple, only using a forest and a small set of a dark room. The music video is aimed ambiguously, at both men and women, the issues involved of mental health effecting all genders as well as the lyrics not aiming at a 'he' or 'she'. It is speaking to a wider audience of people, not having a specific target audience but aiming at all genders, however, the age rating may be aimed at teenagers or young adults, the character used being of a young age. The music video represents the difficulty of mental health and suppressing emotions, this invokes a supportive viewpoint of the meaning behind the music video. The stereotypes of this music video I found was mental illness seemingly always been shown through the eyes of a girl and the therapist side character being a male, although this isn't a main theme of topic it is still shown in the music video. I feel this is used to advertise itself to the young female audience, portraying a teenage women who creates relatability towards teangers through imagery and symbolism of depression.
Alex this is a phenomenal first attempt at detailed textual analysis - I'm so impressed well done! you have covered all the required elements in depth and done an almost shot-by-shot analysis - going above and beyond! Amazing work, well done.
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