Friday 13 June 2014

Textual analysis on music video's (Number Three)


Small Bump – Ed Sheeran

The Genre of the artist is acoustic pop, folk and hip hop, however the genre of the music video is of a negative nature, and can be seen to be of the drama genre due to generic conventions such as conflict, loss and emotional subjects, which this music video explores. I would have expected the music video to be slow paced to fit with the themes of the song, the music video also does not have any intertexual references.

The narrative shows an every-day activity of a hospital with the artist sat as if waiting to speak to the doctor about a loved one. Within this narrative we see smaller one emerge, i.e. a man being brought in who had been shot. , and a child running down the hall followed by her mother.

The themes represented within this video of strong emotional feelings, such as the two men fight in (approx.: 2:09) and the artist himself sat in the waiting room looking worried. This also suggests that video is not of the positive nature and although just shows an average day within a hospital, it also shows the themes of personal loss, pain and worry through the actors, e.g. the woman sat behind the artist. (Approx.: 3:00)


The structure to the video, when applied to TODOROV, it can be seen to show stage three, which is Recognition of disruption, as the artist is waiting within the hospital due to an unfortunate event, which has allowed him to realise that there is a problem.

The video reflects the song lyrics as the song refers to a close personal member of the artist who suffered from a miscarriage at four months, the video reflects the emotions within the song by keeping the overall tone and how the video was presented to a bare minimum to allow the audience member to be engaged with the lyrics, and also the emotion the artist had put into the song
The representation of this music video is a stereotypical view on class. The representation is stereotypical as during the narrative when we are shown the artist and the doctor, the doctor ignores the artist sat within the waiting room, and also the woman behind him, therefore showing connotations of a stereotypical view on class that because the artist and the woman are beneath his class, he shouldn't bother with them and does not seem to care, this can be shown Approx.:0:15 

The artist, however always in shot, is not the main focus of the piece, meaning that although they are present, they have decided to not make the video constant a focus on themselves, but on the music and its lyrics.  The video also shows small signs of stereotypical nature of class within social groups, for example, the doctor at the beginning can see his patients in distress, however chooses not to engage with them, which could show connotations of a stereotypical view that, because they are off a lower class, he is not being paid to talk to them, so why should he?

When referring to visual codes, the hospital is set within a wing of a hospital, which is made clear to the audience members, with the three mid shots at the beginning. The video is also seen to be shot in the present, as the artist is seen to be in modern casual clothing, and also the fact that the hospital looks highly equipped and up-to-date.   

The dominant colours within in this video seem to be of a dull white, which shows connotations of clinical and safe environment but tinted with sorrow, which also reflects with the song’s lyrics. The effect of using low key lighting in such a clinical location allows audience members to understand that the music video is of reflection to the artist’s piece, and of an emotional negative effect.

The shots used consist of mid shots, and mostly a track on the artist spanning from one end of the hall way to the other, which shows connotations of how he does not stand out within the location, and also conveys more emotions by showing to be singing the song from a first person’s perspective, e.g. the song Is about his experience of a miscarriage, and therefore the shot captures this fully by placing the artist to be almost in the background of the event, allowing audiences to listen to the lyrics and to convey emotion from them.

Technology wise, there is not much within the video apart from the fading in and out of the actors within the hospital, which can be seen to be used to explore the fact that within a hospital, however big of an impact the event has on you, it does not have that big of an effect to the overall location, e.g. a mothers children running around the halls when she is trying to regain control.  The way the camera moves allows the narrative to be told as if being look at from a book, for example there are no point of view shots, the camera tracks around the artist, as if he is going through the emotion and actions himself, and from a cinematic point of view, the audience are seen to be almost peering into the memory of the artists of the event. This could also be another interpretation as to why the added actors fade in and out, as the director could of chosen this is convey an almost dream like state to which the audience are seen to be with a memory of the experience of the artist. The only editing is the quick cut to the three different shots of the hospital, the rest of the time the shot is continuous, apart from fading the actors in and out.
I would believe that the target audience would be towards the artist’s fans, and also anyone who has experienced the loss that the artist did. The video does not show any scenes of a disturbing nature, and therefore would not offend or disturb anyone, meaning that the video would be able for all ages.

However I believe that the type of audience who would watch this would be anyone who could relate to a miscarriage or any unfortunate event, because it allows the audience member to make links to the artist and/or the characters shown within the music video, which would also emotionally stable them to know that they are not alone, and that others have experienced terrible things, and have survived the emotional and/or physical damage.

This analysis will help me when it comes to my own music video because especially in this video, as it looks mostly on editing and lip syncing, meaning that I would have a basis to look back at in order to aid me and guide me to when I come to editing and editing the lip sync decently.

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