I have chosen to analyse this music video because it features only one person-the artist, Gabrielle Aplin. Analysing this will help me to understand the form of a music video which shows performance (lip-syncing) but is also slightly abstract and features one person, allowing me to incorporate some of the techniques into my own video.
The video starts straight away with the instrumental introduction of the song. The shots show Gabrielle sat in her garden, with a (stereotypical) cup of tea, on her phone. The slow sound of the guitar and slow movement of the camera reinforces the relaxed feeling, along with the sepia effect which reflects old style holiday photographs. This reflects the style of the genre as it shows the simplistic, happy, free minded nature of the ideology within the genre. Gabrielle is then seen to be getting ready, applying little makeup and leaving her hair in a natural state. Inside the house, many props are shown representing the genre and ideology. A lot of the furniture is wood which expresses the ideology to be surrounded by nature rather than being materialistic. It can also be seen as 'old fashioned' as a lot of furniture now is man made materials and have a more modern look. This old style of the genre is supported by the fact she is using an old camera which uses film negatives. In these first few shots, there are various cinematography techniques used. Close ups are used, showing her getting ready and picking up her back pack and camera. After a mid shot of her face, looking down at her camera, a high angle is used to allow the audience to see what she is seeing but from a different angle. This is important to do in an abstract music video because it engages the audience and helps to convey mood and feelings if we are put into a similar position as the the person in the video. Pulling focus is used at the beginning of every shot, and throughout the rest of the video, adding to the slow motion and feel of the video. In other parts of the video, such as when she is on the bridge taking photos, the pulling focus technique shows that the video is focusing on parts of the plot and has skipped other parts of the story (the inferred events). The use of a hand held camera makes the video seem a lot more personal and informal but also makes the audience feel like they are part of the video/her story, following her through the day.
After the beginning shots, it then cuts to her walking through what appears to be a park or some sort of open space environment. This, again, links to the ideology as she is surrounded by nature, in an open, green setting. Here she is seen to be lip-syncing. While the lyrics have no relation to the video, the fact she is on her own reinforces she is alone after the relationship she talks about in the lyrics.
Mid shots are mostly used at this point which portray the idea that the viewers are with Gabrielle on her day out, making them feel apart of her day. Cinematography helps this as A POV shot is used when Gabrielle is on the bridge, again, allowing the audience to put themselves in Gabrielle's shoes, creating a mood or feeling. In this case it will be a relaxed, leisurely mood, admiring the same thing as what she is seeing. The main prop featured, the Pentax K1000 DSLR camera, with a vintage/retro like style, portrays the genre well as the style of this camera reflects the old style of the folk genre. Product placement is used as with the institution of the camera featured in the video, it is advertising the product as well as the company. As well as this, she is carrying a brown leather backpack and is wearing what seems to be a blouse and vest. The representation of the audience is shown through this as they usually dress less modern and don't wear designer clothes. However, she has an IPhone which, although doesn't typically follow conventions, represents the audience as the majority of her fans will be teenagers/those in their mid 20s who will own an IPhone and have the latest technology.
Slow motion is used to reflect the slow song and creates a more relaxed feeling. This is also reflected by the slow editing. A sepia effect is used, again, to reflect the genre. It also reflects the props used as it adds to the old, vintage-like style.
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