The Script - Breakeven
The script, like coldplay before, are a very successful indie band. I was searching through their music videos to find a video that had a similar narrative to my own; a breakup of a romantic relationship. I watched this video through and as well as finding it did have a similar narrative, it also has flashbacks into the past where their relationship still existed. This means this video can be of great use to me as I shalll be using flashbacks in my video to demonstrate my couples break up.
The establishing shot for the video is taken in his car with a male driving. Fans of the script and some of the target audience for the genre will instantly be able to recognise the driver of the car as the lead singer. He is framed in a close up but off centre. This links with the black and white colour editing of the shot and helps to suggest he is upset and his life has gone wrong. The location of the shot has also reinforces this idea. The weather is stormy to relfect his emotions. The mirror is framed centrally and in the mirror his face can be seen in shot. This suggests this shot has been carefully constructed and helps the music video look more visually interesting to all audiences.
Within the opening sequence, there is a flashback for less than a second to a woman's face which can be seen above. The flashback is edited in time with the guitar chords at the beginning of the song to help the music video flow. She is framed off centre but in a close up shot. The flashback stands out clearly against the other shots since they are coloured in black and white. She is smiling suggesting that this was a happy part of his life that he is remembering. This is reinforced by the fact the shot is in colour. The target audience are able to recognise the fact she is an ex girlfriend by the sound clip playing of her voice in the establishing sequence talking about how she cannot live without him. By being able to recognise her role in the video instantly it helps the audience start to understand the narrative and helps to get them interested in it.
This next sequence takes place during the second chorus of the song starting at 2:06 seconds into the music video. Above is a high angle long shot of the lead singer and guitarist in the background. The high angle helps to make him seem venerable in the present as he has split from his girlfriend. The band are seen in several different shots throughout the first and second chorus' playing their instruments to keep to the generic conventions of indie/rock band music videos. The location is at a gig meaning these sections of the music video have some interextuality. The target audience will be able to recognise this location and it will encourage them to attend one of the scripts gigs. There is low key lighting in this shot to symbolise the emotions he is feeling.
The next shot in the sequence is a flashback to one of the lead singers memories of the past with his girlfriend. The shot is a close up of both the lead singer and his girlfriend. They are both framed centrally in the shot to help symbolise they are happy together. This shot contrasts strongly with the last as it is in colour which reinforces the happy emotions both characters are feeling. The shot is naturally lit. It could have been brightly lit to carry on enforcing the large contrast. However, as it is naturally lit it helps it seem more realistic and therefore helps to provoke a more emotional res ponce to the audience following the narrative of the music video.
The final shot in the sequence is a close up of the lead singer back in the gig location. The audience in the background are blurred out this time so the focus is on the emotions which link the the flashback the audience have just seen in the narrative of the music video. This shot is once again black and white to relfect the narrative has returned to the present and the lighting is low key again to reflect his emotions and the emotional lyrics of the song.
This music video has been a interesting useful one for me to deconstruct like I predicted. The narrative throughout the video is similar to my own so i wont be subverting any conventions in my music video. I think it is a good thing that I wont be subverting conventions with my narrative because then it will be easier for my target audience and other audiences to follow my narrative and get more interested with my music video. The flashbacks were constructed in a similar to way to what I had planned. In this music video there would be a straight cut on the beat of the song to the flashback and a straight cut back to the present. I planned to do this on some of my flashbacks but also to use a crossfade. I still think a crossfade in some places of my video will be effective as it will demonstrate that I can use a wide variety of editing techniques.
The song: "BreakEven" by The Script is a emotional sad song with lyrics to match. The colour editing techniques on their video were that it was colourful and happy in the past while in the present it was black and white and sad. This is the opposite to what I have planned in my music video. I was going to use colour editing for the flashbacks. The song lyrics for the song I plan to do: " Nina Nesbitt- Glue" suggest that the female lead artists is happy about the break up of her relationship. Therefore I am going to keep my colour editing in the flashbacks.
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