A2 media song analysis

7/21/2019 A2 media song analysis

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A Thousand Years – Christina Perri

I believe this is the frst image that

catches your eye in this sequence. I

think this is because you see it

within the frst ten seconds but alsoyou know it is about a !emale

straight away. Also due to the dark

lighting it gives quite a de"ressing

or sad tone.

#hen the singing starts you see her

!ace straight away holding a candle.

$owever the most interesting "art

o! this sequence as this song links

to a movie. %o it is also has

narrative elements in there. The"ace o! the video also re&e'(s the

!eeling o! the video.In the frst two scenes !rom twilight

you can see two o! the characters

and the scenes are taken !rom

breaking dawn. This is also a

massive advertisement !or the flm

so not only is she selling hersel! but

also the movie. The sna"s between

each shots are quite sna""yhowever going !rom singer to

Twilight scenes. Cross media

convergence is also seen here with

the movie.)uring this shot she is walking

!orward but the song is also

narrative is also saying she is

moving *one ste" closer( +lyrics,.

The images are still quite calm and

less !rantic then be!ore and there is

no harsh lighting as there is only a

candle. I think this adds the so!t

vibes o! the video by assuming

what this means the candle could

re"resent being sym"athetic and

being a slow "aced song. Also her

look in this her a""earance is very

di-erent com"ared to her music.

This is quite an unusual

re"resentation visually as she has

tattoos so you would e'"ect her in

a rock band. %he also had a chain



"resent on her wrists. The lyrics here that she is singing

are *I have died everyday waiting !or

you( whilst she "laces down a

candle. The e'tents o! candles that

are on the &oor show the magnitudeo! how long she has waited !or. The

lighting is slowly becoming brighter

as well during the chorus. The dress

is this "iece as well almost

resembles a black wedding dress.

Also Christina is always "ut in the

middle o! the shot to re"resent her

im"ortance. Through this video

there is commercial e'hibitionist

and televised bard. There are a lot o! connotations to

the movie here however you

wouldn(t understand the music

video i! you hadn(t seen the movie.

A lot o! the narrative relates back to

the lyrics as well



/et it go – The 0eighbourhood

There is a clear black and white

scheme in this video that we can

notice !rom the very start. This is

however quite a well1known video

style !or the *The 0eighbourhood(.

2ven though this is a classic style

!or them it still im"lies that the

music video will be dark and scary.

The te't in the middle o! thescreen is very central and also the

frst thing we see so immediately

it gets some im"ortance. )ue to

these "o""ing u" frst this is

commercial e'hibitionist and

!ollows the theory o!

%ven Carlsson because it is

straight away selling the brand.$ere you can see the women

doing a montage o! your classichouse wi!e – cleaning cooking

etc all whilst smiling. This seems

like a very eccentric smile almost

i! she is !aking it and the lyrics

e'"lain that she would be !aking it

as well *let it struggle 3ust a little

bit more(. Also in this screenshot

o! the video we can see lyrics on

the song on the screen which

ha""ens o!ten in the song with

other lyrics this is one o! Andrew



4odwin(s theories. There is mise1

en1scene in this setting it is very

good because it shows your

ty"ical 5678 house wi!e. %he(s got

the stereoty"ical red li"stick

3ewellery neat hair red nail "olish

and the a"ron.$owever in this ne't bo' you can

show the house wi!e showing her

true emotions in e-ect *letting it

go(. You can see two "ersonas o!

her here she is crying and

screaming in one and in the

background she is throwing stu-

around that she made when she

looked ha""y +was masked,. Theimage has also got a lot darker

here to match the !eeling and

hysteria o! the music here. Also

her whole look changes so now

she looks !ar more des"erate. Also

the letters be!ore on the screen

were built around stereoty"ical

women(s materials however it is

now 3ust block letters that shatter

away. There ne't !ew images are based

in the bedroom the one I have

chosen to show is her measuring

the si9e o! her waist which is also

very stereoty"ical o! women and

maybe even "ersonifed as all she

cares about. %he is smiling in

delight as well so it is clearly her

trying to mask her emotions. Also

once again the lyrics are stating!or her to *let it struggle 3ust a

little bit more(. The rest o! these

shots show that she is looking

ha""y within her relationshi" but

the lyrics suggest the o""osite.

Also in this scene you can see her

"aying a lot o! attention to the

man bringing him tea and kissing

him on the cheek whereas he is

not really "aying attention to her.Again with the mise1en1scene it



looks like a classical old school

American house. I like how it is

very consistent within the music. This is the distraught section o!

the music again where she looks

distressed and looking !orattention. You can see in this

grou" o! shots her trying to get

the attention o! her husband who

is slee"ing there!ore showing her

real emotions. Also by the

a""earance o! her with messy hair

and makeu". The lyrics and this

scene together narrate that she is

not ha""y in this relationshi" and

what she is going with her li!e.:nce again the image has got a

lot darker which adds to the

sinister tone o! this "art o! the

video.In this ne't scene can you can

see !our characters sitting round a

table including our main character.

They give o- a *snobby( "ersona.

;sing her eyes she directs her

emotions straight towards theaudience like she wants us to

know e'actly how she is !eeling.

#hen the glasses are "laced over

the screen we can see the dark

side o! the whole story and we

now understand the build u" to

this section. %traight away it(s a

lot darker and she "ushes the

camera around to her husband

eating money now as there is adi-erent "oint o! view. $im eating

money can im"ly that he is

greedy rude and arrogant. The

images then go into a scenario o!

being really !rantic and cra9y !ast

shots &ash backs o! her in the

other scenes. This is defnite

in!ormation overload during this

"art o! the video.



/ana )el <ey – =orn to )ie



This is the frst image o! the music

video – we straight away see the

image o! the American &ag with is

very "atriotic and loyal o! the video.

This is not seen in a lot o! movie>

however American icons always "o"

u" in /ana(s videos so this is quite

ty"ical !or her. Then we can see a

medium shot o! )el <ey and

another unknown man in the centre

naked. $owever the man

3u'ta"osed the look with all the

tattoos and "iercings com"ared to

/ana )el <ey(s "ure look. $owever

due to the embrace se looks ha""y

and com!ortable in his arms due toher slee"y look. You can also see

that there is a clear flter on here

which gives it a rela'ed

a""earance.%traight away in this shot you can

see how grand the whole room

looks with the two tigers !acing

towards o! her like she has res"ect

and authority. The look o! this shot

is also very di-erent to thebeginning o! the video. Also with

her in the throne it looks very royal

and "roud – also there is a lot o!

connotations which could be linked

back to her dress white could

suggest that it would be "ure and

innocent. There is 3u'ta"osition here

however because o! the length o!

the dress would suggest she wants

to be more conservative howeverthere were two cut outs above her

breasts which "ro"oses she isn(t as

"ure. This ne't image has a darker flter

also with the mise1en1scene o! the

dark clouds makes it look wicked

and threatening due to the clothing

o! each character as well they look

a lot more rebellious as you can

see /ana is showing a lot more skinthen she did be!ore and e'"els this



almost hi""ie care !ree look. Also

the man is leaning u" against the

bonnet o! the car smoking a

cigarette. Also a""ears to be o! a

lower class because the images

be!ore o! /ana )el <ey show her to

be some sort o! queen. Also by the

actions that !ollow in this video she

dro"s her bag and runs u" to him

almost like she hasn(t seen him in a

long time "ossibly !orbidden?)uring this cli" the lyrics were

*come take a walk on the wild side

let me kiss you hard in the "ouring

rain you like your girls insane(. The

shots kee" &icking back and !orth toher on a throne and then her with

the to"less man. Also the shot with

her and the man seems quite

aggressive and 3u'ta"oses the shots

we see be!ore which has quite a

tranquil atmos"here. They go

straight in !or a quite "assionate

kiss a!ter this this is a medium shot

and he seems to control her and

what she is doing. $owever !romthe lyrics and movement you can

see she wants more and is the one

actually in control and has authority.

This can also be em"hasi9ed by the

way she is not struggling like she

wants to be there with him.In this series o! shots we can only

see the man when there is a &ash o!

darkness and then he "o"s u". Also

the lyrics are *I can see now once Iwas blind I was so con!used as a

little child(. #e can take !rom this

that once she was blinded by love

!or her boy!riend and she didn(t see

the real him who could have been

mean and evil until now. Also due

to the lighting and him bringing the

darkness or being the darkness

makes us inter"ret him and the

sin!ul character. Also in her whitesilky night gown this re"resents



innocent and grace along with her

long neat blonde hair. $er !acial

e'"ressions are quite con!used in

this selection o! scenes like she is

fnally coming to her senses. Also

with the dead &owers in her hand

this could mean that the romance is

now dead. Also the man is doing the

action o! slitting the throat in the

background which gives o- a really

bad criminal image. The lyrics here *you like your girls

insane(> she matches these lyrics

with her fnger movements insisting

that she is cra9y. $owever this is

the frst time in this setting that youcan see her looking she is looking

ha""y and content with the

situation. Also we are getting a lot

o! close u" shots where we can see

her !acial e'"ression a lot more.

Also we can see in the end shot her

going through a white door which

could suggest she is going to

heaven along with her dress. Then

the fnal shot is her dead in the manarms this could suggest that

"ossible the love killed her even

though this scene is covered in red

and fre !rom the car crash. It could

also re"resent her emotions.



:lly @urs – )ance #ith @e Tonight

The frst scene o! this video is :lly

@ur(s being taken to "rison by two

guards accom"anied by the beat o!

the drum in the back ground we

can straight away see that it is a

!ast "aced song. The colours within

this video are very dark and "lain

however which gives it a grimy and

sad im"ression o! the video.

Instead o! u"li!ting like the music

re"resents. There is also a man in

the background o! song saying

*ladies and gentle( this sounds

very similar to !eatures in soul

music.$ere you can see how they are

advertising the name o! the song

and the artist. I think this way is

very !resh and good I will be taking

this idea ho"e!ully onto my video.

The image is also very

monochrome as well which

re"resents the situation :lly @urs

seems to be in. I also like how the



scene has been "layed out and it

looks very realistic. In these !ew

cli"s as well he starts "ulling !aces

to the camera to lighten the music

video and create humour. =ut also

with this it starts to be a

"er!ormance narrative when he is

singing the lyrics within the video.

#e can now see a much brighter

image with more ha""y and smiley

!aces. The music also seems to be

moving to a very !ast u"beat

moving "ace. The setting is within

the /ondon streets you can see

some iconic backgrounds like the4herkin +building,.

Their outfts are also very street

and more rela'ed whereas :lly

@urs was wearing a suit with a shirt

in the "revious shots. You cannot

see it here but there is a di-erent

edit on some o! the images

there!ore to make it look more like

"olaroid "ictures.

In the selection o! these shots youcan see him accumulating di-erent

materials in this sequence he is

getting freworks but he was

originally getting shee" wool !rom a

market along with other stu-. It

looks like he is setting u" a "arty>

he is then gathering di-erent

!riends. The e-ect on this makes

the shot a lot clear with giving it a

night time vintage look. The wholeimage gives o- a quite a !un chilled

vibe.$ere you can see a car !ull o!

"eo"le it looks late and lively.

There seems to be a big grou"

congregating. This shows a very

ha""y and good vibe image. It is

also a medium close u"> you can

see everyone(s ha""y !acial

e'"ression.Also there dress sense looks very



causal cool and hi""ie. The video

e-ect with the flter is very good as

it gives it a vintage $ollywood look.

Also this is quite an old style car

with em"hasises the vintage look.

The lyrics in this are *oh baby( likehe is addressing the women he has

done all o! this "re"aration !or like

freworks and bangers. The e-ect

on this is also very vintage and

3a99y whilst they are all doing a

choreogra"hed movie. This reminds

me o! a movie !orm rather than a

music video. This scene goes into

mayhem quite quickly however as

the "olice turns u". The !aciale'"ressions highlight the mood o!

the music as well as being quite

ha""y and 3oy!ul.

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A2 media song analysis