Textual Analysis - MV

Textual analysis - of a Music Video

Music Video – James Blunt Carry you home.

I did this so I could really understand what a real music video in the same genre and same sort of style I want to do, really looks like and all the details that have made it successful. This will help me in making choices in my own music video to see what conventions are in this music video and how the construction of it has been successful or not. My music video may take some of the techniques used her and develop them future into fitting my story of the parents divorce.

Why I choose this text?

I chose this text as it is a similar genre of music video that I want to do, with the acoustic guitar, gentle melody, but with a deeper and more complex meaning. In addition I have chosen this text as I want to make my music video at the same standard and with similar techniques. Such as, the panning of the stunning views and slow motion close ups to show emotion. The song and the music video have the same sort of tone that I am looking to achieve in my own music video.  

What happens in the text?

It starts off with a setting shot over the sea and focuses on a cliff side house. After this a man in car and it is clear that he is on a journey as he then moves onto a train. As this is happening there are shots of a woman on her own in her bed looking very upset and worried, it switches between the man on the train and getting off the train and the woman frequently. It continues to do this and shows the man getting further with his journey, the woman getting dressed and washed and beautiful setting shots of the coast. In between some of these shots it shows a war zone and men running around with guns. After this, the woman is shown to walk up to the edge of the cliff and stand there looking out to sea. All at the point the man getting closer and closer to the woman and when he is nearly at her house it then shows a solider getting killed in action. The man that has been travelling then finishes his journey and gives the woman her husband (who was the solider) a letter that he wrote to her and all his other belongs. She then knows that he has been killed and falls to her knees and the other man walks away. 

Analysis and why/how the text has been this way?

Mise-on-scene

The location for the music video it has about 4-5 locations there is the cliff side house and the shore line of the cliff next to the sea. There is also, the house on the edge of the cliff we see the bedroom and other parts of the house. The house is large and nicely decorated and a normal family/couples home. The sea side cliff and surrounding scenery is very beautiful and it is clear that it is in England with the rough seas and moor surrounding the house as well. This makes the woman in the house seen even more isolated that she already is and makes the audience believe she is far away from her husband or anyone. The man in the video is seen on a journey, on a train, car and walking through the moors. The man is seen going through from the city to the country this signifying that he is headed for the woman as his final destination. The costumes are very normal and comfy with the woman dressed in a nightie for the first couple of shot and then in a slouch cardigan, this represents her as depressed and spending a lot of time in bed. The facial expressions are the same as this as her sad expression only changes at the end of the video when she begins to cry and the man’s expression barely changes, this setting the mood/tone of the video as sad. In addition, the only significant prop is the items that the man gives to woman at the end, the dog tag, key ring and letter. Signifying that her husband is not coming home and he had been killed in action, this linking to the name of the song ‘carry you home’. There is the scene where you can see it is a war zone by the camouflage gear and the props (guns). The whole video is in black and white and darkish colours, again linking to the meaning of the song. The women will feel like the entire colour and happiness has been drained from her life and so the video like the sad tone has no colour.

Editing

The editing its self is very slow pace with most of the shots being 3-4 seconds but with some longs ones of about 8-9 seconds. (Long take style). As well as this the main thing that is seen is the fading in and out of image to image, going from one shot and then fading into the next while still being able to see the other one. As well as this there are cuts between the 3 different locations, with some cuts to black and then back to a shot. In addition, there is a match on action when the man reaches out to give her the items in a long shot and then it goes to a close up of his hand and the items to show a match on action.

The camera shots used were mainly close ups and extreme close ups on the characters faces to mainly show emotion. As well as this, there were long shots of the scenery and locations. There are few mid shots and only one over the shoulder shot with the taxi man in the mirror. I point of view shot is used to show the dead solider and the emotional realisation of the woman’s lose. There are many dissolves used to get the effect of going from different shot to different shot.

Sound

The only sound used in this video is the non-diegetic sound of the music track.

Special effects

The only special effect used was that predominantly most of the footage used in the music video was in slow motion.

Description of the target audience

The target audience for this text is for a wide range of people going from about 15-50 this is because the type of music is able to appeal to a wide variety of people. This is evident as the music video is about something that most people can relate to (a death of a close family/friends member). It is an emotion that people relate to or sympathise with and has stayed the same throughout the years. The people in the video are about 25-30 so in the middle of the target audience and this helps its appeal. The video appeal as they can relate or sympathise with the situation and realise what the song truly means. The economic group I would suggest as being middle class, A, B, C1. This is shown in the video by the size of the house and the location. So I would think the target audience would be this to as they are the most likely to relate.

Representation

The representation of soldiers in this video is that they brave and willing to give their lives and risk never seeing their loved ones again. They are seen as manly running around with guns and working as a unit in dangerous situations. However, the video also represents war and being a soldier in a negative way as it shows that it is dangerous and people do die. The gender side of representation has the woman represented as the army wife that has been left at home to worry and look after the house and wait for her husband to return. She is portrayed as very depressed and lonely, missing her husband. The messenger man in this video is seen as very kind and willing to do as his friend has asked and ‘carry him home’. This meaning he is a very good friend and loyal. The house that is seen in the video suggests that the couple are middle class as it is a big house and he is in the services.

 Conclusion

 

I found the slow pace of editing to link with the slow pace of the song very effective it really made clear the tone of the whole thing. As well as this, the special effect of slow motion was really good as it made the audience dwell on certain things and made them think and truly see the emotion on the characters faces. I found less effective the fact it was in black and white the whole way though I think some flourish of colour when it got to the soldier bit would have been more effective. In addition, I thought that there could have been some quiet diegetic music in the background at times; there could have been the waves or the soldiers shouting. I am going to do things differently as I am only going to use some black and white, I would use more shots of the scenery and more of the dissolve shots as I thought they worked really well.

I learnt from this textual analysis that there are many things that are put together in a music video that make it look good with the range of shots, close ups, long shots, and again the stunning setting really makes for a good music video. As well as this I learnt, what sort of things I can put in my music video such as...

- CU's of artist and character
- The artist and a character being in the music video
- A story behind the music video/plot running though it.
- Representation of the artist.
- A personal side to the video (James Blunt was in the army and knows whats its like to lose a friend in battle).
- I have had my parents divorce so I know what it feels like to go through that.
- The target audience is different in this video as James blunts music is more appealing to older generation that the young.

Some of these features I have used in my music video such as the plot of a story and the artist and character being featured in it. I enjoyed analysing this music video as it has a very emotional feeling to it and a lot of people on this world can relate to it, this also giving me the idea of using my experience of my parents divorce as the story of my music video.

My own music video is very similar to this one with the settings of the beach and a characters house that seems very isolated. In addition, the conventions of an acoustic music video are seen, with the isolated location, the story line, the artist singing, the camera shots and movements such as pans across the setting as all evident in this music video. This confirming that to make a good acoustic music video it is best to stick to the conventions to make it look convincing and be successful is put out into the media light as a real media text.