Music Video Analysis

Music Video Analysis

• 1.
  Tonight Alive –Lonely girl During the music video it is constantly changing between performance and narrative. It starts off with a fade into extreme close-ups of the instruments being played by four of the band members, which shows mise en scene. Then it changes to when the beat kicks in it changes to a long shot shot of all five band members in a room ready to perform. The next significant shot shown is an extreme close-up of Jenna singing (lead singer-shown below) this is an example of star image and shows the expression displayed on her face. It then switches to narrative, a shot where a girl is sat on her bed with a notebook, it then switches to a medium close up to show the expression on her face which fits with the lyrics being sung - ‘nothing that you have is ever good enough’. The following shot is of a record player and the girl turns the volume right up, this balances perfectly with the song as it’s about the go into the chorus and the music get louder in the song when she turns up the volume for the narrative. Comparing the scenery and lighting in both scenes (performance in the bright room and narrative in the dimly lit room). I think the different between the light and dark rooms shows the difference in emotion, the girl and mother in the indistinct room are both distressed. However, when it switches back to the band playing in the bright room, they seem quite the opposite.
• 2.
  When the choruskicks in, we see a long shot of all five members of the band in a room performing. At this point the video is switching quite quickly and frequently between performance and narrative. Again, the lyrics go with the storyline because it changes back to the girl arguing with her mother in her bedroom, the lyrics at this point are ‘you got a lot of nerve and looks like the tables turning’.
• 3.
  The shot aboveshows an over the shoulder shot of the mother and daughter, at this point the girl is yelling are her mam along with the lyrics ‘you got a dirty tongue and looks like the damage done is forever and it’s a long time to miss me’. During this chorus, we see some certain shots of the other band members playing their instruments (guitar, drums etc.) and then converts back to the narrative where we see an extreme close-up of her mother, the expression on her face ties in with the lyrics and shows that she is upset and fed up.
• 4.
  The second versebegins with a medium close up of Jenna sat in what looks like a graphitized bus stop. ‘Lonely girl it looks like you are out of luck, tell me how it feels to watch your friends give up’ – these lyrics are sung just as the girl is leaving her house alone. The shot below shows an over the shoulder shot of mother and daughter arguing again as it leads up to the chorus. The narrative keeps up with the beat of the song, and then just as the chorus kicks in, the girl smashes a plate on the ground.
• 5.
  The next substantialshot is a medium shot of the girl and her two friends, in this shot however, her friends walk off with their boyfriends leaving her on her own. The song matches the storyline again as at the beginning of the chorus the lyrics were ‘lonely girl it looks like you are out of luck, tell me how it feels to watch your friends give up.’ The following shot is an extreme close-up of Jenna’s face whilst she is singing (showing expression). Then it switches back to a medium shot of the girl watches as her friends walk away and leave her, the medium shot is close enough to show her emotions at that time.
• 6.
  The following importantshot shown in this music video is when the girl is in a bathroom which looks pretty run down. It switches to a shot of the girl looking in the mirror, however the lead singer (Jenna) is in the reflection of the mirror whilst singing the lyrics – ‘and I don’t feel sorry for you, sorry for you’. The lyrics here match with the narrative because it’s like Jenna is speaking directly to the girl but it’s only her reflection. The lighting here is again quite dim which gives off a discouraging atmosphere. At this point in the music video, there are a lot of close up shots of Jenna, this is an example of star image. A new shot is introduced next, a tracking shot of the lead singer walking along a bridge. The tracking shot is used to follow her movement When the drum beat kicks in, the girl throws a stone at the mirror which stays in sync with the music. The lyrics ‘over you’ are repeated 4 times and during that time, it goes through every different setting of the music video – room where they’re performing, bridge, graphitized bus stop, bathroom and the girls bedroom with her mother. Then as the chorus kicks in for the last time, the setting switches back to all five band members in the room performing. The lighting changes along with the change of scenery it diverts from quite a dull and miserable set to bright and cheerful; this shows the change in emotion and atmosphere.
• 7.
  One of thelast shots of the narrative is when the mother is in her daughter’s room, her face is not shown, we are only shown a shot of her arm when she turns the light on and next to the photo frame (picture of her daughter). The final shot of the music video is a medium long shot of Jenna standing up from the bus stop and walking away and to finish off; during this shot there is an ambient sound of city cars and police sirens.