Detailed Textural Analysis of Music

VideosDollhouse

Melanie MartinezDate released: 2014

Suzanna Oldsworth

Film languageEstablishing shot – The establishing shot is one in which a young girl is sitting in front of a dollhouse playing with a doll and then she runs off screen and the shot zooms in on the dollhouse. This is accompanied by music box music that could be seen as eerie which slowly builds up into the song. The use of the dollhouse and music box at the same time further relates to the idea of this being based around childhood.

Medium shot- The first time the singer of the song/main character is shown is with a medium shot after the image of the dollhouse had cut to black. She’s standing there with her eyes closed and wearing a doll like outfit to fit the theme, this zooms in on a medium close up shot when her eyes open. The costume she is seen wearing is very doll like with a kind of abstract twist to it in the way that her hair and make up makes her image seem slightly more darker in a way, almost gothic.

Wide shot- A wide shot is shown when she is standing in a fairly dark room and in the back her brother is holding a plant in front of a cannabis picture in the background. This is so the main character is still the focus of the video but also so that the audience can view what is going on in the family. This fits with the lyrics well because they say ‘And your son is smoking cannabis’ while her hand is held out in a way that seems to say ‘look at this’ which causes the shot to change afterwards to a scene of him smoking.

Over the shoulder shot- This shot is one in which the main character is shown sitting at a vanity and we see her face mostly in the reflection of the mirror in the vanity since her face is turned away to the side in the over the shoulder shot.

High angle shot- There are also a few high angle shots in the music video which almost seem like long shots at first. However, these are high angle shots due to how she is looking upwards rather than directly straight. This fits in with the idea of her looking up out of the dollhouse at the girl outside that is viewing it. This is proven by the next over shoulder/low angle shot.

Genre CharacteristicsThe genre of this song is Alternative/indie. This is shown by the fact that the video itself has some elements of a pop song, however the actual meaning behind it and the lyrics would be more fitting of an alternative rock song. This is also a indie song due to it being produced more independently rather than being produced from major record labels.

Therefore this video tends to stand out well amongst others but also fits in with her style in which each song and video tells some form of story. The music video also tends to use abstract imagery. An example of one of her other songs that almost seems to have similar elements to a pop song would be ‘Pity Party’

Shot from ‘Pity Party’

Mise-en-sceneThe use of outfits in this music video works very well in the way that the follow the doll like concept behind it with the dresses, hairstyles and make up that makes their faces almost seem like living dolls. However there is a type of maturity to it such as the suits that the men wear, the old style of women’s clothing for the mother and the way in which the main characters hair and make up is gothic in a way to match the darker undertones of the narrative.

There are uses of props in these videos to match the dollhouse theme, such as how there is a tea set resting on one of the tables, a vanity with make up on it and a bright coloured kitchen. However the vanity has an eerie feeling to it because of the fact that it has decapitated doll heads on it as well.

The lighting used in this music video gives a more serious tone to it than the concept of the doll house, the blue almost glowing shade of light making what’s happening seem more dramatic and darker than what some people would have imagined it to be.

Links between lyrics, music and visuals‘Hey girl, open the walls, play with your dollsWe'll be a perfect family.’ This relates to the visuals and the music because the entire song relates to the idea of a family living in a doll like way in a dollhouse of their own in which they are supposed to seem perfect but they are actually a broken household and how the young representation of herself is being made to follow the ways of this broken household.

‘Places, places, get in your placesThrow on your dress and put on your doll faces.’ This line of lyrics relates to how the girl has to act and dress in a specific way in order to fit in with the rest of her family and how they all have specific places as if their image is only a performance and goes as far as to show the younger representation being backed into a corner by her family during this scene.

‘Picture, picture, smile for the picturePose with your brother, won't you be a good sister?’ These lyrics relate to how the girl is expected to do as her family wants her to and that doing so makes her a good family member. It is also implied that she would be a bad sister if she were not to do as she’s being told.

‘D-O-L-L-H-O-U-S-EI see things that nobody else sees.’ This line of lyrics is one of the most obvious connections to the music and the visuals, providing emphasis on the title and the basis of the song and also further validating that the main character knows about what is going on in her family that other people aren’t seeing and at one point seems almost as if she’s trying to explain it to her younger self.

Representation of artist• The work of this artist is represented by how the videos they perform

are structured. The childlike theme about them along with a mature understanding of the world around her due to the fact that she has even been known to say that these songs work as a set of representations of her as a child and growing up.

References to voyeurism (looking/the male gaze)Due to the style of this video there are no solid references to voyeurism as this is not what the story of the video is supposed to relate to.

This means that rather than the women or men being over sexualised, they are instead shown as certain types of characters based on the narrative.

Intertextual references• There can be similarities seen between this music video and films

such as Arriety and Guilver’s travels which feature people who are normal sized but who stumble across a society of smaller people that is meant to be hidden away from the everyday world.

Performance, narrative or concept based? How is this conveyed?This music video is based mostly on narrative, following the story of the main character as she deals with her family’s expectations and the fact that they are all hiding things from each other that she is not supposed to know about.

However it is also based on the concept of a doll house with doll like outfits and settings. This is also shown by the establishing shot being of a girl playing with the doll house which then is zoomed in on to lead into the story.

The performance in this video works in the way that the movements of the family seem also robotic at times, showing that they are only keeping up their appearances to make them seem like a happy family. The performance of the main character also works well as she clearly contrasts to this view and expresses that she understands what’s going on around her.