elliot woodward music video anaylsis

Elliot Woodward Music Video

Analysis

Andrew Goodwin’s 7 Features of Music Videos

• In his book ‘Dancing in the Distraction Factory’ Andrew Goodwin points out characteristics and features that can be found in music videos.

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characters. (e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images. (Either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music. (Either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).5. There is a frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.6. The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (a visual style)7. There are often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc).

BASTILLE– The Thing’s We Lost In

The Fire

Dan Smith I Kyle Simmons I Will Farquarson I Chris Wood

Bastille are a British indie pop band formed in 2010. the group began as a solo project by singer Dan Smith, who later decided to form a band. Beside Smith, the four-piece consists of Chris Wood, Will Farquarson, and Kyle Simmons. The name of the band derives from Bastille Day, which is celebrated on the 14th of July, Smith’s birthday. ‘The Things We Lost in the Fire’ is the sixth single by Bastille from their debut studio album Bad Blood, which was released as a 7-inch single and as a digital download on 23rd of August. It reached number 28 in the UK singles Chart on the 15th of September 2013. The song was featured in an episode of The Vampire Diaries. In September 2014 the song was used as a trailer song for EastEnders. Bad Blood, was released in March 2013 and entered the UK albums Chart at number one. The band was nominated for four Brit Awards and the 2014 ceremony, winning the British Breakthrough Act.

Music videos demonstrate genre characters. (e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).

Goodwin’s theory states that each genre has a particular characteristic that define its genre. Bastille’s “The Things We Lost in the Fire” is a indie rock genre and there are a number of factors which contribute to producing this type of music video.

• “The Things We Lost in the Fire” is presented as a performance which is expressed through a creative approach. The video unravels a story by which the lead singer Dan Smith produced in relation to his real life break up experience. It does not show the band actually playing their instruments however does show clips of the lead singer, singing to the song at points in the video. The video is defined by its originality and quirkiness, which when watched as a whole, keeps the viewer engaged through the diverse shot locations and the mix in pace of the story being developed.

• The lighting in the video is carefully created to reflect the mysterious atmospheric surroundings of the story. A large part of the video is filmed with dim light, mostly relying on one source of light present, such as a spot light on the performers face/body. At the start natural light is evident as wide landscape shots are shown to establish the video’s prime location and to set the mood of the performance. Plenty of elements in the music video suggest that the Narrative and Lyrics of the song are linked, which effectively provides the viewer with a good idea of the resemblance behind certain objects and lyrics.


The colour pallet in the music video is surrounding mostly darker tones (black, grey, white to create a more subtle presence, leaving the majority of the performance to rely on the acting quality of the performers. However At the start a more diverse range of colours create a picture of the landscape using bright colours of the rainbow. Although this strange colour combination is unusual in music videos, as it challenges both dull and bright colours, it works effectively as the bright colours provide more of a introduction into the music video whereas the dull colours guide us through the emotion of the narrative and the artists within it.

In the music video the setting is within multiple locations, such as a gloomy snowy morning in a rural setting, a more man-made stone studio floor, studio bar, a small village, etc. This reflects the narrative well, as there is a range of emotions within the song’s lyrics and it supports the mix of colours within the video.

The styling of the band is not seen much as a whole, because the band is only seen together for about 0:20 seconds of the video. The style reflects their indie rock presence in the industry, (e.g. denim/leather jackets, stripy shirts, bracelets and long wacky styled hair).

There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images. (Either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

There is a clear link between the narrative story in the performance and the lyrics. The song “The Things We Lost in the Fire” was written and inspired by the lead artist Dam Smith who faced a real life break up and decided to write a song about it. He uses the word ‘fire’ in the lyrics line “the things we lost in the fire, fire, fire”, to act as a metaphor for a break up.

“All that we have amassed, sit’s before us, shattered into ash” A bullet is picked up referencing all the memories that Dan’s relationship held, and how they have been shattered and fallen to the floor since the break up. The bullet could also represent pain and death, symbolizing Dan struggling after coming to terms with the break up.

“We were born with nothing, and we sure as hell have nothing now” This lyrics match Dan being thrown a gun and being dropped of out the band’s car, emphasising , that all he has is a weapon to theoretically end his life due to the pain he is enduring.

“Do You understand that we will never be the same again” A women who represents Dan’s ex girlfriend is trying to escape Dan who is comforting her in his hands. She then runs away, emphasising, things won’t ‘ever be the same again’, like when they were together. (2:50-2:58)

There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music. (Either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

There is a clear link between the music and visuals on screen within the music video, ‘The Things We Lost in the Fire’. The music video starts with almost silence, and then natural sound is recreated, symbolising the cold breezy air outside where the first location is set. The visuals support this slow mysterious atmosphere by visualising the vast open land covered in snow. The slow pace is supported by the row of men walking slowly forward, away from the camera (0:00-0:15).

A blood trail from the car in the music video is shown when the lead singer Dan sings the line ‘These are the things we lost in the fire, fire, fire’. Except this time the final word ‘fire’ is sung higher than the previous two, emphasising what's really been lost for Dan. The realness of the visual image supports the narrative effectively and the change in key.

For the last part of the music video video, the pace slows down dramatically, and the visual image links in with this as Dan is walking right to left across the screen in slow motion. This helps capture the emotion behind the band and reinforces the lyrics between them. (3:53-4:13)

The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).

Close ups are a key feature of music videos which enable the viewer to see inside the real emotion of a music video and the performers. This often is created as a meaningful message from the artist’s behind the song. The audience then become familiar with the band as a whole. The demands from the record label are as big in this music video as Bastille are stylish and quirky, featuring the latest trends but styled in their own unique way to create an individual identity. Close-ups are also a way of revealing clear facial expressions and reactions within the song, often linking to the lyrics.

Dan Smith the leader singer, is focused on the majority of the time as the narrative of this song is dedicated to his real life relationship breakup experience. Therefore capturing his emotions during the song is important for the audience to see. For example, when he is looking down to the floor, making it look as if he is still hurting inside, showing he is still attached to the relationship. However on the other side Dan is seen to be laughing and joking in the car with the rest of the band highlighting his highs within the narrative.

The motif in this particular music video of Bastille’s follows a modern pattern, where cross cutting is predominantly seen as the video is structured between two interlinking videos, the narrative story and the artist’s actually singing the song.

There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

The notion of looking in “The Things We Lost in the Fire” is very minimal in comparison to other indie rock music videos out there. This is because it is narrative story based and offers more of a film professionalism approach where by the fourth wall is not broken between the actors and audience. This music video maintains a cinematic feel through as it has been filmed at a wide angle to create a more immersive experience for the audience.

However the notion of looking rule is an exception in terms of viewing the female body. The woman playing Dan’s ex girlfriend is filmed turning from right into the camera from standing side angled and smiling. This identifies a voyeuristic treatment of women within the video as she is the single woman that appears in the video. This type of visual image makes the audience feel apart of the performance and triggers men through the male gaze to enjoy how the women are portrayed. The male gaze isn’t a predominant feature through this video, which many pop videos do appear to include such as Taylor Swift and Ellie Golding. Fade

The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (a visual style)

Bastille’s music work tends to be based on true stories behind the band’s real life problems. This was especially focused on Dan Smith when he was a solo artist for Bastille.

The iconography does appear to be very visual in their music videos, as their style of outfit develops a pattern throughout their videos, which is stylish and within the indie rock genre constantly. This gives the band an identity and a label in the music industry which they stamp on each of their videos to give them there individuality.

A lot of Bastille’s music videos tend to be filmed in open air (water orientated), because they tend to be story narrative based with cross cutting into the artist’s singing part of the song. Bastille follow a very emotional trail with their music which is reflected in their slow paced songs. Dan Smith is the main focus in all of the music videos, although most of the band is featured in the story and the vocals. This is unusual as the band is male led with no females in the band. However females do appear in the narratives to make them appeal to a male audience as well as female.

There are often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc).

‘The things We Lost in the Fire’ doesn’t appear to project any clear intertextual references when comparing with similar genres and structures. However I do think that The film Twilight shares similar aspects within this music video. For example Twilight is based around open air mostly in a snowy forest setting, this is similar with the music video. Twilight is a romance about a man who is a vampire falling in love with a female human, but their relationship is never easy to reach for either of them. ‘The Things We Lost in the Fire’, is about the break up of a relationship and mentions the line ‘Things will never be the same again’, this links with how Bella from Twilight committing to the relationship has made her life completely different, meaning it will never be same again. The music video also has husky's running in the snowy location, these animals are also a big part of twilight. The album by Bastille is called ‘Bad Blood’, the vampires in twilight are a sign of bad blood to Bella’s family and friends, this offers a direct link which provides an intertextual reference by which the music video may have sparked inspiration from.

AVICIIWAKE ME UP

Tim Bergling who was born 8 September 1989, better known by his stage name Avicii is a Swedish electronic musician, DJ, remixer and record producer.Avicii was ranked third on DJ Mag in 2012 and 2013 and has been nominated twice for a Grammy Award, once for his work on "Sunshine" with David Guetta in 2012 and once for his song "Levels" in 2013. He released his debut studio album, True, in 2013. It received generally positive reviews from music critics, peaked within the top ten in more than fifteen countries and topped the Australian, Swedish, Danish and US charts. In 2015, Avicii released his second studio album, Stories.

“Wake Me Up” was released as the lead single from his debut studio album True on 17th of June 2013. American soul singer Aloe Blacc provides vocals for the tack and Mike Einziger of Incubus provides acoustic guitar. It was the third single to be written by Aileen Marie Quinn. “Wake Me Up” peaked at number one in much of Europe and charted well in various countries. The song has been described as a “summer anthem”.


• “Wake me up” By the solo artist Avicii is based mostly in the form of a narrative story, where a mother and daughter have arrived at this unusual town whereby they don’t feel welcome there. The mother then goes to a party and tells her daughter “get up pack your things”, and says that they are going “somewhere we belong”. When the mother is at the party the actual artist Avicii is featured in the music video singing on stage whilst Djing as well. These parts of the video are performance based and break up the long narrative story between the two female performers who carry the majority of the lyrics.

• The Lighting in the music video relies heavily on natural light throughout except for the festival/party scene whereby lighting equipment is sourced to light up the dark. This type of natural lighting reflects the slow pace of the song and offers connotations of exploration and adventure. When at the music festival the lighting is extremely bright and bold which fits In perfectly with the indie/electronic based music genre that Avicii is attempting to portray.


The colour palette in “Wake Me Up” is very subtle when the performance based shots are shown, e.g. dark colours to represent the old fashioned town where as more bright colour tones are seen to appear when the two females are in bed (white sheets) and in the music festival (pink and blue). These different palettes represent the change in mood effectively which gives the song more than just a story but an atmospheric feel.

The music video features around two central locations, an old town and a music festival, which the artist of the song is playing at. The two locations offer the audience completely opposite experience s within the song, which reflects the indie, individuality preference/qualities of the song.

The two performers in the music video and styled in very modern stylish outfits which fits inline with the genre and Avicii’s ideal look, (the mother may look attractive to a male audience as she wear a military jacket, beany hat, skinny blue jeans and brown high-top heeled boots looking powerful and fierce).


Avicii’s song ‘Wake Me Up’ is based around a narrative story, therefore the lyrics within the song at some points clearly highlight what the performers are recreating in the audience’s head. The song does incorporate elements of performance however these have been cleverly placed within the story so that the narrative makes sense when matched with the performance. There is a clear illustrative link between the lyrics and visual which supports Andrew Goodwin’s theory.

The constant link between lyrics and the narrative, effectively portray the song much powerfully in the audiences head, as the words are developed into more than just a song. The line “Guided by a beating heart” is accompanied by a birds eye shot of a performer supposedly playing a mother looking at her child lying in bed next to her, this creates the idea that Avicii is singing about these two performers.

“They say I'm caught up in a dream”, The woman is looking into the mirror with her arm on display, showing a two option button like feature, suggesting she is part of a dream which you can either fast forward or rewind. This links to the line ‘Wake me up when I'm wiser and I'm older”, possibly that these buttons allow her to do this or, if she wishes that they did.


The music in the song has a clear relationship with the visuals on screen. When the music video begins the song is quite slow paced and less energetic in terms of energy, this is the same as the end of the music video. (When the mother and child are getting out of bed / When the mother wakes up the child). Slow motion in the video also highlights the slow pace. However the video creates a more upbeat atmosphere as the story unravels and the performers interact with ‘society’.

The atmosphere of the video is quite subtle in terms of story and how its portrayed, this makes the song seem quite calm. However when the chorus is repeated for the final time, the singer Avicii puts emphasis on the end of words. E.g. “All this time I was finding myself” and “When I’m wiser and I’m older”.

Near to the end of the video, the tone and atmosphere of the visuals increase dramatically as there are scenes of partying and clubbing in strobe lighting while people are dancing in crowds. Therefore I conclude that I think the relationship between music and visuals is also illustrative and clearly linked.


Plenty of close-ups have been incorporated in the music video visuals fulfilling the demands of the record label. Close-ups are a crucial part of music videos as they allow the performers faces to be presented in a clear and powerful way so that they facial expressions are easily identifiable. It also clearly shows direction of the performers eyes and can in this instance display the music festival audience enjoying the music and atmosphere.

Most of the close-ups in this music video resemble the unwelcomed attitude of the rural countryside village who make the woman and child seem out of their comfort zone. (Close-ups of the village residents glaring at them). The excitement/enjoyment of the young party youth is also captured through close-ups and elements of the song being mimed to by Avicii.

The fast pace editing in the music festival scene is very extreme therefore the close-ups only appear for less than a second, creating a collage of images to portray their expression and mood as a whole.


There is plenty of reference to notion of looking at screens within the music video ‘Wake Me Up’, which directly creates a more personal relationship between the performer and the audience viewer. For example, when the woman and child step out of the house and into the rural countryside village, the local residents glare at them. They has been framed in close-ups with the residents faces positioned centrally whilst looking directly in the camera lense. This creates an uncomfortable atmosphere for the audience viewer and allows them to feel apart of the video, as they are directly being looked at.

Voyeuristic treatment of women is in some way identifiable in the video, which is used as a attraction and appeal for the male audience to enjoy/find interest in. For example when the woman is in bed in her white nighty and when she has her eyes closed and and is leaning slightly backwards away from the camera pushing her hair back. She also portrays a countertype of a stereotypical woman as she is displayed as being powerful and courageous, (woman riding horse in military jacket).

The notion of looking is also reiterated near the end when people at at the music party enjoying themselves. One of them lifts out a camera lense and in the frame shot you can see them smiling through the camera lense of the phone. This is almost a double screen identity as the audience is looking through two lenses.

The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (a visual style)

All of Avicii’s work has a very subtle narrative story motif which tend to follow a deep emotional relationship between the performer and real life occurrences, which people experience. This is one of the reasons Avicii has a very strong fan based audience, because there is purpose behind his music videos. Very rarely does Avicii choose to incorporate performance into his visuals as he doesn’t think they connect with the audience in the same way narrative stories do.

Another motif is the locations which his music videos are based in. Most of them focus upon rural landscapes where a real breath-taking view can be photographed, however some of them adopt a more urban environment, or a combination of the two.

Avicii has also adopted a fashion motif in his videos, showing he is aware of the latest trends and ‘looks’. This includes such stylish looks involving, leather/denim/bright bling jewelry.

Avicii’s music videos are well known to use slow motion and have a lot of slow paced movement/shots, which effectively make the videos more thought-provoking and imaginative in terms of body movement.

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The music video ‘Wake Me Up’ makes a direct intertextual reference to the American Television series ‘The Walking Dead’. In the music video the woman leaves the child in bed and goes searching for somewhere where they feel more welcome and ‘at home’. The shot is high angled and looks down at the woman riding a horse into an urban city environment. In ‘The Walking Dead’ a male is seen riding on an empty side of a motorway into a city. The context of the series is about survival and finding a place to be safe which links the lyrics “All this time I didn’t know I was lost”.

The music video also makes direct intertextual reference as a marketing tool/promotion for the design clothing company Ralph Lauren, which is featured on the saddle of the horse before the woman gets on to it. The company is again promoted on a wall behind the horse when she arrives in the city.

Another intertextual marketing tool is used for the consumer electronic company Sony, promoting the Sony Xperia when they use the phone to take a photo in the music festival audience crowd.

ThE HuNnABonfire

Ryan Potter

Dan Dorney

Jermaine Angin

Jack Metcalfe

The Hunna are a four-piece indie rock band from Hertfordshire, England. Singer/guitarist Ryan Potter, lead guitarist Dan Dorney, bassist Jermaine Angin, and drummer Jack Metcalfe quickly built a local following before teaming up with producer Tim Larcombe (Lana Del Rey, Halsey) to record their debut single. "Bonfires" and its B-side, "She's Casual," were released in October 2015, coinciding with the Hunna's first supporting tour with Bristol-based band Coasts. They spent much of 2016 in the studio recording their debut album 100, which saw release later the same year.


The song ‘Bonfire’ by The Hunna is both a combination of performance and narrative story, which involves the whole band on top of a roof partying and drinking alongside a handful of separate performers. Some very unpredictable dance routines have been given to the background performers while the band sing at the front central part of the framing shots. The bands are directly singing to the audience through the camera, creating an awareness that takes away the believability of the narrative story.

Lighting is the music video relies heavily on natural light as it is filmed in daylight hours on top of a roof. This would have made filming quite lengthy and more challenging to get right. The lighting has however been perfectly executed as throughout the video the lighting intensity remains the same. Part of the filming does involve an inside brick wall room which may have required some non-naturalistic lighting equipment to enhance the instruments and facial expressions.


The editing is fast paced cross cutting between shots to create a sense of excitement and chaotic atmosphere, which the band are surrounded by. The editing also makes the style of genre increasingly more upbeat and different – indie rock. The video contains many events which make the whole video appealing to an aspiring young indie audience. (drinking/beer pong/singing etc).

The music video is set in one location however differs between the rooftop of a tall building and a few empty rooms inside. This location supports the chaotic structure of the music video and enables the shots to provide continuity and a good background for the style of the genre.

The band ‘The Hunna’ are styled in a very modern way whilst combining their stylish youth looks as a whole which works within their overall image. This includes a range of different arm length leather jackets/blacked –out glasses and dark colours in general to create a subtle ‘look’.


“And we blew up like a bonfire” Two of the band members make some kind of hand greeting with their knuckles emphasising how the bonfire exploded, as the line is said as the same time as this shot is framed on screen.

“When you come at me with that face” Three women’s faces appear in the music video for no longer than half a second duration each, displaying a quick cross cutting technique. All of women are centrally framed and looking directly into the camera lense. This breaks the fourth wall between the performer and the viewer, as they are aware of their audience.

“So let’s burn this to ashes ” A male performer is centrally positioned in the frame holding a baseball bat in his right hand upright whilst looking directly into the lense. The lyric suggests violence and the illustration supports the intensity of the lyric, whilst making the purpose behind it more realistic. The backdrop of the image is also quite reflective of a plain and simple idea , which relates to burning ashes, as nothing is left after something has been burned.


There is a clear illustrative and amplifying relationship link between the music and visuals on screen throughout the music video. For example, when the video pace is upbeat and fast the performers and the band’s movement is quick and stylish, however when the pace drops and the chorus is slowed down, slow motion video action is apparent, where the movement becomes more easy to watch and clearly indicates a change in the pitch of the chorus.

The atmosphere of the music video holds the same continuity mostly, as it’s positive and enjoyable for both for performers and the audience to watch. The repetition of the lyrics, especially the chorus ‘blew up like a bonfire’ displays a strong relationship with the on screen visuals of the band partying and singing into the camera’s lense.

At the end of the video after the slow motion the music stops and there are a few still images will stay on screen for a short few second duration. For example an empty plastic cup with some alcohol split on the floor besides it, this pulls the pace of the video down and indicates to the audience that the song has passed the climax and that the song is drawing to the end.


The demands of the record label have been clearly used effectively in this music video ‘Bonfire’ as plenty of close-ups are captured of the band/performers enjoying themselves on the roof and in the building. This creates a strong link between the illustrative visual style of the narrative story and the performance based elements where the band are framed singing into the microphone/playing the instruments, e.g. guitar and drums.

The close-ups also display clear emotion and expression from the bands faces, particularly when they are singing to the song. Their passion, enjoyment and involvement in the song is clearly shown through the use of close-ups. The combination of shots all together, varying between close-ups and medium/long shots creates a clear representation of visual work, providing the audience with knowledge of the surroundings taking place in and around the building.

The close-ups of the artist are also used to capture the slow paced parts of the song and how the artist may respond to the lyrics when performing them. Eye contact is also effectively addressed by the artist making direct eye contact with the camera lense.


There is an extreme use of referencing to the notion of looking at screens in ‘Bonfire’. During the video many of band members and background performers are looking directly into the camera which makes the audience feel apart of the performance and connects them through the lyrics-visual. When only one person is in the frame they are always centrally positioned in the shot with minimal background landscape so that there is no distraction. This is mostly apparent when a it is a woman, as the male gaze is triggered from a male audience who will see the women as more of a sexual object. This voyeuristic treatment of the female body is displayed in many ways, such as the licking of the tongue when rolling ‘drugs’ which is held in front of her by a male, or the style of minimal outfit with the ‘cute’ cunny rabbit masks/helmets on, who are dancing in a very sexual manner.

The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (a visual style) There are a few developed motifs which the artist

‘The Hunna’ clearly adopts in their music videos. In terms of location and setting the outside rural environment is constantly used for the narrative story/performance.

Another motif is their style of outfit, which is always similar in terms of looking indie-rock and appealing to their aspiring targeted audience. The band are always individually styled so that you can identify each artist however together the colour scheme which they wear has been thought about and selected carefully, so that a professional look is always directed. (In Bonfire its more of a casual, scruffy look, where as in the song ‘You and Me’ brighter blue tones of colour are incorporated into their outfit to fit with the pace and style of the song.

A clear motif which seems to re appear in most of ‘The Hunna’s’ videos is a short introduction of words centrally framed on the first few shots of the video. In the following order – “High Time” – “300” – “The Hunna” and then the name of the song. This gives a cinematic looks which is evident in the beginning of films.


The music video ‘Bonfire’ by The Hunna is youth party orientated throughout the video, which has a strong intertextual reference to many British Television program series like ‘Skins’ which is about a group of young people who are failing at school and attend parties and get drunk most of the time. The shots are very similar scenes to that of ‘Bonfire’. The dress sense is also very similar, in terms of it being quirky, unusual and individual, making them stand out from the crowd.

The behavior and action of the ‘youth’ in ‘Bonfire’ is very childish which is similar is skins, for example, spilling alcohol in some form (plastic cups/ glass bottles). They both feature a lot of background performers whilst the band in ‘Bonfire’ and the main characters in the TV Series ‘Skins’ are centrally positioned in most shots.

Fast pace action and movement of the camera is also similar in both of these, with more handheld being featured in ‘Skins’ and even more Jerkier movement in the music video.

elliot woodward music video anaylsis

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