GENRE
The video for 'Smile' foregrounds Lily Allen performing the song, as she is miming the words throughout the duration. This performance is also combined with a narrative which matches the lyrics of the song. However, the main genre of Lily Allen's music is pop, but this particular song could be placed in the ska category because of it's beat.
NARRATIVE
The narrative focuses on Lily getting revenge on her boyfriend for cheating on her. Also, the narrative illustrates and amplifies the meanings in the song. The music video has a clear beginning, middle and end. The beginning shows Lily sat at home by herself eating chocolate and being upset. The middle is when Lily is getting revenge on her ex-boyfriend. The end is Lily walking down the middle of the street and being happy. The narrative is generally linear but with lots of ellipsis and flashbacks. For example, at the start Lily is sat on her bed alone, there are jump-cuts to her sat on her bed with her boyfriend and then back to present day again. This suggests that the flashbacks are Lily's thoughts and memories. The characters relate to conventional archetypes, for example, Lily is the hero, her ex is the villain and the people who attack him are the helpers. There are also some examples of binary oppositions in the video e.g. good v bad, male v female, happy v sad, feminine v masculine, hero v villain. These oppositions convey important meanings in the narrative and link to the lyrics.
LANGUAGE - MISE EN SCENE
There are many key signifiers in the mise en scene of this music video. One important signifier is portraying Lily as girly but tough. She wears long dresses and pink eyeshadow, however her actions showing her getting revenge on her ex-boyfriend aren't associated with femininity. Therefore, performance and costume in the video are opposing Lily's image. Also, Lily's facial expressions link to the theme of the song and show the change she's gone through from the beginning to the end of the video. At the beginning she's upset in her room and bored in the cafe listening to her ex, but by the end she's walking down the street and smiling. Another key signifier in the video is the settings. Lily's flat is brightly coloured with orange walls and seems more homely and lived-in, whereas the man's flat has white walls and black furniture and all his possessions are neat, therefore it doesn't really look like someone lives there. This demonstrates the binary oppositions mentioned earlier of male v female and hero v villain, conveying men as the villains. It also allows the audience to differentiate between the man and the woman. The other characters are also important. Their clothing depicts them as 'chavs,' and their actions are a stereotypical view of what 'chavs' do, e.g. beating people up and breaking into houses. The final scene of Lily walking down the middle of the road, shows she's changed and she's now happy to move on. Walking down the middle of the road signifies confidence, rebellion and non-conformity.
LANGUAGE - CAMERA
There are many shots in the 'Smile' video that convey certain meanings to the audience. One shot that's used frequently is close-ups on Lily's face while she's singing. This shows her facial expressions and informs the audience on how Lily's feeling. There are many mid shots used to show Lily's face, hair, jewellery and costume. However, there are longer shots in the bedroom to emphasise her aloneness. Also, in the bedroom there are frequent tracking shots so the audience can see the surroundings as well as the characters. During the violent scenes a hand-held camera is used, which makes the audience feel like they're part of the gang and that's their point of view. This gives a sense of realism and involvement. Overall, there are no overly dramatic shots. Maybe this is due to the budget, because this was Lily Allen's debut song after being signed perhaps her record label weren't sure whether she'd be a success or not so they didn't want to spend much on her first music video.
LANGUAGE - EDITING
The editing for the video is generally fast-paced, so it keeps to the beat of the song, and the fast-spoken lyrics. The first prominent example of editing is the opening flashbacks which show Lily alone, then with her boyfriend, then alone again. These flashbacks represent her thoughts, memories and possibly her wishes of what will happen. Some continuity editing is used in the narrative scenes, for example when Lily is paying people to beat her ex-boyfriend up. There's also cross-cutting between the performance and narrative scenes and the shot-reverse-shot technique is used to show the conversation in the cafe.
REPRESENTATION
Lily Allen is represented as feminine but tough, through her costume especially. She wears lots of make-up and dresses, but also trainers, heavy jewellery and her hair is up. Those last few factors aren't associated with femininity. The main gender representation is between the 2 main characters. In the song lyrics, the female is innocent and the male is seen as the 'bad guy.' However, because the video uses amplification it shows the female being the malicious one by getting revenge, and the male being more innocent. But, listening to the lyrics Lily's actions in the video are justified. Also, the representation of social class is predominant. The setting shows them in a working class cafe, and their flats aren't extravagant or spacious. These characters are represented as just normal, everyday people.
AUDIENCE
The record company would've had to choose a target audience for this video and use techniques to connect with them. In the song lyrics, Lily Allen addresses 'you' or her ex-boyfriend directly. Another technique is occasional eye-contact and sly smiles, which build up intimacy with the audience. Also, the audience, especially females, would pleasure in sharing Lily's revenge. The video might influence female fans to be less accepting of male dishonesty in relationships. As well as that, viewers might find the video useful in thinking about their own relationships.
'The Golden Path' by The Chemical Brothers
GENRE
The Chemical Brothers' video for 'The Golden Path' has a narrative but no performance by the artists. Throughout their career, The Chemical Brothers have developed their own style/genre of video. Therefore, as soon as a video by this artist comes on, fans are easily able to recognise the artist, even though they're hardly ever featured in the video. This is evident in the video for 'The Golden Path.' In relation to the music, the genre is dance music or drum and bass. This is linked to in the video in the dancing at the end.
NARRATIVE
At the start of the video, the man goes to work; the lyrics suggest he thinks work is 'hell.' However, sometimes he escapes to a hippy-populated field. This shows a contrast between the dull setting and characters in his office, to the bright and happy setting and characters in the field. There's a slight connectivity between the lyrics and the video, however the video amplifies the meanings in the lyrics. For example, the lyrics describe some sort of hell whereas in the video he's walking into work. Also, the lyrics describe the devil/demon with flashing lights and the video shows a printer with flashing lights. Lastly, the lyrics talk about a volcano and the coffee flask explodes like a volcano. The video has a clear beginning, middle and end structure. The beginning shows the main character walking to work, where he crosses the road without looking. This shows that his days must be repetitive, because he's so used to crossing that road that he doesn't need to look for cars anymore. Then he gets into the lift. The middle is where he's transported to a better world that contrasts with the workplace because it's happy and colourful. The end is when he escapes the dull workplace for good so he can stay in his happy place. This video is linear throughout. The linear narrative structure provides a sense of progression. There are also clear character types shown in the video. The man's boss is the 'villain' because he gives the main character a low wage. The worker is the 'princess' because he's not amazing at his job, he gets a bad wage and his life seems generally dull, therefore he's sort of a damsel in distress who needs rescuing. The girl and the hippies are the heroes. This is because they're free to do what they want and they save/rescue the worker from a bad life and job. The binary opposites demonstrated are stress/calm, colour/black and white, work/play, control/freedom, good/bad and happy/sad.
MISE EN SCENE
Costume
The main character wears a scruffy suit, showing his low wage. The girl that he meets in the field wears a yellow dress, which is hippy like. Also, alot of the hippies wear some sort of flower/floral clothing to fit with their stereotype. When the man takes off his suit to escape his dull life for good, he wears a white top and underwear which symbolises freedom.
Lighting
There are dull lights in the office, which enhances the natural colourful lights when the video shifts into the field outside.
Acting
The main character is a white male in his 20s. He is also the love interest for the main white female character. She is a hippy and also in her 20s. The boss is older and looks in his 50s.
Make-up and hair
The man's hair is tidy for work and messy when he's in the fields. This highlights the contrast even more, between both the settings.
Props
The following props are seen in this music video:
-Photocopier - Shows working environment
-Computer
-Pay check
-Magazines
-Papers
-Coffee machine
-Doughnut - Represents relationshipAll these props represent one half of the music video; the part where the main character's in work. The following props represent the hippy part of the music video: smiley face, yellow campervan, flowers around neck, record player and bubbles.
Setting
The first part of the music video is set in a dull office. It's also dull outside when the man's walking to work. The only place that isn't dull is the hippy field, which is colourful. This links with the binary opposite good v bad and happy v sad, because the field is good and happy, and the office is bad and sad.
CAMERA
The first prominent shot is a close up of the man with the Sun behind him. This shows how miserable he is. Another close up is used showing the pay slip. This shows that the man's job isn't paying well. Next, there's a hand held shot as the boss walks into his office, which shows his boss' anger at him. Then, there's an over shoulder shot as the boss stands over him, showing the boss' power over the worker. When the main character escapes to the field, there's a full shot showing the hippies which highlights their freedom. Then he comes back to work, and realises that the life the hippies lead is much better so he decides to take off his suit and escape back into the happy field. As he's getting unchanged he's shown in a 2 shot, which shows his co-workers confusion at his actions. Finally, a point of view shot is used as the man and women spin around in the field, showing them having fun and being happy.
EDITING
In this music video, there's lots of continuity editing, in order for the audience to follow and understand the story/narrative of the man's fantasy. To highlight even more the contrast between the fantasy hippy place and in work, the editing changes. There are slow cuts in the fantasy hippy place and fast cuts when the main character's in work. There are also various weird, experimental transitions that wouldn't normally be found in a music video.
REPRESENTATION
The idea of the video exactly matching with the lyrics in this way shows The Chemical Brothers as free-spirited, non-conforming artists and the lead male represents this as he is going off into a dream world and not conforming to what's expected e.g. going to work etc. The work place is seen as boring with bland colours which shows the main character's life style. However, the dream world is colourful and everyone is having fun. This shows what he aspires to be.
AUDIENCE
The target audience for this video is definitely youth, possibly people in there 20s who're old enough to be working, so they can relate to the character, but still young. This video would appeal to the audience because it dramatises the fantasies of young people in boring jobs. The audience may be influenced to reject boring work in favour of pleasure e.g. dancing. However, if they don't take action themselves, they will take pleasure in watching someone live out their fantasies.
'Higher Ground' by Red Hot Chilli Peppers
GENRE
This video shows the band performing the song in front of a bluescreen, which is replaced by different images in the background. However, there's no narrative or characters. The genre of the music is rock/funk, which is linked to in the fact that the video shows musicians playing their instrument very dramatically.
NARRATIVE
The song is about the 'world' going round. It also mentions people having wars and serious issues like that. The images in the background link to this general narrative. This video is a montage, therefore it doesn't have a linear narrative structure.
BINARY OPPOSITES
-Black and white v Colour
-Past v. Present
-Band v. World
-Individuals v. Crowds
MISE EN SCENE
One of the first things you notice in the video is the colourful costumes and the bright colours of the instruments, which reverses the stereotypical image of a rock band. Also, the singer is topless, therefore his muscles give a macho image. The blue-screen background allows different things to be portrayed through the setting. The background changes from black and white old footage to colourful animations. Another prominent background that stood out was the kaleidoscope image, where the 4 bandmembers were lying head to head while kaleidoscope patterns rotated in the background. This image of rotating is recurring. It is repeated when people are dancing in a circle. Maybe the rotating theme relates to the lyrics about the world and the pattern and people are turning like the world.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
In this music video, there are a wide range of different shots used. One predominant shot is tracking shots which are used alot, going towards and around the performers. There are also low angles and canted (dutch) angles. Aswell as that, there are high angle shots looking down on the group of people and overhead shots looking down on the band with the kaleidoscope image in the background.
EDITING
The fast pace of the editing reflects the heavy/fast tempo of the song. Montage editing is demonstrated in the background blue screen images. The lipsynching by the band members creates continuity.
AUDIENCE
When this music video was made in the late 80s, it would've attracted a young audience. The bright colours and energetic performance appeals to youth values. The audience would experience pleasure in watching the over-the-top performance by the charismatic singer and musicians. Also, the audience might be influenced by the clothes and the fashions in the video.
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