caramedia7-blog

[caramedia7-blog]

The Story of the Pen

[caramedia7-blog]

Someone You Loved - Music Video Analysis

As the music video fades in, we hear the diegetic sounds of the wind and an approaching train. As the camera dollys and slowly zooms into the man standing on the platform we start to hear a sound effect of a heartbeat, at this point it is unclear if it is diegetic or non-diegetic as the man is wearing headphones. This then cuts to an establishing shot of a lonely car in a carpark on a rainy night, then to inside the car with the man and his headphones in. The first narrative then begins, with eye-level shots we see the man putting out his washing, and then the camera starts tracking him whilst he is walking, both times he is seen wearing his headphones. There are quite a few shots throughout this music video which are shot either in bushes, in hallways, or generally away from the characters, giving a real sense of separation from the narrative, like the audience is watching it happen from afar. There is a close up shot of the man taking out his headphones before discovering a letter, therefore leading onto the next narrative. The editing first shows the man lying on his bed and then closing his eyes, again with his headphones in, and then cuts to scenes of him in the hospital with his wife in a flashback/dream scene, therefore revealing a whole other part to the storyline. The hospital bed, the machines, and the outfits are the mise-en-scene that the audience will immediately see and understand. Then it cuts back to the camera tracking him as he walks, but then the camera purposefully switches perspectives to introduce a new character, and therefore another narrative, with a long shot afterwards to show the separation between them. The editing then shows both of the two emotional narratives separately, helping the audience to understand the story more. Then shows an eye-level close up with a zoom in of the man with his headphones with very cold lighting and a very sad face. Then the two narratives merge together, using lots of match-on-action to show the whole story. Editing then cuts to a shot of him and his wife in hospital, with dark but warm lighting. Then cuts to a reveal of the scar of the woman, showing the link between his wife’s heart and hers, and therefore an understanding of the heartbeats that the man listens to with his headphones. The camera moves with their hands to touch her scar, then shows an over-the-shoulder shot and then moves closer and zooms in to show the man’s reaction. The scar is also mise-en-scene because the audience can understand the storylines and the overlaps between the narratives, without it, the whole story would not make sense. Editing cuts between the man showing two contrasting emotions, glee when with his wife, and despair when without her. The child then brings in a drawing, revealing more of the storyline with an emotional twist and completely links the two narratives together. The audience then finally sees the man smiling in present time, showing a happy ending to the story. The editing then cuts back to the man standing on the platform with his headphones in, the train having now passed him, heartbeat still audible, but now dollying away from him and slowly zooming out, as the scene fades to black.