Monday, 11 July 2016

Task 8 - Analysis of Music Videos (3)

The third music video that I am going to be analysing is 'Fight Song' by Rachel Platten.



This video is from the genre of pop. Pop music videos are usually set in a bright place, such as on a beach, with people having a good time. This music video does not fit the typical pop video conventions at the very start as Rachel Platten is seen looking very downtrodden in different settings. These settings include a dark bedroom and a dark stairwell. However, as the video goes on, we see Rachel looking happier and happier and she is eventually shown to be on a beach on a sunny day. So, the video does not fit the typical pop video stereotype at first but does as the video ends. 

In this video, there is a clear relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. Towards the middle of the video, there is a lyric which says "I still believe". This line represents someone who is not going to give up on their dreams and this is represented in the visuals. The image that goes along with this lyric is Rachel crossing a road looking very determined. This tells the audience that she is not going to give up on her dream and will do anything to get it. 



There is a clear relationship between the music and visuals in this video. There are a few examples in this video when it is edited so that it cuts in time with the beat. One example of this is at 1 minute 57 seconds into the video when Rachel is walking through a wood. She is shown looking happy and then when there is a loud beat of a drum, the visuals change to a waterfall. Another example of the video cutting with the beat is when there are a few drum beats and between each beat, an image of a new person smiling is shown. These visuals give the audience the sense that the people smiling are happy and have fought for things in their lives.  

Throughout the video there are close-ups of the artist. These let the audience know whose video they are watching and whose song they are listening to. The close-ups of Rachel give the audience the sense that she is frustrated because she has not been able to follow her dream of becoming a singer.  However, as we get further through the video, close-ups of Rachel show her looking happy. This tells the audience that she has fought for her dream to become a singer and it has finally happened. 

In one shot of this video, we see Rachel driving along. The camera then switches to a point of view shot when she is in her car and we see her looking out of the windscreen. This gives a notion of "looking". From the windscreen we can see palm trees and a bright day. This shot almost acts as a barrier between the non-typical pop music video and the usual pop music video as the view out of the windscreen in what you would expect to see in a video from this video. This gives the audience the sense that you are looking into what could be Rachel's future if she gets her dream of becoming a singer. 


In this video, the narrative and performance are combined to be one. The narrative in the video is that the artist is a struggling singer and wants to make her dream a reality. We see her perform in different settings, for example, a small club, while she tries to get her music career started. Towards the end of the video we see her singing by herself on a beach, possibly signalling that she is content with life. 



In conclusion, 'Fight Song' by Rachel Platten does not start off as a typical pop music video. This is because the artist is seen in different dark locations, which does not fit pop music video conventions. However, as the video progresses, it becomes more of a typical pop music video as we see Rachel in brighter locations.

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