Again, black and white is used, like in 'Iron', which helps to create a very contrasting, eye-catching effect, that also gives the video a darker feeling to it. I feel this could be very useful in our own video as we wish to explore some very dark themes that could be enhanced with the use of black and white.
The whole music video has a very dark feel to it due to the lack of lighter colours, but as the video progresses, it becomes subtly lighter but still contrasts with the big white city, which is a reoccurring shot within the music video. The white city also shows flags holding the crossed keys, which Woodkid used to describe his path into adulthood.
The video depicts a young boy running from a building into 'the wild', the video has a very 2D feel to it, as the shots are predominantly shot from the same side and use the same angle. As the boy runs, we begin to see more foliage and soon he is joined by a flock of crows that fly along with him, many shots are shown using close ups of the birds and a great portion of this is using slow motion, showing the details of the wings and the gleam of their feathers and to enhance the desperate but joyful running of the boy, which is also expressed with occasional close ups of his face.
Soon we begin to see monsters rising out of the Earth and the boy falls down, left to the mercy of the beast, who picks him up and runs with him. Soon, the monster drops him and the horde run with him, creating a small twist, as they become his allies. They provide the boy with a small wooden sword, shield and helmet to help protect him. Suddenly, the weak boy becomes a powerful character, despite the childlike defenses.
I feel that the video is trying to describe the boy running away from home, tears on his face, and growing up, and learning of the world. He has to learn to defend himself, and not everyone is as they seem. The changing of shots, show his destination- a large white city, perhaps this is where he believes he fill find his way in the adult life. It also shows the boy having fun, which is shown through his expression, and the shot where the boy flies up into the sky, showing that he feels powerful and thinks he can now do anything he sets his mind to. He is no longer affected by the monsters and runs with them with a smile on his face and begins to command them as he becomes braver and learns how to be a leader.
The monsters becoming increasingly larger and the horde builds up until there is even a boat of the monsters floating in the background, which represents his adventure and the distance he has traveled. The journey still has a rather child-like feel to it, as the boat represents a small pirate ship, as young boys often think of.
Finally, he reaches his destination and stares out at the large city with wonder, and raises his sword, victorious.
I like how they show the progression of his character using Mise-en-scene, both through his props, the helmet, sword and shield, but also through his face, as he becomes happier, though his face becomes dirtier, showing that he has suffered hardships but has persevered to reach his destination.
The shots are quite fast, cutting every 2 seconds to the beat at the beginning, which remains quite consistent despite the occasional extra shot or a slightly longer shot that could be 4 seconds long. This is to show his fear as he runs into the unknown and the sharp cuts show his hyper-awareness, as he looks behind him and is aware of his surroundings as one would be out alone in the dark.
The shots become quite a bit slower when they show the large city, as the camera movements are used to keep the audiences interest and long shots are used to enhance the longing for that place.
The shots slow down as he falls over and the monsters are introduced, despite the fast pace of the music, to make the scene last longer and to add tension to the scene as the boy is not getting up fast enough to run from the monsters. The shots become faster again as they all run together as everything was as it was before, but now the boy is stronger. Slower shots are used for the slow motion scenes to enhance what is being shown. Soon the speed begins to slow down, as the boy relaxes and more occurs within the shot as more monsters join him, he knows he is getting closer to his destination and the shots constantly change to the large city. Fast shots of each different characters are used before the long shot including the large boat create a contrast in speed and make the long shot more dramatic as it continues. I like how the shots remained about the same speed apart in time with the music except for the occasional longer or shorter shots, which seemed highlighted due to the change in speed.
This shows that despite the fast music, fast shots don't always have to be used to make the video effective. Long shots can also describe the story within the song and the beats of the song can help progress the story within the same shot.
This analysis has helped me to understand how I can use editing to describe the story within the music video and how different shot speeds and help to convey a feeling to the audience. I have also learnt the importance of Mise-en-scene though costume, expression and use of light and dark to help the audience interpret the music video.
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