This particular music video uses a narrative structure
throughout the video. The narrative is told in a circular way, the video starts
at the end. The story is told from another perspective, a person watching a
girl’s life.
Within the video there are many close ups of the
protagonist. This creates a feeling of sympathy from the audiences point of
view towards the central character because the lyrics link to what we are
seeing, a wasted life. The target audience for this video are that of the
younger generation, between the ages of 15 through to 25 year olds, being
similar to the artist’s age. The song is about drugs, this being a topic that
young people get caught up in. The music video appeals to both genders because,
although it is only a female in the video, it targets both because the song is
about drugs which relates to both genders.
The music begins when it has been established that drugs
have killed the girl lying in the room. The shot when the music does start is a
long shot of a girl lying on a bench with a sleeping bag. This suggests that
she is unfortunate and doesn’t have a place to live or sleep. This puts all
focus on the protagonist as the audience want to know more about her, creating
the enigma of why she is there and what had happened to her. Thus creating
curiosity about her and her life. There is a close up of her wiping her face
and pulling the sleeping bag in around her which shows the audience she is
cold, also making the audience feel more sympathy for her.
The mise-en-scene also suggests that the girl is unfortunate
because of the costume she is wearing. She is wearing ripped tights and also a
mans coat which is too big for her. Along with this she has thick makeup on
which suggests she has been trying anything for money. This is also shown later
on in the video when there is a series of close ups of the girl putting makeup
on in a dodgy flat and then the long shot oh her showing her legs to the car to
stop. This signifies that the girl has turned to prostitution, making the
audience sympathize yet again because she must be desperate for doing this. The
lighting is natural all the way through the video which makes it realistic.
However, there is key lighting on her face which shows her negative expression.
The protagonist has no power in the video, she is a damsel in distress and the
drugs are there to take her away from reality.
When the girl is walking up a hill on her own, nobody around
her creates a sense of panic for the girl. This shows because she starts to
look around to see if anyone is following her, also it can suggest that she
knows she’s in trouble and trying to look out for danger. It soon changes when
she looks up to the sky and smiles, then the shot changes to a mid-shot of her
opening her arms. This fives the sense of freedom which contrasts with the rest
of the video. The close ups in the video contrast with this shot because they
are very closed in and we feel like the girl is trying to escape but can’t.
This is the reason that she takes an overdose at the end of the video.
This video attracts it’s target audience because they are
people who could be involved and trapped and it shows that it isn’t a way out.
The circular structure intrigues the target audience causing them to be attracted
to the video.


No comments:
Post a Comment