analysis of music video (3)

media representations

The female artist is being represented in a peaceful and innocent way because from the first shot we get a  extreme close up of her eyes which can connotate being innocent. She is wearing a white top which connotates purity. She is being represented by her major record label Interscope who also own artists like U2,Keri Hilson and the pussycat dolls. Who have all had a good amount of successful music video's. So Interscope have made her look like a respectable performer because it will make her look like a role model to young fans and a fantastic artist to everybody else. This is represented fair and accurate because Ellie Goulding (the artist) is not known for any bad drug or alcohol habits so it represents her correctly. Opportunities for self-representation exist for the artist because she stars in her own music video.

media language and forms
For most of the music video Ellie Goulding is singing in a field and then in the lighthouse in front of the house which makes her look powerful because the light has great effect on her face. There is a lot of close up shots of her face,eyes and mouth. This has a high level of meaning because we as the audience are getting involved with how she feels. The lighthouse light could have significance to the music video because 'lights' is what her album is called which the song is published on. The non verbal structures of meaning in the text make the music video because everything in the set counts and adds to the genre conventions. Ellie Gouldings hand gestures are very non structured and fit in with the speed of the song it adds to the softness of her performance. Her facial expressions show that she is interested in performing the song to her audience we can tell this because when she is doing so she interacts with the audience by perfectly miming to the music,by doing this it positions the audience in a way which they will be more interested in the lyrics. The clothing that she is wearing is very relaxed and goes with the setting of the music video because she is wearing a white top and shorts. The white top connotes innocence and purity,and ironically so does her long blonde locks. She looks like she fits in well with the mise-en-scene.

The significance of the mise-en-scene is that it creates the genre of the song to the audience,the clothing looks expensive and that says something about the artist and how successful she is. The significance of editing and camera shots is to go with the timing of the song and to make it look continuous and professional whilst staying in time. The lighting goes with the mood of the song for example in this music video the lighting is not too bright and not too dim because the song is a slow pop song. Also the set is significant because it links with the lyrics of the song,it is a very empty and silent place and in the lyrics she says 'we wait for a silence' also the lyric 'were interrupted by the heat of the sun' is sang when she is standing in front of the bright light which could connotate the sun but instead its the lighthouse light. There is only two settings which is the field and the lighthouse the significance of this is that the lighthouse is on the field so it uses continuity,its more realistic. The reason that the soundtrack is put on top of the music video is because when filming anything could of ruined the sound especially that it is filmed near the sea you didn't want to hear the roars of the waves or the wind because it was a countryside setting. It helps make the music video more professional if all you hear is the soundtrack. The visual techniques in the music video what help to convey meaning are the editing and camera shots because it conveys the artists love for music with close ups of her eyes and her mouth whilst she is singing in time with the lyrics.

narrative

The narrative is organised and structured into a performance based form because 100% of the time the artist is interacting with the audience by singing into the camera. The audience are positioned to watch the music video and think its in England because of the stereotypical British lighthouse,fields and sea's. There is no narrative in this music video so the audience will be made to watch the artist show of her talent. There is only one character in the music video and that is the artist. She is delineated in a lonely way because she is on her own and looks like she is searching for something. Her narrative function is to perform and sing the song and to look like she is enjoying it. The music video its self uses techniques of identification and alienation to draw in the audience because of the beautiful scenery and the artists interaction with the audience through the close ups of her eyes and face. The role of the sound in the music video is because it is the most important convetion in a music video because it is put over the camera shots and editing to make continuity because the artist has to sing the song what links with the music video and without no sound there would be no music video and no performance. The iconography of the lighthouse has a role within the performance in the music video because of the name of the artist's album 'lights' and it is wear the artists starts performing in the first 38 seconds of the song and we see her walking there to perform from the start of the song and to sing some more at 1.24 she runs to the top of the lighthouse. The genre of the music video is pop which means it has a major role in the music video because a big convention of pop is performing and this is all the artist does in this certain music video. Also the editing role in the music video is important because at 2 minutes 10 seconds the shot has been slowed down whilst she is holding the white sheet like some move from a ballerina performance. I think because the music video is based on performance that there are no major themes to represent itself.

genre

The genre of the music video and the artist its self is indie pop. I can tell this because of the major generic conventions shown throughout the promotional music video. For example the colours chosen by the music director are very light colours but not too bright. The pace of the music goes very well with the mise-en-scene of the video. You can also tell that it is indie pop because not much is going on in the video its easy to understand. The major generic convention within the music video are that is it performance based and that she has been manufactured to look a certain way with her blonde hair and perfect skin. Her makeup is very natural which goes with the calmness of the video. The major iconographic features of the text are the setting because it fits with the mood of the song and makes the artist look good in the video. The character is not generically determined too much because she does not have distinctive features what you would remember her by for example you remember lady gaga for her amazing weird outfits. But with Ellie Goulding she is just geneuially generically determined. I don't think the audiences generic expectations of the text are either full filled or cheated by the text. Because it is indie pop nothing is too much or over the top like normal pop music videos. The music video conforms to the characteristics of the indie pop genre because of the pase of the song,the setting and the editing. The producer of the music video is 'Starsmith' who has famoulsy produced alot of Ellies music videos for example 'guns and horses' and 'under the sheets' was produced by him. So this could mean that he knows how to work with Ellie and what works well with her,this is why the video has had a great outcome.

media institutions

Interscope is the institution source of the text,as it is Ellies record label. The music video has been influenced by the institution to have a well paid director and producer to it is a successful music video. Universal music group is a major record label so this matters greatly to the production of the music video because they go out of their way to make sure there artist is making money to carry on making them successful and give there record company a good reputation.The text has been distributed on social networking sites like facebook and twitter by the star and also her website. And as like any other music video it has been distributed on music channels and music TV shows. Which makes it have a great chance of success.

media audiences

The text is addressed at music fans,pop fans,pop indie fans and Ellie Gouldings fans. The target audience are primary females on the other hand the secondary auidence are males. The age range will be towards the younger audience aged from 14-25 because from the age of 14+ you can go to pop concerts and that will widen the fan base. Also because stereotypically pop music is generically made for the younger audience. The music video treats the audiences characteristics positively because of the amount of times Ellie sings into the camera towards the audience,from this music video you can not assume what the audience are like because it doesn't have many shots what stand out,its not been edited to a major extent. The audience are likely to receive the music video on youtube or music channels which also shows its a younger audience because teenagers are stereotypically always on the internet or watching TV so they are more likely to catch the music video. After The artist won the new music award on the Brits i assume that the size of the audience are huge because it gave her a great opportunity to promote herself as this brand new artist to the wide British audience and since this we can continued to see her as a rising star. I don't think the audience will read the music video very well because it doesn't have a narrative its just about the music lyrics. On the other hand i think the music video works very well and as a audience member i think it shows of the artists talent and focus's more on her performance unlike other pop music artists where it is all about the look and the story involved. My age,gender and background have a huge influence on my evaluation because i am the target audience.

Anaylysing this video influenced me to shoot some of my footage in a field as well as in a pure coloured greens sreen.