While
coming up with our ideas for our music video we found that it followed the
typical narrative involving a boy, a girl and a breakup as well as the
character looking back on the memories that he shared with his girlfriend. We
soon found that the narrative was similar to the one found within the music
video for The Script's song 'Breakeven’. The music video is both narrative and performance
based and includes the band performing as well as having the vocalist as the
central protagonist within the narrative. The narrative is also fragmented as
it jumps between scenes of the vocalist where he is on his own, the couple
together, the female character and also the band performance.
The
use of black and white suggests his loneliness and sadness as his girlfriend
has just left him, while the colour used in the shots of his ex-girlfriend
contrasts this idea. This creates a relationship between the lyrics and the
visuals because the lyrics in the song are 'When a heart breaks, no it don't break
even' and so this suggests that she is the more dominant one and is happy
considering the break up. Whereas, his world is dark and he feels lost without
her. Over the top of the song, a non-diegetic female voice can be heard,
saying: 'What would I do without you?' This implies that the two characters are
close and so this creates enigma codes as it leaves the audience wondering who
the woman is and what would she do without him? This makes it more interesting
of the audience and grabs their attention straight away before the song has
begun. 
The
use of a close up shot conveys the singer's sadness as well as creating a star
image, which is essential because in most groups the audience associate the
band with the vocalist and could add to the band's signature. A close up has
also been used to show the couple when they are together, this gives a sense of
how close they are, it also adds to the theme of love and makes the narrative more
interesting and engaging if the audience are able to see more of the narrative
as opposed to just seeing his grief and sadness. The slow pace of edit matches
the speed of the music and so creates a relationship between the music and the
visuals. 
Rhythmic
cutting has also been used within the music video to match the speed of the
music video and makes it more interesting as it is cutting to the beat of the
song. During the music video there is lots of camera movement and there is a
shot where the camera is stationary, however during this shot there is something
still moving within the frame. The long shot duration creates a slow pace of
edit and so this matches the speed of the music. Low angles have been used to
show the woman's dominance within the narrative and so this makes her appear
more in control of the situation, this could make the audience feel sympathy or
even empathy for the character as he has also been made to look small and
vulnerable through the use of high angles. 
Low
angles have also been used however to show the couple's equal standing as
neither one of them are more dominant or vulnerable compared to the other. This
creates a happier and intimate scene as the two are together. Another high
angle has also been used to show the two characters' intimacy as well as making
them appear vulnerable. This suggests that they cannot be without each other;
however the audience knows that this isn't totally true. The use of natural and
soft lighting makes the characters appear more 'glamorous' as well as creating
a more romantic scene which goes with the typical boy and girl narrative. It
also creates lens flares and so this makes the shot appear more three
dimensional and adds depth. 
During
the performance scenes, the vocalist keeps checking his phone and so this
creates a link between the narrative and the performance because a clip of the
girl is in the phone and so he is reminding himself of her as well as hoping
she will ring and return to him perhaps. During this performance section there
is also flashes of light which may imply that he is watching a movie projector.
This creates the idea of voyeurism because we are watching some of the scenes
on the movie projector, there is also the idea of looking as we see him
watching the projector and so there is more than one element of voyeurism
taking place.
The
uses of backlighting create a halo effect around the subject's head and so this
adds depth to the scene and also makes them appear more 'glamorous'. A long
shot has been used to show the space between the characters, this shows the
distance in their relationship, the female character is walking away which
suggests that she is in control and more dominant. The use of slow motion
suggests that the feels ‘stuck’ because she is happy and he feels lost without
her. It also matches the slow pace of edit as well as the speed of the song.
High angles during the band performance allows the audience to see the crowd in
the shot, this creates juxtaposition because there are lots of people there
watching them perform, yet he feels sad and alone. 
We
found this music video effective because it creates both a sad and happy
atmosphere that gives the whole of the story and makes you feel sympathetic
towards the singer. We found the use of black and white very effective as it
adds to the dark and sad atmosphere as well as showing the growing distance between
the couple, in both physical and emotional distance. The way that the narrative
was also incorporated into the performance made us think about how we could
make our music video more interesting.
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