CSS - an A2 music video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqCxeXeSBE8 - CSS - This Month, Day 10.

As the song begins there is complete darkness for a few seconds, this is then followed by a professional take, by beginning with stating the artist, and song that can usually be found in the bottom left of the screen. Though this only last a quick second, it is effective and the audience knows what it is, however it doesn’t stay on long enough to know what the song is or who the artist is unless the video is paused.

It then moves on to show a room that is often associated with jail cells as the walls are uneven and a mess, whilst there is a fold out bed, along with a little table. Although the camera angle is the same in this shot, it only actually lasts two seconds but gives the audience long enough to assess the situation. During these few seconds a vertical line moves across the screen two or three times which is an effective technique as in my opinion it appears as though people or time is passing by whilst the person stays in this room alone. The audience then sees a cut to the next shot with a closer shot so is now more of a long shot than an extreme long shot, which is more effective as then within a second it cuts to the next shot which is now a mid-shot of the person before flipping to the close up of the person’s shoes. This fits well with the song as they begin to tap there feet that is edited well as it fits in to the music perfectly before the same happening in the close-up of the person’s left hand and the shake of their head, all in time to the music. Due to the different camera angles and what is shown in the shots, the idea doesn’t become boring but intriguing.

The person then begins to scrape on the wall in time to the music where the camera flips from the side to behind and back to the side. Again, this technique is good as the audience’s eyes are not continuously on one thing, it also allows them to see the jump suit worn than has numbers on the back as though the person is an actual criminal, this fits in well with the big chunk missing out of the wall when we see the person drawing on it.

Again, a cut is used to the next part of the video, which is also a good idea, as due to the beat and genre of the song a cheesy transition or a fade of any sort wouldn’t work as well as a cut. The clip though gives us no idea about what we will be shown, as we see the person cutting things and shown already cut out guitars, along with the scissors and the bits and pieces left over. This makes the video appear more authentic as even though you don’t follow the person through as they make the complete set of cut outs, we are shown progress in each shot.

When the final design is shown it is possible to see CSS written at the top of the stadium made from the cut outs seen earlier. This is a subtle way of making the audience remember whom the artist is, as due to it being at a side angle it is not a prominent point along with the fact that this clip is only on for a couple of seconds.

This idea then moves on, and we see a close up of the paper puppet that was made, that dances to the music using ‘props’ like question marks and three different font styles on three separate pieces of card that say rude along with a card that has ‘woo-woo’ written on it. Although this idea seems quite simple, I think it would actually be quite time consuming and taken a lot of effort and thought to come up with this many camera shots and still be interesting. Although this shot lasts quite a long time, the use of these ‘props’ that has been edited to fit the words from the music it manages to keep our eyes on the video and listen to the song. Also the way the shot is taken, it makes what is in front of us appear that the audience is watching a film as the corners of the shot and round the edge are black or faded so it is like watching an old film or seeing old pictures.

The shots do vary slightly after this, whilst bringing us back to reality that this is a music video by showing the person placing some more figures into the ‘scene’ before going back to the shot before just with more puppets. It is clear the added puppets are there due to there being no singing at this point so it preoccupies the audience a little more as then after this more ‘props’ are used.

The camera then cuts again to showing the person mumbling the words to the song, which again has been edited well as it fits to the music. It then goes back to the making of the ‘stage’ and uses a couple more transitions such as a fade and also uses a pan to follow the person making the items.

After quickly flashing back to the ‘character’ on ‘stage’, it shows the person singing again and then shows a close-up of a puppet’s head moving its mouth to the music, which is funny and effective.

So far this video is definitely good but just goes a bit off after this as the three ‘rude’ signs and ‘woo-woo’ are a little out of time with the music and the video becomes a bit ‘samey’. After a few seconds though, it moves on to the puppet but with a different background (plain white with one word – rude – printed on that changes place and rotates) that again fits into the music. It also uses the technique of seeing the puppet in the same place but the background is zoomed into giving a different illusion. All of which create a good video with the use of numerous techniques without being too hard to film.

After analysing the lyrics of the three songs :

Cry Me Out - Pixie Lott
VV Brown - Shark in the Water
You've got the Love - Florence and the Machine

I realised that most of these were about couples so figured the last two would be harder to create a story for as neither persons I have asked to be in my video, on my front cover and poster, are male; also I felt there wasn't much of a storyline with 'You've got the Love' and 'Shark in the Water' wouldn't use a lot of locations with the idea I had for it and would be very long, repetitive clips. Therefore as a process of elimination I have decided to use 'Cry Me Out'.

You've got the Love - Florence and the Machine

Florence And The Machine widget by 6L &

Unlike, the last two lots of lyrics I analysed (VV Brown's and Pixie Lott's) this isn't about a relationship that's gone rotten, more like a relationship that has kept them strong through the bad times that have happened.

In the first few lines it seems that life can just get too much for us to handle sometimes - as I'm sure most people would agree - so "sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air, I know I can count on you, sometimes I feel like saying lord I just don't care, but you've got the love I need to see me through" gives us, as an audience, something to relate to. In this situation though, it seems either a close friend or a partner is the one she turns to, and that with their support she can get through anything. This is basically repeated through the entire song as "things go wrong no matter what I do" is then followed a couple of lines later by "you've got the love I need to see me through". Once again the next paragraph then says "when food is gone you are my daily meal", this shows that throughout the whole lyrics it is related to that one person's love that picks her up when she is feeling down, know matter what the problem.

Due to this, there isn't a lot to say about these lyrics hence why this blog is so short.

Pixie Lott - Cry Me Out lyrics

Pixie Lott widget by 6L &

Similarly to 'Shark in the Water', this song appears to be about love and relationships too as can be seen by just the first couple of lines.

"I got your emails, you just don't get females now, do you?" shows that she obviously likes someone, but 'he' isn't helping the matter much and is probably not saying the words she wants to hear, this follows on with "what's in my heart, is not in your head anyway" which just confirms that they appear to be on 'two different paths' to one another.

"Mate, you're too late, and you weren't worth the wait, now were you? It's out of my hands, since you blew your last chance when you played me" makes the lyrics a bit clearer though, as these next lines make it appear that they once had a 'thing' - whether that was a relationship or they were just getting close - and that even now he's saying one thing but she wants something else and he isn't making her feel 'special' (hence the "you just don't get females"). It also shows, he blew his chance with her from whatever he did the first time round and it seems likely she is now with someone else. It then moves into the chorus, and it is almost like she's insinuating that the first time, he hurt her and crying was mostly what she did, but because she doesn't believe what he is telling her now, she's saying the tears will be fake because he doesn't mean them and that whether he cries or not she isn't going back to him. She makes this clear by saying "baby you ain't all that, baby there's no way back, you can keep talkin', but baby I'm walkin' away".

The next few lines only verify my idea so far - "when I found out, you messed me about I was broken, back then I believed you, now I don't need you no more" - by explaining that they must have been close before but he did something to cause trouble within the relationship but at first she believed him but doesn't anymore because she is over him, or so she is trying to make out. The next four lines about a picture on his phone goes to show that must have been evidence on him having an affair and then it goes on to say she doesn't care about it now, it's over.

The repitition of the chorus' then go to show how much she is over him and wants him out of her life for good. This links with the title as it's like saying 'cry me out of your system so you're out of my life 'cause I'm happy now' so it gets the message across loud and clear.

VV Brown - Shark in the Water lyrics

Vv Brown widget by 6L &

(The first line should actually say "sometimes I get my head in a dilly" instead of 'dizzy' but the rest of the lyrics are correct.)

The first line appears to be in reference to being confused, and all over the place and we imagine she is on her own until we here the second line which is "feeling so lost, ticking you off", this could show that she feels she has no-one to talk to when they argue - assuming this a partner or potential partner.

The third line "now boy you know me well" could suggest that they are close friends as well as in a relationship, and due to the next couple of lines, we can imagine that she feels she can be herself around him and act silly. However it could be a sign of nervousness when she acts that way as the next couple of lines say "but when I'm in doubt, I open my mouth and the words come out" which could suggest that in some way she can't control what happens when she's nervous/unsure.

The song then carries on to show examples of the words "baby there's a shark in the water, there's something underneath my bed, oh, please believe what I said, baby there's a shark in the water, I caught them barking at the moon, better be soon" which makes absolutely no sense, which is the idea as she basically admits to rambling. It then goes to make even less sense with the next paragraph of lyrics unless you read deeply into it and say that she has cheated or something along those lines as it says "a sweet little lie, I cry wolf cry". This then leads into the next couple of lines, the last one saying "some tricks up my sleeve for noticing me". This could link with the idea that she has cheated because someone actually noticed her, or they might not actually be going out but she liked him and is now trying to make 'him' jealous by saying I'm better than you actually think.

The next paragraph says "oh yeah, wouldn't cause you any harm, I just want you in my arms" which could confirm they weren't going out and she was trying to tease him and prove how 'special' she is to help him make a 'move' on her and the lyrics that follow - "I can't help, I can't help myself" could suggest that she maybe shouldn't have done what she did but that was the only way she felt 'he' would see her the way she wanted. However, it appears that the idea fell apart because she then sings 'this is what I get for just winding you up" so it would make sense that she pushed him too far and that he doesn't want to be with her anymore. After a couple more lines, she also sings "please don't make too much of it, it ain't that serious" so she is now trying to make it all seem less a deal than it is.

After the whole song, it is easier to understand what is actually going on or we have a better idea at least. She likes someone and isn't sure if they like her back so she goes out and has some fun, proves that she is special and 'gets' with another person. The original person then finds out and she tries to explain but basically she only did it to make 'him' jealous and so when she's in doubt of how it is going or is nervous, she rambles, which is where the chorus' come into the song.

Top 3...

Since listening to these songs repeatedly I have cut the list down to three tracks, which are:
Cry Me Out - Pixie Lott,
Shark in the Water - VV Brown,
and You've got the Love - Florence and the machine.

I have narrowed it down to these three because they fit the genre I chose to do most but they are all British artists, and as the exam will be about Britishness, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to try and 'kill two birds with one stone' so to speak and gather more of an idea about some of it.

In the next few blogs I intend to analyse the lyrics to these songs and hope that it will help me to figure which song would be best to then continue with.

Song Choice...

Over the past couple of months I have constantly been thinking of songs I could possibly do for my video, however once I choose, the choice only lasts a week, so by the time I have found a song I'd like to do and planned it in my head, I change my choice. At the moment my choices involve:
Saturday Night - Whigfield,
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Cindy Lauper,
Have a Little Faith in Me - Mandy Moore,
Cry Me Out - Pixie Lott,
I Love Rock n Roll - Britney Spears,
Soar - Christina Aguilera,
Pumpkin Soup - Kate Nash,
Have a Little Faith in Me - Mandy Moore,
What Do I Do - The Corrs,
Shark in the Water - VV Brown,
You've Got the Love - Florence and the Machine

Natalie Imbruglia - Want

Natalie Imbruglia - Want (Official Music Video) @ Yahoo! Video

This latest video from the Australian, immediately appears more original than half of the videos these days, as she is not afraid to flaunt herself as a woman but without appearing 'slutty' or without it appearing as just another video exploiting women (as can be seen in quite a few dance songs, for instance, Destination calabria - Alex Gaudino).

This 'flaunting' act is almost elegant in the video with the way both cameras are used as they are for close-up shots that show a 'teasing' kind of look in her eye.

From the lyrics, though we can see this is obviously revenge on her ex as it says 'and can you remember how I kiss you' and 'I hope you get all you want, because I did' is sort of saying it to make a point and to try to prove that she is actually over him. The part in the song is basically teasing 'him', of the memories they once had and showing them what they have lost. The lyrics 'cause baby the memory is all you get now' just proves this point further. It could represent that although she is acting like she's over this person, it is evident she isn't in some parts of the video, as it appears that she is trying too hard to make the person jealous. Also, although the room she appears most in is quite bright, which could represent a quite optimistic mood, the audience can see other dark rooms used and she wearing either black or is naked in the video. Additionally, another thing to notice about the room we presume is the bedroom, which is quite apt for a 'note to the ex', however the impression I get, is that the place doesn't look particularly lived in as although there is a bed and a piano there, there aren't anything other than than the four walls really. For instance there's no curtains either. This could though be where maybe Natalie and her ex used to live and they've both moved out or are in the process and so it's even more apt for the video to be created. It could also be the new place where she is moving in too though, but I think it fits in better with it being 'their' place.

The other room location, though, looks a lot duller and this could show the other side of her that really isn't over him and can't put on a brave face when she is in the privacy of her possible new home. It also shows her in a nice 'going-out' dress, or rather a 'pulling' dress in the hope she can try to get over the ex even further by finding someone else but there are also shots of her breaking down and crying with mascara running down her face that shows she is most definitely not over him. This is shown with a variety of close-ups and mid shots but what's intriguing is the use of the clips.

For example, videos are generally not to have clips in that are very long, more than 3 seconds and on most clips it can begin to get quite boring, so although this video fits in well with that; it continuously flicks back and forth from 'fun and flirty' to being devastated so it is going from light to dark repeatedly.

Moreover, there isn't a lot of long-shots used, so when they are it gives the video an extra 'boost', also there are some extreme close-ups of both the mouth and the eyes and they are supposedly two of the most seductive parts of a woman and she plays on that fact. However, when the extreme shots are shown when she is crying it shows the audience more sadness and emptiness that she feels. Maybe the room I originally thought was the place they were moving out of, is actually her new home, and the emptiness represents how she feels about her ex and maybe her life.

Kelly Clarkson - Already Gone

Kelly Clarkson - Already Gone @ Yahoo! Video

Through the video, there are links to 'death' and that is only emphasised more with Kelly's sombre clothing and dull colour scheme with the location used. It appears that one house is used but different rooms within it, so it feels - as an audience - that only one location is used rather than others, which has more of an effect as a video than if loads of locations were used. This could give more of a feeling of seclusion and being alone, which is what the song appears to be about. Also, the subtle link to death and being alone, is shown through the white lilies often associated with funerals and then the violins playing, but with no-one playing them. It is almost as though she is feeling sorry for herself as the phrase 'get out the violins' would fit well with this scene but there is no-one else in the video so we see no-one else feeling sorry for her.

Additionally, this video is more of a story than abstract as even though Kelly is the only person in the video, her surrounding's and emotion's portray what's happened. For instance in the lyrics where she sings 'and i want you to know that you couldn't have loved me better' it appears that she broke up with 'him' and it's that old cliche 'it's not you, it's me'. 'But i know that you'll find another, that doesn't always make you want to cry' follows after and shows that she perhaps doesn't want to move on but she loves the person enough to let them go and is trying to make it easier on both of them. Also, by saying 'but i want you to move on, I'm already gone' implies that she is trying to put on a brave face and by letting someone go and not have them pursue you, makes it easier to move on with your life and try to forget them.

There is also the idea that perhaps the relationship has been working out as much as she would like (hence the break-up) but this can be seen where at the beginning of the video there is a champagne bottle in ice, with a wine glass by the side with some champagne in it and her clothing is quite posh (with an elegant 'movie star' kind of dress on and jewellery such as pearls) so we could assume things are well at this point and that they are going out, but later on, however, her clothing becomes less like it was, but still wearing dresses or sparkles but now the dress is black which again could represent how the relationship is dead; also, we see the wine glass is on its side, and the place is really dark.

In addition to this, the repetitive shots used closer to the end, alone with the long shots and close ups gives more feeling of emotion, especially sadness as yu can almost see it in her eyes, and her stance on the shots along with her body language show she's not happy. Furthermore, when we see the schronisation of her miming to the lyrics she might as well be singing as there is so much emotion in her facial expressions when certain lyrics are heard.

Just a note...

I had actually already analysed the video, Kelly Clarkson - 'Already Gone', that can be seen above this post, but when I had analysed it, it deleted the video and then the writing. I had luckily copied the writing but when i pasted that into a new post, I then copied the link to the video and unfortunately the same happened again and it was all deleted. Obviously, the last copy I had was of the video link so I've had to re-write this video again, which has delayed me further.

Cheryl Cole - Fight for this Love

@ Yahoo! Video

The first thing that catches my eye in this video is the variation of clothes worn. In a lot of videos the singers dress appropriately for the song (which Cheryl can do) but i feel more of her personality comes through on this video with what she wears. For instance at the beginning, we see a white background and a lot of background dancers wearing black so you would expect an audience to notice this more, however, with Cheryl wearing a white top which contrasts well with the dancers as they are kind of her background and then the white background is the dancers background.

Additionally, there is a mixture of animation, story telling and so on - making it abstract - though the story doesn't come along as well as in some other videos. This is due to the fact that there aren't any other people involved in the story (like can be seen in Leona's) as there isn't really a plot or a link to the lyrics, but the emotions shown on her face almost tell the story in places.

This video could be linked similarly to Beyonce's 'Single Ladies' as the whole attention is on the singer and the only other people used are dances. Moreover, there are also similarities in the colour scheme used at the beginning as Beyonce also used a black and white idea.

In contrast though, it is more interesting with the use of variety and different scenes compared to Beyonce's, the use of animation is quite clever as it is not massive like in all the 'Gorillaz' videos but a bit like in Gnarls Barkleys 'Crazy'. Different techniques such as splodges 'spilt' on the page and over the lyrics are used effectively as it makes Cheryl appear though she is on the paper and it could be to make the audience feel as though she means what she is actually singing. Also, not only does the miming synchronise with the music, there is a technique used where it is like there is a mirror placed by her lips, and therefore there is two images of her mouth moving to the lyrics, but it isn't made very prominent as it is quite a dark image used and the use of a clip of her dancing that's quite faded is also used giving a good impact together but don't stand out that much. The use of her dancing is also like a mirror effect as there are two images but of the same one.

Some choreography links in with the lyrics (such as the black and white scenario) where there are fighting movements linking in with 'we gotta fight, fight, fight, fight, fight for this love' but also when she is dressed similarly to a soldier that also relates to it. Otherwise apart from the certain words like 'crash' that they insinuate with the kind of animatic feel there isn't really much reference to the lyrics.

The moral of the song is the same as Leona's practically as you have to take a chance when it comes to love and relationships even though it is inevitable at some point or points you may be hurt but people who go through that situation are not alone, as others go through the same experiences too in part of their lives.

Furthermore, in the video there is also a good range of shots, where long-shots, mid-shots and close-ups are made use of, along with extreme close-ups to have more of an affect on the audience.

Leona Lewis - Happy

Leona Lewis - Happy @ Yahoo! Video


In Leona Lewis' latest single 'Happy', the message that comes across, through the lyrics and video, is that you have to take chances in life. This particular song is on about relationships more so than any other kind of life experiences and so throughout the video we are made to think that the main male featured in it and Leona are getting on more than they actually are. We, as an audience, follow through with Leona in this particular experience and see it through from beginning to end so we understand and relate better to the artist. In the lyrics it says 'so what if it hurts me?' and then later ''cause I'm just trying to be happy' which can be shown through the narrative type video from when the audience are meant to see some 'chemistry' between them from the beginning. The ending is a bit deceiving though, as through the middle of the video we see Leona trying on a white dress and then someone (we presume is the mother) places a flower in her hair, we begin to think that things progressed between the male and Leona and they are now getting married. This links to the beginning on the video as it starts with a couple-of-seconds clip, where a face/mid-shot of Leona is shown as confetti, or something similar, blows over and around her and there is a shot of the cake being cut.

When we see shots of the wedding environment near to the end, we can only see the back of a person in a wedding dress who we presume is Leona, however when the guy asks the bride to dance, she turns around and is revealed as somebody else and that, Leona, is in actual fact a bridesmaid by the looks of it along with her friend from the beginning of the video. This links to the lyrics by saying you need to take chances and sometimes not worry about the consequences otherwise you get nowhere and can stay unhappier for longer.

In the video there are numerous short clips, none lasting more than 6 seconds or so and consist of close-ups, mid-shots, and long shots. The use of these various ideas work well within the video as for the close-ups we generally see the emotions across her face, the mid-shots when shes singing and the long shots to show the others involved in the video. Additionally the lip synchronisation to the music works wells and fits perfectly, as you would expect from a professional music video, but also generally it is the smaller notes we 'see' her singing rather than the really big ones so it doesnt almost 'bore' the video. Furthermore, a range of locations are used throughout the video for example, the wedding scene, getting ready for the wedding, the streets and the bar where we follow 'their' unexpected meetings.

One thing to notice though, is the clothes worn by the actors used and Leona, they look more lower class than middle class and this can deinitely be shown by her room and her 'house' (presumably) as it looks a bit 'run down', this could link back to the story to say no matter where you're from you still need to take chances and love can happen wherever you are.