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Bastille - Overjoyed

11/11/15

Bastille overjoyed was released the 3rd November 2011. The first shot of the music video is a long shot of the female within the narrative. She is standing by a lake which could represent self-reflection. Until around 11 seconds no music is being played. Instead ambient sound allows the sound of wind and water to be heard. This could connote peace as it is quiet however it could also be represented as mysterious. The following shots of the female use low key lighting. Low key lighting is used as it connotes darkness which could be associated with depression and loneliness, this emphasised even more by the fact the female is always alone. At 1.06 a close up of a cigarette is shown, this connote corruption and represents the females self-destruction. At 1.18 a long show shows the female walking down a city street. This shows that even is a busy place the female is still isolated. At 1.38 a fast pace straight cut is used and the music track is stopped. The shot then shows the female looking into the distance alone, this could represent that she is reflecting on her life. Because the music track is stopped, the silence allows more attention to be given to the female allowing the audience to sympathise with her. A long shot at 1.47 shows the female in the woods. The woodland area is a typical genre convention for indie pop music videos as it reflects the artists as down to earth and therefore the audience is able to connect to them more. An extreme close up is used at 2.35 of the female’s eyes. As the extreme close up shows her eyes direct address is given to the audience. The direct address will allow the audience to connect with her and experience the emotion the female wants them to feel for her. From this shot a straight cut shows a long shot of the female in the woods. The long shot represents once again that she is alone. This makes the audience worry for the female as typically females are considered to be vulnerable when alone. This shot is followed by a montage of close ups from different angles. This montage reflects the female’s emotions and feelings, therefore allowing the audience to sympathise with her. At 2.52 a close up shows a broken doll with one eye missing, this could connote that the girl is broken and that perhaps she was blinded by something or someone and that lead to her feeling alone and isolated. The last shot of the music video shows the female back at the lake through a long shot. This represents her refection on her past and her feelings. Something that is different about this music video to other ones I have analysed is that the performer is not present at all through the music video. The female is the only person present in the video. There is no performance in the video at all, only narrative. This represents that the artists wanted to tell a story and by not including themselves in the video it allows for the meaning of the video to be projected more.   

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