Analysis of Music Videos

I decided to analyse the music video to Brick by Boring Brick, by Paramore, as I feel that this video is different to the clich. The song was released on the 23rd November, 2009 and falls into the genre of pop punk or alternative rock. Right from the start of the video you can tell what its going to be about. The aerial tracking shot with the special effects just scream fantasy. The yellow, sunset/sunrise tinge gives the video a surreal effect and fits with the music perfectly.

The shot of Haley on the swing shows a semantic code, with her in a white dress with blonde hair, connoting innocence to the audience. This is supported by the camera work; the moving shots and slower paced cuts gives the video a softer feel, which is associated with fairy tale fantasy, furthermore helping the audience to distinguish what the video is about. The setting with the swirling leaves deffinately looks like something out of a story book.

This feeling of innocence is immediately threatoned, before the viewer can get too comfortable with it. This supports Todorovs narrative theory of an equilibrium at the beginning which is disrupted, setting in chain a series of events. The innocence of the girl on the swing and the child running is

juxtapositioned with a man digging a grave, foreshadowing the darkness to come. This shot has a slightly darker tinge to it which enforces this feeling.

The scenes so far have been narrative, but the next shot shows that this video has a mixture of narrative and performance in it. A mid shot of Haley singing straight to the camera is shown, however, although this is performance it seems like Haley is narrating the story, much like you would have stereotypically in a fairy tale. I think this is very cleverly done as it helps the viewer to feel more as if the song is telling a story and has a deeper meaning than just being something nice to listen to. This shot also demonstrates the rule of thirds, instead of being centred, Haley is on the right, making the shot appear to be more interesting. The swing is also shown on the left, however, as the background is out of focus, the shot as a whole weighs to the right.

The handheld shots of the girl running adds a sense of realism to the video, making the viewer feel as if they could be there. The low angle also tells the viewer that the girl is an important character, perhaps giving the implicit meaning that the fairy tale world is her world.

The high angle shots of Haley dancing around the grave draws attention to the sinister side of the video, reminding the audience that darkness can come.

One of the next shots is very stereotypical in a fairy tale scenario. The shot shows the girls feet, with the doll hanging by her side. This however is stereotypical of the horror side in fairy tales, and the lyrics of the song, which seem to be warning the girl not to become too lost in her fantasy world, encourage the idea that the pleasant fairy tale atmosphere will soon be shattered.

A P.O.V shot is used next which I think is a nice touch as it helps the viewer to connect with the character of the girl.

Toadstools are used as another clich of fairy tales, along with characters you would often find in storybooks, such as a knight. Using a lot of cliches which the viewers will be able to easily identify with fairytales will help them to keep up the fantasy image of the video.

I think the darkness of the castle signals the beginning of the end for the happy fairytale, as the girl walks into complete blackness.

Close ups are used to show the emotions of the girl as her world starts to scar her, showing an implicit meaning that shes gone too far into her fantasy world whilst trying to escape reality.

An extreme wide shot is used as the light is replaced with darkness, immediately showing the audience that the fantasy world is turning evil and to put the audience on edge at the loss of light, with the castle becoming sinister as darkness surrounds it.

I really like this next shot, after the girl escapes back into the light you see a high angle shot of her running, behind her the shadows move as if chasing her. I think this shows the darkness trying to invade the girls happiness and her desperate attempts to run from it, which is what she was doing right from the start of the video when she created her fantasy world; you built up a world of magic, because your real life is tragic.

Having the music stop and showing Haley walk away as the girl is burried adds a sorrowful atmosphere, signalling the end of the fantasy world and leaving the audience with something to think about.

This music video could also be an example of a culteral code, as the fantasy land is shown as if it was real; the events of the video being a magical/fairy tale truth.