Analysis of previous A2 work

Final music video for vimeo from Ria on Vimeo.

I think that Ria's music video is a very good one and something that you could typically picture as a music video for a Birdy song. The overall style fits the song perfectly which makes it feel more engaging and realistic for an audience member. You can instantly tell that there is a 50s styling of the actress due to the hair and makeup however it is more subtle than the styling I will be using for my own.

Ria has added an intro to the music video of birds tweeting- this then links to the overall theme of nature from the whole video and also seems to create a calming feel before the main video has even started. The first shot of the actress we see is a high angle and she is looking up and is surrounded by trees instantly you get a feel for the overall music video.

Ria uses the camera very effectively and ensures that she just shows the audience what she specifically wants to for a reason. For example, multiple times she shoots just the actress' shoes (small brown boots to fit with the overall styling) walking along a wooden bridge. The small bits of mud, dirt and leaves that are stuck to her shoes supports the naturistic feel and gives the video a very innocent, idiolistic feel.

Throughout the music video, it cuts back to an older lady in a cottage, waiting for the girl to return. She appears to look very sophisticated and as she is stood in an arched window it gives the impression of religion.

As the song is quite slow, all of the cuts and camera movement are slow. It creates a calming feel and keeps it 'mellow'. Even though the camera shots are very still, there is slight movements within the leaves, trees from the wind create effective shots and then the walking of the actress highlights this even more.

Whilst the actress is walking along, she is constantly looking around as if she is searching for something/someone; this then mixed with the shot of her looking into the lake at her reflection suggests she could be 'searching for herself' which gives a more symbolic approach to the music video.

About three quatres of the way through the music video we see the girl arrive at the cottage where the other lady was- this is shown through a panning establishing shot showing the whole cottage before seeing her walk up the path to be greeted by the woman at the door who swiftly sends her away after looking her up and down. This is shown through shot-reverse-shot of the woman looking down, then the camera pans up to show the girls entire outfit and this then goes back to the woman who appears to then start shouting at her. Because of the way she is 'judged' by the woman, it completes the story and tells the audience that this is possibly her mother or another family member that is shocked at what she is wearing in comparison to the older lady wearing a very classy, black dress. The video then ends on the girl running away from the cottage and shot of the woman back at the arched window looking out before a fade to black.


How will this help for my music video?
Analysing a previous A2 student's work will help me to understand which is actually doable for a students work and I can use elements of their work within my own. This video in particular as it's quite similar in the way I would like to do my own: 50s stylling, quite innocent, not green screened, follows a story etc. Analysing one that will be similar will help me even more because I can shoot in a similar way to create the same overall effect. Moreover, I can learn how certain techniques have been used such as a colour overlay on the entire music video, particular camera effects and editing techniques.