Music video analysis - 3

1.       Say you won’t let go -  James Arthur

Mise-en-scene:

Locations of characters: River (boat), Field, Studio, home (fort), hospital.

Location of James Arthur: Sat on sofa playing guitar in a house.

This music video also has a very strong narrative that is broken up with James Arthur singing and performing with his guitar. From the music video the audience can interpret that it is about looking at the future and spending your life with someone, even after death. It can also link to how people find love in the most random places and that is very relatable to the audience.

Props: Guitar, Studio equipment, Boat.

Clothing: the music video is in black and white so it is difficult to tell the colour of the clothing but it is clear to see that the clothing is of dark colours throughout the music video.

Woman: jumper, coat, jeans, boots.

Man: t-shirt, jacket, jeans, trainers.

James Arthur: Denim jacket, jeans, t shirt.

Camera:

Establishing shot of the characters on a boat in the middle of a lake or river, linked with a shot of James Arthur playing his guitar on the sofa.

There are many close up shots of James Arthur singing, allows the audience to feel close to the artist and feel what he felt when he wrote this song or how he feels when he performs it.

The narrative is mainly close up shots of the characters and is difficult to see where exactly they are, the close up shots are mainly used to show the happiness they feel together and how nothing around them matters to them as long as they are together.

There is a shot where the camera zooms out from the old man in the hospital, this shows his vulnerability and how the world around him is so obvious now he is not with the one he loves.

Editing:

Quick cuts from the narrative and the artists singing.

Lip syncing to the song

Sound:

James Arthur singing say I won’t let go

Theories:

Todorovs narrative theory states how all narratives share a basic structure that involves a movement from one state of equilibrium to another. This music video clearly follows this theory, the disequilibrium was the woman dying and how it affected the man as he had lost the one he loved however the equilibrium was that he was still with her mentally even though she had gone physically it was not the end of their love as their love lives on.

Andrew Goodwins theory states that there are 5 key aspects to a music video

1.       Thought through beat (seeing what the lyrics mean in your head.)

2.       Relationship between the song and visuals.

3.       Narrative and performance of the song.

4.       Technological aspect of a music video.

5.       Star image, lots of shots making him/her the centre of attentions.

This music video follows a lot of these aspects. There are multiple examples of when the song links with the visuals for example when he sings “I wanna live with you, Even when we're ghosts, 'Cause you were always there for me when I needed you most” the visuals are of a man in hospital due to his wife just dying.

There is also a lot of star image, most of the music video is of James Arthur singing with his guitar, he is the centre of attention while the narrative runs alongside it. This allows the audience to connect with the artist and feel the same emotions as they are while singing it.