Mise-en-scene, camera work and editing all go toward creating an atmosphere and mood perfect for this genre of music. Firstly, mise-en-scene creates a mood to the song by using dull lighting because the lyrics are about going through a break up. However, the song also demonstrates that you can come through this breakup, so mise-en-scene is again effective here because the lighting becomes brighter, symbolising hope, as do the settings. For example, at the beginning the video is full of dark stairways and poorly lit rooms where nothing stands out, but moves on to being on a rooftop looking over a beautiful city scape. This evokes the image in the audience of peace and tranquillity.
Camera work is also used to create an effective music video. The video consists of a lot of mid shots, close ups and also high angles. Mid shots are to show the audience or viewer the whole of the set, as this has been carefully arranged to evoke the feelings behind the lyrics. Close ups are used so that the audience can identify with the artists and the roles they play in the narrative to the song and lyrics. High angle shots are effectively used on the stairs to emphasise the metaphor being put across in this song, The camera shot creates the illusion of a long way down and seeing as the song is about moving upwards, it creates a sense of irony. It also evokes the feeling of the narrative characters having to travel a long way up physically to overcome the emotional values of moving up.
Editing is used very subtly and simplistically through out the video because the video isn’t trying to be interesting in cutting to the different beats and rhythms, it is trying to create an effective video through its use of narrative and metaphors. This keeps the attention of the audience firmly on the narrative, artists and the meanings to and behind the song, thus making it an effective music video by evoking thought.
The video is concerned with the themes of love, breaking up and moving on from this. This portrayed in many different symbolic ways that fit in with being a narrative. For example, scattered photographs represent memories and moving on from them. Another example would be when the two artists sit back to back. This represents the two characters being apart or in conflict. Towards the end of the video they are shown facing each other whilst they perform. This could be interpreted as confrontational, not in a heated, argumental way but as a way of getting closure to move on.
The whole video is performance based, but there is also narrative through the two artists acting out two characters as the lyrics portray while they sing, for example when they sing to each other. Narrative elements also come into the music video through inserts of metaphorical imagery, for example a pyramid made out of cards falling down, representing a break up.
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