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1. Charlotte Marston

2. GENRE CHARACTERISTICS
• Macabre imagery
• More artistic than mainstream music videos
• Surrealism
• Illustrative
• Pastel shades
• Subverts something that would normally be seen as childish.
• Partway through the colours change to warmer and slightly darker
lighting.

3. GENRE CHARACTERISTICS

4. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LYRICS AND VISUALS
• The music video is illustrative for the most part so many of the lyrics
match the visuals.
• This is clear through the line “feet touching feet” in which the dolls feet
are touching as well as the line “you and I” where it swaps from a close
up of the Ken doll to the Barbie doll, therefore signifying to the
audience that the lyrics are meant to be from her perspective.
• In many cases, seemingly innocent lyrics are portrayed through
imagery typical of the horror genre that may be somewhat unsettling to
the viewer. For example, the line “I’ve pinned each and every hope on
you” is presented as the Ken doll having actual pins stuck in its head.
Furthermore, “I’m afraid of the things in my brain” show both Barbie
with her brain exposed and Ken with his skull exposed.
• Its interesting that the lyrics portray quite strong and complicated
emotions but the dolls faces are fixed in a constant smile, not to
mention usually giving connotations of childhood and simplicity.

5. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LYRICS AND VISUALS

6. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC AND VISUALS
• The song follows the rhythm of a waltz with straight cuts
following the beat of the song. This may connote romance and
love, an integral theme to the video.
• The calm and gentle sound of the music can make the darker
images more unsettling due to the contrast. Not to mention,
each shot is static with very little or no movement, creating a
somewhat jarring effect for the audience.

7. DEMANDS OF THE RECORD LABEL
• Interestingly, the artist Dodie Clark does not belong to a record label and so has a
lot of creative freedom over projects like these. This may be the reason that typical
aspects of an indie music video are not present.
• There are no close ups of the artist and the artist herself doesn’t even appear in
the video. However, her name is used at the beginning of the video as a USP.
• The macabre style of this video subverts the typical image of the artist as well. She
is typically portrayed as a very calm yet optimistic person, wearing a signature
“dodie yellow” outfit as the fans would call it. However, the surrealist nature of the
video is largely juxtaposed to the image fans would be used to. Once again, this is
likely because there is little pressure on her to sell a certain version of herself
given that she is not signed to a record label.
• There are still close ups of the main characters.

8. DEMANDS OF THE RECORD LABEL
Dodie

9. NOTION OF LOOKING
• There are several shots of the house from outside, insinuating that the audience
are outsiders looking in. This could link to the deeper, more metaphorical narrative
at play in the video of a strained relationship. This links to the idea that a lot goes
on behind closed doors as well as lending itself to the intertextual reference of
Barbie given that it tends to portray romance as easy and straightforward.
• There is a hint of voyeurism given that the dolls are shown naked together in a
sexual position, meaning that the audience is breaching a very intimate level of
their privacy.

10. NOTION OF LOOKING

11. INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES
• There is an intertextual reference to Barbie, most likely being utilised to
subvert and criticise the versions of reality the toys portray.
• Given that it is a child’s toy, the macabre imagery is made all the more
unsettling for the audience.
• May be more recognisable for the young demographic.

12. INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES

13. PERFORMANCE OR NARRATIVE?
• There is no performance throughout the video.
• Whilst the video seems to be mostly concept based, you could argue that there is a more surrealist
narrative at play.
• Todorov: -Equilibrium: their relationship appears happy and stable.
-Disruption: the darker imagery is introduced, perhaps indicating a
darker side to their love.
-Realisation: the red liquid splashes over the dolls, indicating some sort
of breaking point in the relationship.
-Restored order: the girl becomes too dependent on her boyfriend to the point
at which their relationship is almost abusive.
-New equilibrium: their relationship is shown to be in shambles as she sets
the house on fire.
Propp: as the lyrics are seemingly delivered from the Barbie’s perspective she may be positioned as the hero.
Although, you could argue she is a villain or false hero given that she is responsible for the destruction of
their relationship, as evidenced through her burning the house down.
Strauss: male vs female, love vs hate, childhood vs adulthood, what's on the surface vs what's underneath

14. PERFORMANCE OR NARRATIVE?