Analysis of "Oblivion" by Bastille.

1. Music video analysis

2. Bastille - Oblivion
• Oblivion by Bastille is a narrative
driven music video, that does not
include any of the band members.
All of the Bastille music videos are
interlinked with one another, and
have intertextual references to their
other videos. ‘Oblivion’ appears to
follow the story line of ‘Flaws’. This is
due to the fact that at the end of
‘Flaws’ the main singer that was
featured in that video concludes on
being dead on a beach, which would
explain why he is not shown at all in
‘Oblivion’, and has an actress singing
in his place. We assume that the girl
in the video is the lead singer’s
girlfriend or loved one in the story,
as she is seen wearing the jacket
that he was wearing in the video
before. Both videos begin with shots
in which you can see the back of the
jacket, signifying the fact that they
were close, and she has taken his
place. This video also follows the
theme of showing the song title at
the beginning of the song, in which
all of the Bastille songs do.
‘Oblivion’ also follows a similar
structure to ‘Flaws’ as both videos
end and start with similar shots. In
the video the girl is singing in the
middle of a demolition derby track,
lip syncing to the Bastille song, as if
she were performing to the
audience. The video begins by using
a close up shot of the main actress
used in the video, aimed at the side
of her head so you can see she is
looking at something. To emphasize
the connection between ‘Flaws’ and
‘Oblivion’, ‘Flaws’ is playing in the
background in the first scene, as if
the song was following directly
afterwards, or if she was preparing
for the performance. After the
camera turns to show the viewer
what she is looking at, she leaves
the room, along with the song in the
background which may suggest
moving forward.

3. • The camera follows the girl into
the arena, using a handheld
camera to give the footage a
‘real-life’ feeling. As she reaches
the microphone in the centre of
the arena the camera pans and
faces the girl on an eye line
match, whilst zooming in to a
medium close up. This is the shot
that we see throughout the
majority of the video, with a
crowd full of people behind her
singing. When the camera uses a
shot from the other direction it
shows that she is facing away
from the main audience,
suggesting that she has fears
about performing. The colour
balance in the majority of the
music video may` represent the
topic of the music video,
‘Oblivion’. The singer is
surrounded by darkness apart
from the few spotlights shining
down on her. One of the 5 key
aspects of Andrew Goodwin’s
music video theory are the
technical aspects of the music
video.
This includes camera work, lighting
and mise-en-scene. He claims these
are the things that shape and hold
the video together. The first half of
the song has a slow cutting rate, but
as the song gets louder and more
intense, the cutting rate speeds up,
as well as the introduction of cars as
the competition starts. Cars crash as
the cutting rate increases, creating
powerful impact and drama.
Regardless of the cutting rate, shots
of the audience and their reaction
are always in slow motion, showing
their delight of the competition. It
seems like putting the footage of
the cars crashing and the crowd
going wild in slow motion makes the
two aggressive things more
innocent, to match the emotional
style of the song. It almost appears
like the competition can not be
harmful, and the girl is singing about
oblivion the same way. Both
demolition derby and oblivion
revolve around destruction.

4. The lyrics for the song my be interpreted as written about someone who takes
things too far, or enjoys thrills, which may lead to oblivion. “When oblivion is
calling out your name, you always take it further than I ever can.” The fact that
the lead singer is not in the video suggests that he has used himself as the
person written about in the song, and why there is an actress singing about him
in his place.
It appears as though the singer in the video is also taking place in the
competition itself, as even though the footage of the competition and her singing
is mixed together throughout the video, at the end of the video after she has
stopped singing she gets in to one of the cars, clearly before the competition
started. Flash-forwards are placed into the footage of her singing, showing the
competition that is about to happen, rather than showing each part of the show
separately in the correct order.
Before she gets back in to one of the cars, it cuts back to a shot at the beginning
of the video where we saw her looking at something (the notion of looking is a
music video convention suggested by Andrew Goodwin), and shows the photo in
closer detail. We can see this is an old photograph, as it is in black and white,
and shows the members of Bastille stood at a demolition derby competition. This
may suggest that Dan Smith and the band once took part in these competitions
explaining why the song may be about him. The way she wears his jacket, sings
in his place and then takes part in the competition suggests she is doing so in
his honour.

5. At 2.42 the video cross-cuts to show preparation for the competition outside the
arena, giving close up shots of dummies, suggesting that people get hurt. It
then moves on to somebody fixing the broken and smashed up cars, carrying on
the theme that this is a dangerous sport and may conclude in oblivion. Towards
the end of the music video when the cutting rate becomes faster, many close-
ups shots are taken of people in this setting, to represent the community this
motorsport creates. These people are a mixture of ages and sexes, so this
appears like an event that families either take part in, whether this be in the
crowd of preparing the cars. A lot of the close-up/medium close-up shots
include the characters looking directly into the camera, breaking the fourth wall.
This is a way for the viewers to connect with these characters. Some of these
characters smile in to the camera and some are left with no expression,
suggesting that not everyone there enjoys it but go as this is what they’re used
to/ this is what their friends and family do. Shots switch between the protagonist
singing, the competition and the yard full of cars. The protagonist becomes
more passionate towards the end of the song. This is shown through her
expression when singing and the shots of her walking around the outside scene,
admiring the cars. Sun shines down on her suggesting that was a positive
experience for her. People look at the protagonist as if it is unusual for her to be
there, which may explain her nervous actions throughout the majority of the
song. At around 3.35 the singing stops and the cutting rate slows down,
focusing on the protagonist. Her positive expression returns to nerves and worry
before turning around and getting into one of the cars. This may suggest she is
reminded about the competition when she stops singing, why she is there and
how dangerous it can be.