2. Florence + The Machine
The music video I am analysing is of the song “Dog Days Are Over” by
Florence + the Machine.
Florence is a unique artist considered to be a part of the indie, soul and
rock genres. Normally an artist like Florence would have a niche audience
into more alternative styles however her music’s popularity and individuality
has led her to make her way into the mainstream.
3. Lyrics and visuals
The visuals don’t always match the lyrics within this video as the images shown often
to appear to be quite random however Florence does this quite often where her
videos are interpretive and do not show a clear meaning to the song. Being an
alternative and different artist this matches Florence’s style as she doesn't like to
have her videos to be plain and simple to understand and wants the viewers to
think. Her videos are very artistic.
An example of the visuals not matching the lyrics directly and being more
interpretive is how at the beginning of the music video the lyrics are
“Happiness hit her like a train on a track”
Rather than simply showing a train on a track like a video that is more visually
illustrative would, the video shows Florence laid in a woodland setting where a
woman who looks quite wild (her hair is messy and she moves around in a very
animalistic manner however she is wearing a type of ball gown which also adds to
the confusion of the video and makes it seem more intriguing)blindfolds her. This
makes the viewers think more and be interested to discover what is happening in
the video. The blindfolding could be interpreted and be linked to the lyrics like as
when someone is hit by a “train on a track” they would be unaware that a train was
coming, similar to how Florence is blind folded and is unaware of where she is going
and what's coming towards her. The event that brought “Happiness” to her was
unexpected and hit her like a “train on a track”
There is only one small part of the video where Florence is shown
lip syncing and the rest of it is mainly narrative and telling a story.
4. Some parts of the lyrics are matched by the visuals with the movements of Florence
and the other actors as well as the camera angles and movements within the video.
The editing is very fast paced and the cuts that are made are perfectly timed.
• An example of this would be how when the lyrics say “Coming towards her”
Florence is shown being led through the forest with the wild looking woman and
the camera angle makes the viewer feel as if Florence is walking towards them.
This is also could hint that she is walking towards the happiness previously
mentioned.
• There is a fast spinning panning camera movement of some of the actors
dressed in crazy clown like costumes when the lyrics say “ No turning back”
This shows how Florence can’t turn back and that the clown like people
surrounding her won’t allow her to. Again although the visuals match the lyrics
slightly here it still is unclear the meaning of the lyrics and what the video is trying
to show, adding to the whimsical feel of the video and representing Florence’s
individual style even more.
• Florence continues singing and visuals
are shown of the clown people acting
strange and standing around in the
forest making movements similar to
instruments with things such as twigs etc.
The lyrics again seem to match the
visuals in no way and back up the idea
of the video being more focused on
Florence’s own artistic vision and
leaving it up to the viewers to interpret
their meaning of the song.
5. Lyrics and visuals
• When the chorus begins and says “the dog days are over” Florence matches
the lyrics by removing her blindfold representing that the time of wearing the
blind fold “the dog days” are now over.
• When the lyrics say “So you better run” the visuals match the lyrics as
Florence begins to run away from the clown like people.
• In conclusion to if the visuals match the lyrics it is evident that some of the
visuals match the lyrics but mainly by lyrics that are talking about movements
such as “run” “coming towards her” “no turning back” these still don’t explain
the meaning of the song and video and the majority of the visuals are for
interpretation and do not tell the viewer what is going on. This makes the
video have a very dream like and whimsical look and vibe, a vibe that is very
good for representing Florence’s individual style.
6. Going into deeper analysis of the song title and it’s lyrics, the “Dog Days Are
Over” is a phrase that is used to describe the hot days of summer. The
visuals of Florence running away from the clown like people could be
showing how she is running away from the festivities of summer such as
festivals, holidays and parties and returning to the normalities of life such as
work etc. Although the lyrics of the song still do not describe it’s full
meaning nor do the visuals which again reinforces the idea of Florence
wanting her fans to interpret their own meaning and connect to the song in
many different ways.
7. Music and Visuals
Although the lyrics are not always matched by the visuals, the beat and
sound of the music always is within this video. Here are some examples of
the music and visuals being heavily linked together.
At the beginning of the video the beat is
much slower than the rest of the song and
the music has a very calm and soothing
sound. This is matched by the visuals as
during this part of the song Florence is
walking much slower and her acting shows
that she is wondering where she is going
and her uncertainty which also goes along
with the slow beat.
8. Building up to the chorus the beat begins to gradually become faster and percussion
instruments begin playing. This is represented by the visuals as when the beat gets faster
there is quick cuts showing a different clown looking actor within the video matching the
speed and the beat as well as the actors begin to hold things such as twigs and begin
move them similar to how some instruments would be moved to match the percussion
sounding instruments and look as if they are creating the sound.
9. When the chorus begins the beat is very fast and the visuals match this by
showing Florence and clown like people running
As the lyrics of the chorus begin to be sung faster “run FAST for your mother, run
FAST for your father…” Florence begins to run faster and faster and sometimes
when the beat cuts particularly when Florence says “run” the video cuts to
between shots of Florence and shots of the clown people chasing her.
10. There is a part of the song just after the very fast chorus where the beat
completely stops for a second and afterwards the beat is slow and begins
to build up again gradually.
When the beat completely stops the visuals match this perfectly by showing
Florence fall over, as soon as she hits the ground, the beat stops. This is a
very effective and suspenseful technique and is very good for keeping the
viewer interested and to continue watching.
11. As the music slowly begins again, the clown people
are shown surrounding Florence and appear to be
dressing her up like them while she is laying down
and appearing to be unconscious by the fall and
unaware of what's going on.
When the beat begins to kick in fast again there is a
cut to Florence finally doing a small bit of lip syncing
to the lyrics and appears to be dressed like the clown
people.
The chorus then begins again and everybody seems
to be dancing crazily to match the fast beat of the
song. It looks chaotic.
12. The record company are looking to sell this track by promoting Florence + the
Machine’s individuality as an artist by making the video look very alternative
and very far from the stereotypical mainstream video.
They do this by making the video have a very whimsical and dream like look to
it, all the extras in the video are dressed very peculiar and this will gain the
audience’s interest to discover what is really happening within this very crazy
looking video. This will also gain Florence’s target audience who typically would
be into alternative looking videos and music outside of the mainstream however
due to her high level of individuality, Florence has gained popularity with a
mainstream audience as well as a more niche audience.
The record company promote Florence throughout this video by making the
whole story about her journey throughout the woodland area and
encountering these strange looking people within it. They make the majority of
the viewers attention go to her by showing many shots of her such as close ups
other than when the other actors are shown within the video to create more of
a narrative but the focus of attention for the most of the video.
13. Florence is in no way on sexual display in this video.
Florence is shown wearing clothing very different to the artists within the mainstream as she is wearing
a tuxedo, something that is typically worn by a male. Due to it being a masculine costume to wear, it
will not appear to be “sexy” to the audience and looks very modest.
The clown like costume she wears later on in the video, again has no sexual reference as she is
completely covered and the fact that it is similar something that a clown would wear, makes it not
come across as very sexual to the audience as clowns are often the opposite of this.
The fact that Florence’s clothing is very different and in no way sexual is important for promoting her
as an artist. It shows that unlike most mainstream artists such as Nicki Minaj and Britney Spears who
often dress quite explicit in their music videos and performances to attract an audience (especially
the male audience) Florence doesn't feel the need to do this and wants her audience to appreciate
her music and her individuality rather than be her fans because she dresses in a explicit way. It
reinforces the idea that her music and style is all about art and wanting people to accept her
individuality and who she is. Dressing in this way is also a very good promotion technique for
attracting her target audience who are generally more interested in how unique her music is rather
than the way she looks.
There is no references of looking within screens, mirrors and binoculars within the video.
14. Florence always wear clothing different from the
mainstream in her videos and are all modest looking.
Here are two examples from her other videos of this.
This one is from her music video for the song “Cosmic Love”
This one is from the her music video for “ Sweet Nothing”
feat Calvin Harris.
Like the music video for “Dog
Days are Over” when Florence is
wearing a tuxedo, these two
costumes are very similar and are
both androgynous like the tuxedo.
In the “Sweet Nothing” music
video she is not only wearing a
suit but has also got her hair in a
masculine style.
This reinforces the idea that she
does not want to be seen in a
sexual way and just wants the art
of her music and individuality to
be appreciated.
She does wear more feminine (but
still very modest) clothing in some
of her videos but these are just two
examples how she has this very
unique style for a female artist
throughout many of her videos.
15. This one is from her music video for the song
“Rabbit Heart (Raise it up)”
This one is from her music video for the song
“Spectrum”
Like at the end of the “Dog Days Are
Over” Many of Florence’s other videos
have dance routines and many
dancers within them. The style of the
dancing is often very wild and unique
looking and shows Florence’s free and
artistic style, a style that attracts many
of her fans.
• Below are two examples.
16. Overall…
The “Dog Days Are Over” music video uses many different techniques to
represent and promote Florence+ The Machine’s very unique style. It is
consistent to her style in her other videos and has a very free whimsical and
slightly crazy look to it that will gain the viewers interest and show how
alternative Florence is an artist.
The editing in this video is perfectly timed with the pace of the music such
as cutting to different actors every time the beat changes. This makes it
visually appealing and keeps the viewer watching to see what is going to
happen.
This video doesn't have a clear storyline to follow and is mainly focused on
being interpretive for the viewer to interpret their own meaning to it and for
showing Florence’s style.
