1. Studying a music video
1.Thought beats or seeing the sound in your head.
2.Narrative and Performance.
3.The star image
4.Three ways to which music relate visuals to the song
5.Technical aspects of a music video
Avril Lavigne-Smile
The music video I am going to study in detail is by Avril Lavigne called "Smile". I have choosen
this video because I enjoy the video alot and its still part of the pop genre but a much different
style of the video I have previously analysed in detail which was by Bruno Mars. I have also now
studied a video from both a male and female artist.
1. The main instrument in this video is a guitar and the sound of the guitar beats in the song are
shown through the video by the shots changing from narrative to the central focus of Avril alone in
a white room at the exact point which the guitar is hit. At the start of the video Avril is up close to
the camera and pushes the camera three times as if to the beat of the music which not only
shows the beats of the music to the audience but shows Avrils character to the audience. Avril is
shown to clap to the beat of the song in a shot showing the beat directly and at certain parts of
the video uses an electric guitar to show the audience directly the main instrument used. Avril is
the main story teller and relates to the audience by having a range of different charecters both
male and female to get the largest possible audience for the video.
2. The video has two seperate parts to it which I think contribute to the performance and the
narrative. The narrative part is all set in black and white to show its more serious than the
performance part and also reveals more about the song itself by having charecters who smile
once Avril removes a peice of broken glass heart from them making them see life from a different
perspective. The performance part of the video is set in a white room where the camera is the
fourth wall in which Avril connects with the audience and is able to show her personality by the
room decorated in her style. The performance part is the main focus and the shots differ from
both the narrative and performance having a range of close ups and shots in each one to give the
best possible viewing experience for the viewers.
3.Avril Lavigne is known for her star image of being a punk rock/ pop princess which she
maintains in this video too. In this video she has the similar features which she has had in
previous videos such as lots if eyeliner and a pale face to enable the viewers to relate to the artist
and want to watch the video. Her punk rock image is shown through the green in her hair and her
and the actions she uses which indicate that she is care free and has a rebel like attitude. She
also swears in the song she shows her attitude as rebel like. Her pop princess attitude however is
also shown when she wears a tiare for the narrative part of the video which is cleverly done to
show both of her images in the one video.
4. At the very start of the video we see Avril write "smile" on the wall with spray paint and draw a
smiley face which relates the title of the song to the video in an interesting way but also keeps
Avrils image of being slighty rock and roll kept and contained in the video. The video uses both
illustrations and amplifications throughout the song. For example the illustrations are used
through the charecters of the narrative by smiling once Avril has removed the piece they have of
a broken smile. Avril also shows gestures and smiles herself when singing the lyrics "the reason
why i i i i smile" which directly links the video to the song. The amplifications of the video are
shown through the different shots used cut to the beat of the music which are much more

2. frequent when the music is louder and faster but are less frequent in the verse parts of the video.
5. The video is built up of lots of shots cut to the beat of the song in two different locations which
could of possibly been used to show the fast paste song itself. It also has much less shots which
are longer on the slower bits of the song. The beat of the song is shown through certain
techniques such as Avril shutting the door on a beat or hitting the camera on a beat aswell which
will have took place in the editing getting the shots and song in line. On certain parts of the video
the camera zooms in and out from the shot of Avril which could be to show that though she is the
main focus the surroundings are also important. The different scenery in the white room has a
feel of being caotic which suits Avrils image and the theme of the song. Techniques which are
used throughout the video include colour changes to black and white for some of the shots and
also a range of different shots (close ups, long shots) or angles. Some other techniques in the
video which are used