1. When looking through the different music videos of the 21st century, and
deciding on a particular one. The one video that caught my attention was
Charlie Puth - We Don’t Talk Anymore (feat. Selena Gomez). Whilst
watching the video and listening to the lyrics that they sing, the first thing
that caught my attention was the idea of splitting the screen in half allowing
the audience to view the story from both sides this is eclecticism as it
allows the viewers to apply different theories in particular cases by
following the girl's perspective of the story as well as the boys. We see the
two characters for the first time, the girl on the right who is in bed and has
2. just woken up, her bed looks messy yet comfy. In comparison we have the
boy on the left who falls back onto his bed which hasn’t been slept in and
has the appearance of a hotel room. Both characters look tired however, it
is clear for differentreasons showing two very differentlifestyles. We see a
contrast between the opening scene and the lyrics that are shown to allow
the audience to understand the feelings of the characters who are both
beginning to text each other followed with the lyrics “We don’t talk
anymore”. However, both characters abruptly delete their texts showing
that neither want to make the first move. The close-up shot of the phones
3. shows the postmodernism within today's society as it shows that our way of
communication is delivered through technology rather than in person,
leading to miscommunication. The video carries on with both characters
getting dressed and ready for their days. The variety of shots used from the
cinematographer allow us to see two very similar scenes be perceived in
two very different ways. We see this from not only the camera shots but
also the mise en scene as the lighting shown in boths shots is very
different. Looking at this shot, I really like the two colours been reflected
from the lighting as it shows a hot and cold contrast. The two colours can
4. be perceived very differently to the audience. However, to me as we are
hearing a man's voice singing during this clip, the idea of the two colours
shows the feelings of each character. The more orange tint showing the
feelings of lust and passion and the blue tint showing the feelings of
bitterness and moving on; fitting with the lyrics where he says “even after
all this time I still wonder why I can't move on
Just the way you did so easily.” showing that from his perspective the
female character has moved on. However, from the audience's point of
view it is clear that neither have moved on. So from the split screen the
5. audience is able to see both sides of the story and we can not only see the
true sides to both characters feelings but we can also see how
miscommunication is created through not talking about the situation. Again
linking back to the use of technology in the 21st century.
As the song carries on the camera shows both characters as they go about
their day to day lives and walk down the street. We see two camera flashes
from both sides of the screen,making the viewers believe for a second that
the two characters are in the same place however, as the scene carries on
we get this image of the girl holding what seems to be a much cheaper
camera in comparisonto the camera on the left which is a more state of the
arch camera. Again this goes back to the comparison of the two characters
lifestyles. One being much more lavish than the other. As the video carries
on we see the males character surrounded by strangers as he is at a
photoshoot so is in a very professional surrounding, whereas the female's
character is sat in the park laughing and joking around with more people
her age group, suggesting they are friends. This shows the audience how
different their lifestyles are and gives a clearer connection between the
narrative and the lyrics to the song. One thing that comes to my attention is
the idea of stereotypes in a relationship, as in society it would be more the
girl wanting to stay in the relationship rather than the males. However, in
this video it is seen more from the boys perspective as he is the one
wishing they were back together and reminiscing over their past. Seeing
both sides to the story allows the audience to relate to each character
7. Going back to the lifestyle of the males character life in comparison to the
females,you could say the amount of referencing to a celebritylifestyle and
the media could possibly stem from Lyotard's idea of a media dominated
society. Furthermore this idea of celebrity status is also a grand narrative.
However, if this is correct it also shows postmodern irony as Charlie is a
celebrity himself.
Towards the end of the video we see the two characters begin to involve
themselves with other love interests, fitting with the lyrics as they both
seem to be happy. However, the cinematographer uses a closeup shot of
the two kissing their other partners and using the split screen gives the
appearance of the two kissing each other rather than their partners. The
idea of the two
The use of this shot shows the audience that the two characters are still
caring for each other and although no one has shown it in the video it still
evident. As the scene carries on the two characters leave and end up back
in the same location that they started in at the beginning. Showing the two
back at where they started suggests that although the characters have got
on with their day to day lives trying to distract themselves from the situation
they are still going back to where they started in the beginning suggesting
that the two are still wrapped up in the past relationship. As the end of
8. video develops we see a montage of photos of the couple when they were
first together as the two reminisce over their past.
