Detailed music video analysis

1. BethDavies
James Blunt (Heart to Heart) Music Video Analysis
JamesBlunt’s musicvideoforhisveryfamoussong,‘HearttoHeart’,is a soft/popRockmusicvideo
abouta love storythathas endedandis capturedina varietyof differentstill images,aspartof the
background,combinedtogethertodemonstrate time passingby,withJamesasthe mainfocus,lip
singing.
Thismusicvideofollowsconventionsof asoft/poprockgenre inseveral ways.Firstly,the video
includessimple cutstomake a simple concept,thuskeepingthe audience focusedonthe narrative.
Thisis because there isnotreallyastrong relationship
betweenthe visualsandthe lyrics.One of the three timesthat
the visualslinkwiththe lyricsiswhenhe sings,”There are
timeswhenyoudon’tgive me a smile”,whichisaccompanied
withthe image presenteddirectlytothe right. Thisisalso
significantasitisan example of howthe mediatextisactually
contradictingratherthanillustrative.Thisisbecause whenhe
says,‘Don’tgive me a smile’,he smirks.Thisjuxtaposesthe
visualstothe lyrics,thusconfusingthe audience.Thiscanbe
seentorepresentelementsof disruptionwithinrelationships
whichcan cause the people involvedtobe confusedaswell assad.
This isdone bykeepingthe cutson the 4th
and8th
beat.However,onone occasion,a shotendson
the thirdbeat (25 secondsintothe song). Thisun-nervesthe audience cuttingthe shotearly,and
keepsthementertainedandfocusedonthe narrative throughout.
Anotherwaythat JamesBlunt’smusicvideofollowsconventionsof asoft/poprockvideo isby
includingseveral close upsof JamesBluntlipsinging,whilstengagingthroughthe audience through
the methodof directaddress.Thisiseffectiveasitmakesthe audience feel asthoughhe issinging
to them,thuscreatinga desire effectforthe targetaudience of females.
Additionally,afurtherwaythat thisparticularmusicvideofollowsconventionsisthroughthe use of
‘notionlooking’.Thisiswhenwe are givenaninsightintoaprivate momentinsomeone’slife.The
one and onlyexample of thisisaMCU of a homosexual
couple takinga photograph,ontheirphone,of themboth
kissing.Thiscreatesaninsightforthe audience tosee an
intimate momentinthe couple’slife,whichtheyare
capturing,to remember.Thisiseffective asitcreates a
rebelliousfeelingforthe audienceastheyfeel like they
shouldn’tbe lookingbutitalsohelpsthe audience tosee
differentsocial behavioursinasecretive way. Animage of
thisispresentedtothe left.
However, the music video also challenges conventons of soft/pop rock music videos in a
number of different ways.

2. Firstly, throughout the video, in the background, there are a number of still images which are
played together in a sequence to give the effect of the background showing movement at a
very fast pace. As well as this, the images have been editted by enhancing the exposure to
give the effect that the images were took in an environment with high key lighting.This is one
example of how the media is contradicting as the visuals imply a happy environment through
the use of bright colours, but the lyrics juxtapose this by describing a love story that has
ended.
Furthermore, as well as the media being
contradicting, it is also amplifying on one occasion,
where James sings; “You shine even on a rainy
day” whilst the image to the right is displayed on
the screen. The headlights on the cars can be
speculated to represent the person in question
‘Shining’, thus amplifying the narrative by
representing the lyrics not protraying them.
The final way that the music video challenges
conventions is through the lack of the use of intertextual references. This is because,
stereotypically, Goodwin states that media texts conventionally make intertextual references
to other media texts. However, in this partcular music video, that is not evident.
Therefore, from this we can conclude that Goodwin’s theory is not accurate to compare to
modern music videos generally, but works well when comparing them as it gives us a basis
of similarities and differences. Furthermore, it is evident that every pice of crieteria in
Goodwin’s theory does not need to be met to make a successful music video.