This is my analysis of Sia's music video for her song 'Elastic Hearts'

1. Analysing a Music Video
By James Hargreaves

2. Sia- ‘Elastic Heart’
• The genre of the artist is alternative pop and her music uses
traditional instruments as well as synthesisers and other
electrical sounds.
• The song is about someone dealing with emotional problems
and how it leads them into dark places.
• The video shows a husband and father trapped in a cage which
is a metaphorical representation of how they are tapped in their
own problems that the father has created.

3. The opening shot of the music video shows two characters who could be a
father and daughter at opposite ends of the cage. This establishing shot helps
show the audience where the video will take place. The colours are all very
drained, this reflects the sadness the two characters are feeling having been
trapped in the cage which could represent their problems. The Miese en
scene that is shown creates the overall look of sadness and depression
reflecting the mood of the song.
As the music starts the camera cuts to serval medium shots tracking forward
to the father and daughter. Then as the artist begins to sing both of them
begin to move in a form of interpretive dance. Although the dancing includes
movement which appears to be erratic and unpredictable, they move in a
fluid movement that is in time with the song. The two dancers are also
wearing light brown tight dancewear. This use of clothing helps show how
they are both stripped down to the basics and have little left of themselves or
each other.
Because the actors in the video move in such a unique and unusual way it
means that their dancing can be interpreted in any number of ways. In this
shot we see the daughter crawl across the floor reaching her left leg over the
top of her head. As she moves forward the father begins to crawl across the
floor towards her. At this point in the song the music is building towards the
chorus, and to build up the rush of emotions the video cuts between the
shots of the daughter and the father much quicker. This use of editing
effectively correlates with the pace and structure of the song.

4. We cut to a wide shot of the cage and see that the father has climbed to the
top. This action occurs after the first chorus when the music begins to
become slow down and calm in pace. This shot could be interpreted as the
father attempting to escape from his problems and leave the daughter
behind. It is fitting that the music would slow down and become quieter as
this is a significant part of the video that allows the audience to reflect on
what is happening.
The father then jumps down from the cage and lies down next to his
daughter. The music begins to build again as he reaches out to her. This
helps create the necessary tension that is created between these two
characters. The camera begins to track into the pair and then as the
second chorus begins we cut to a different angle of the pair to create a
change in mood as the daughter becomes aware that the father is reaching
out to her, which she does not want.
The daughter manages to escape the cage leaving the father behind.
This could be showing that the daughter is able to leave the father and
his problems behind whenever she wants whilst the father can not and is
trapped in what he has done and has to face them alone. This use of
video making would fall into the category of Televised Bard in which the
artist (Sia) uses the imagery in the video to tell a story which reflects that
of the song.

5. The song moves into the final chorus and as it
does so the daughter moves back into the cage
and climbs onto the father’s back. This is the ark
in the story in which the daughter finally accepts
his mistakes and decides to stay with him.
Because this is the last chorus of the song, more
is added to the sound in the way of harmony, bass
and vocals. This build in music is reflected
through the performers in the video as they act
out the change in attitude between the two
characters.
The video finishes with the daughter leading the
father out of the cage, however she is unable to pull
him through and he remains stuck. The use of this
low angle shows how the father has sunk to his
knees and is emotionally drained. We also she the
daughters hands pulling on him as if she is pulling
him to where we are (out of the danger). After the
music has finished the video continues to show the
daughter attempting to pull the father through the
cage. Multiple shot types are used to show this,
such as the one shown above as well as a wide
shot and also a medium of the daughter. By
allowing the video to continue after the song it could
show that the father may never be able to escape.

6. In conclusion the music creates an engaging story for the audience to follow that incorporates the lyrics of the
song with the actions in the video. The overall look the video is filmed and edited very well, all of the camera
movement is controlled accordingly and helps to show the audience exactly what is happening. The editing
works with the music allowing the two elements to flow with one another as well as showing the audience a
range of different shot types to keep them engaged throughout the video. The performers in the video work well
with one another in order to show the relationship of the characters. Their dancing moves in time with the beat of
the song and this means that the video moves with the song. Because the style of the video is televised bard
everything in the video has to reflect what the lyrics of the song is saying. The actions in the video do not directly
reflect what the artist is singing about, and this allows the audience to watch and decide what they think the song
is about.