3. Mise en scene:
Firstly in relation to clothing within this video the colour scheme is very dull and dark mostly with colours such as
black, blue and grey which mainly have negative connotations, which related with the narrative of cheating which is
clearly a negative subject. The women is dressed very classy and looks almost old fashioned, she is in a white/cream
dress which presents innocents which relates to the narrative as she is an innocent women who is getting cheated on
by her husband this has the effect of making the audience feel sorry for her and gives out the representation that she
has done nothing wrong. When look at the husband (cheater) we can see that he is in a suite, he is portraying his
innocent by making it look as if he is going to work when really he is going to see another women, The husband then
meets this other women and then takes his suite of, this shows that is purity has gone and that his cover is blown
which links to the song lyrics as well as the women's emotions.. When looking at the element of performance within
the song we can see the artist Sam Smith who is wearing a blazer which is made to look slightly old fashioned backed
up by the microphone which isn’t usually seen within this day and age, this links to the idea that he is singing about
this couple and is from the same era as them. We can also see within the element of performance with Sam Smith
singing, there is a red curtain behind him this creates the idea of performance and keeps to the old fashioned theme,
red also has the connotations of danger, which links to the narrative as the man who is cheating is in danger with his
wife as she has found about what he is doing behind her back (cheating). When looking at Mise en scene we can also
look at lighting, when looking at the man when he is going to see this other women we can see that the places he is
within are very dark, this connotes the idea that what he is doing is bad and negative it also portrays the idea that he
cant be seen so everything has to be dark in order for him to get away with it. When looking at the lighting when the
camera is on the women it is more light, this portrays the idea that she has made a ‘lucky escape’. When she is in the
car she has shadows on her as well as the natural light from the sun this portrays the idea that she is escaping from
negativity by finding out that the man is cheating on her and she can now be positive and leave him and the further
she goes in her car the happier she will be. When looking at the locations they are all real places, we can see the
women in various locations this portrays the idea of all of these materialistic things such as her car, the pool and the
nice house have all being ruined by the husband who has cheated. Overall I think the mise en scene within this video is
really impressive and makes the audience have a clear view of the narrative, if I am to have a narrative within my video
I hope for it to be as good as the one that appears within this video. This video has made me realise the impact of the
mise en scene and how it makes an effective video, this has made me realise that a lot of my focus when making my
music video needs to be on mise en scene in order to make an effective and successful music video.
4. Cinematography:
When looking at cinematography, the most popular frames are close ups, medium close ups and long shots. I think the
reason for the use of the close ups is to show the emotions of the women and how her husband cheating on her has
effected her, this has the effect of making the audience have sympathy towards the women and to create an emotional
relationship with the audience, especially with the audience being teenage girls it is very effective to show the women's
emotions through close up’s as teenage girls can relate as a main topic as teenagers is about love and heartbreak which
is the narrative within this music video, so this will make the target audience realise that is okay to feel emotional and
that they are like any ordinary person or it also might make them feel appreciative for the fact that are not feeling these
emotions and that they haven't been through what the women has been through. , this will make the audience more
likely to watch the video and enjoy the music for the fact that they can make an emotional connection with it. When
looking at long shots I believe they have been used to establish the locations, it is important for the audience to
establish the location in order to understand things such as their class and culture it also allows the audience to see if
they can relate to the locations that have been used within the video. When looking at this music video we can look at
how the location is used to express all of the materialistic thing that the women and her husband have that have been
ruined by him due to the fact that he has been cheating on her, this has the effect of creating sympathy from the
audience and they will automatically feel sorry for the women for the fact that her life was so perfect but now it has ben
ruined by the man for the fact that he has been cheating on her, this is also effective as it will make the audience almost
jealous of her life because of the locations that she is within but then not jealous because of the situation that she has
been put in. We can also look at the long shots that have been used when looking at Sam Smith this is to show that he is
on a stage creating the element of performance and to show that he is singing about the couple, also when looking at
Sam Smith we can see that close-ups have been used this shows Sam Smiths emotions, which creates the idea that the
topic of the song makes him feel sad and that he has a connection with the song that he is singing, it also creates the
idea that he upset for the women as he is singing about her. When looking at the man who is cheating we can see that
more medium close ups have been used this may be because he is emotionless as he doesn’t care what he is doing to
his wife and its all about the actions he portrays that are doing the damage, the medium close ups allow us to see all of
the actions that he is doing which will have the effect of making the audience angry because of what he is doing and
create even more sympathy for the women. After looking at the cinematography used in this music video it has made
me realise how important cinematography is especially when looking at the topic of emotion, I hope to use the correct
cinematography in my music video in order to create the right theme.
5. Editing:
In relation to editing there is not much used this may be because the narrative speaks for itself and doesn’t really need
much editing in order to make it effective as the narrative is already effective by itself. The editing in terms of shots per
second on the other hand is relatively slow, which is conventional for the style of music video as it is a very slow song
and it is all about emotion, if it were to be a up beat song it would be conventional to see more shots per second as it
fits with the beat. The shots per second keep in time with the music as it is switching from different locations to
develop a sense of narrative and to establish different scenes within, this is very effective and makes it unrepetative
which will have the effect of making the audience want to watch the video as there is a lot going on and the scenes are
changing constantly. The editing also speeds up when the lyrics within the song speed up, however when a slower verse
is sang; the editing is much slower to represent her emotions, this has the effect of creating and emotional connection
with the audience and it will make them feel more emotional. This shows that editing is in dept. in the way that it links
with how the song is sang, I need to take this into consideration when making my music video as it will look
unprofessional if my editing does not link with the paste of the song and will make it unsuccessful. This music video
does not use much editing, I hope to make my music video include more editing in order to show off my skill and to also
make it more effective, but I will also take into consideration that this music video in particular is effective because of its
lack of editing.
Sound:
In the terms of sound, the music goes well with the video. There is not many instruments seen and it is just Sam Smith
singing down his microphone which is very conventional for a song in which is slow and emotional. The only type of
sound that is used is non-diegetic this is quite conventional for a music video as diegetic sound is usually seen with in a
more up-beat song. I like the fact that non-diegetic sound is used although I feel it would be good to try and use diegetic
sound in order to make it unique and to test my skills.
6. Language
I have already analysed the way technical elements are used to create images, so I will summarise this
analysis.
-The mise en scene reflects the emotions of the actors/actresses used in the music video this is clearly
shown through locations, lighting and colours.
-The video includes narrative which is conventional to a music video in order to make it interesting and
watchable and also creates diegesis of the world.
-The video also contains performance alongside the narrative, which is conventional for a music video as it
can allow us to see the artist. Within this video it is lip syncing rather than live performance this is mainly
because of the theme of the song and to not disrupt the diegesis.
-close-ups are conventional as it can be used to focus on the singer and it also can emphase peoples
emotions within the music video
-Long shots are conventional to establish the location and to create a theme through the setting, which
allows the audience to understand and create relation.
-The editing links to the beat of the song which is another convention to a music video.
-The sound used is non-diegetic sound this is conventional especially for this type of music video
-The artist is seen within the music video which is very conventional
7. Ideology
The ideology shown within this music video is a serious one about the situation that a women can be in
which is being cheated on by a man, this creates the ideology that men can break your heart and they can
be horrible people and do things such as cheating, this music video creates an negative ideology on men
and makes them out to be bad people, and stereotypes all men into being cheats which isn’t necessarily
true. The ideology also gives out the idea that women need to be careful when dealing with men as they
can hurt you, The ideology of men hurting you can be seen through the close ups that have been used of
the women who looks really upset which creates sympathy from the audience. The fact that the women
stays at home all day and the man goes to work this creates the ideology that men are hard workers and
women should stay at home, this is not necessarily true especially within this day and age however the
ideology expresses this. The ideology makes out that all women are innocent and men are the ones that
hurt them, although this is not necessarily true as women can cheat on men however it gives out the
stereotypical idea that men are the ones that break women’s hearts, however this is then proved wrong
through the artist who is singing it as this is Sam Smith and he is male so then the ideology can be veiwed
in a different way as people will then see that women can also do the same to men. The ideology of
cheating hurting people can also been seen through the lyrics as Sam Smith is discussing the pain he feels
through being cheated on. The ideology has purposely been chosen to bring out emotion from the
audience, it is not light-hearted and should be taken seriously and is more for a mature audience. The fact
that the man who cheats and Sam Smith are in suits creates the idea of a high class this can also be backed
all by the locations used and also what the women is wearing, this creates the ideology that bad things
such as cheating can happen to anyone it doesn’t matter what class you are from. Even if you have all the
materialistic things in the world you can still be unhappy and bad things can happen to you, this is
important for people to realise and understand.
8. Institution
Samuel Frederick "Sam" Smith (born 19 May 1992)[2] is an English singer-songwriter. Sam is still fairly new
to the industry coming about in 2012 and he became popular mainly this year. This video represents him as
a brand and institution which portrays him as emotional, down to earth and understanding through the
media language used particularly through mise en scene and performance by Sam himself. Sam Smith is
signed to capital records.
9. Audience
The audience mainly seems to be teenage girls which is very usual with this kind of music, we can see that it
is for teenage girls purely because it is about a boy being heartbroken by a man, this can be seen through
the close ups that have been used to show the women’s emotion, this shows its for girls as boys don’t tend
to get emotional or feel sympathy like girls do. We can see that the narrative is a boy cheating on a girl and
many girls can relate to this and will enjoy this narrative because it makes girls look like the innocent ones
and boys to be the bad ones which can be seen to be stereotypically true. Another reason that makes it
seem to be aimed at teenagers is because of the theme of the song which is love as when you are a teenager
you crave love and have this fairy-tale dream whether as when you are an adult you are already there and
no longer crave it (in most circumstances anyway). We can also see that it is for girls when looking at the
long shots used as them show all the materialistic things that the women has which other girls would dream
to have and be amazed by. We can not categorise this to only girls has some boys may relate as they may
have been cheated on in the past so they can relate and feel the emotion that the women is feeling, it is also
acceptable for a man to relate to the song for the fact that the artist who is singing it is a male (Sam Smith).
Although boys when looking at the video in particularly may not approve of it for the fact that it gives boy a
bad image as it makes them look bad and like they treat women badly which isn't always the case and girls
aren't always the innocent ones.
10. Representation
Women
Women in this music video have been
portrayed as innocent and pure this has been
shown through mise en scene particularly. It
also portrays the idea that women are classy
and have a lot of materialistic things this is
shown through the long shots which shows
the locations and also mise en scene such as
the clothes she is wearing and the jewellery. It
also portrays the idea that women are treated
badly by men and that they get cheated on
this is shown through the narrative and the
lyrics that have been chosen. It also portrays
the idea that women have lack of motivation
to work and are stay at home wife’s this is
portrayed through the narrative. It also
portrays the idea that women are very
sensitive and emotional this is shown through
close-ups.
Men
Men in this music video have been
portrayed as negative and bad people. It
portrays the idea that men cheat on
women and make them cry this is
shown through the narrative. It creates
the representation that men lie which is
obviously negative this is also shown
through the narrative. It also creates the
idea that they are sex addicts this is
shown through the narrative. It also
creates idea that men are materialistic
this is shown through the mise en scene
has he is wearing a suite and has a flash
car.
