original music video review

1. Original music video
review
Thousand Miles by
Vanessa Carlton

2. Type of music videoThe music video to go with ‘Thousand miles’ is a
disjunctive and a symbolic music video. It is disjunctive
when she is going through the streets on her piano as
the setting shown behind her have no relevance to the
words in the song. It is also symbolic though as she is
traveling through the streets to show she is travelling a
thousand miles as she says in the lyrics and in the
song when it is just the sound of the piano playing it
actually shows her playing the piano.
The music video is also all performance as it doesn’t
show the story behind the lyrics within this music video
it just shows a performance of her and different people
in the background doing things that are not relevant to
the song.

3. Setting 1- Symbolic
The first symbolic scene we see in the music video is when
she is in the garage. The garage is cluttered and very full
this is symbolic to the song as the song is about love and
love can be full on sometimes and its like her mind is
cluttered in the song as she just wants to find her love. It
also looks confusing to be able to find things and know
where everything is just like how love is confusing and to
know where you are.

4. Setting 2- symbolicThe settings change all the way though the music video as she is
moving down the street on her piano. This is symbolic to the song as in
the song it first says ’making my way down town’ and she is shown
making her way down town. It is also symbolic to the lyrics ‘cause you
know I'd walk a thousand miles’ this is because as she is moving on her
piano and the settings are changing it looks like she is traveling a
‘thousand miles’.
She travels through:
• A street.
• A bridge looking over the city.
• The mountains
• A city centre.
All of these are
relatable to the
audience.

5. Setting 3- Symbolic
Another way the settings are symbolic are as she is going
down the streets it goes from children in the background to
older people. This is showing the journey of life which also
links to love.

6. Setting 4- Disjunctive
This is a disjunctive setting as in the
song it doesn’t say anything about old
men on bike in a mountain. Although her
been on a mountain could be her journey
of travelling a thousand miles.

7. Setting 5- Disjunctive
This is a disjunctive setting because it is totally
random to the lyrics of the song. When you picture
the lyrics in your head you do not picture her to be
in the middle of the mountains with a box covered
in vinyl. This is relatable for the time it was made as
people listened to songs through vinyl. This could
be to try and connect with the audience.

8. Setting 7- Disjunctive
This is a disjunctive setting as in the song it doesn’t mention a
beach or horses. This means that is just random and
’t make sense to the song. This could have been done as
representation of how confusing love is and how love doesn’t
just follow one straight path and not every ones love life is the
same. It shows that love is random as horses galloping on a
beach is not relatable, however beaches could be seen as
romantic as you always see on films couples having romantic
walks on the beach. The horses are also shown as been free
running across the beach too show that she is free and in love.

9. CostumesThis music video was released in 2001,
the outfit that she had on was very on
trend for that time. She is wearing a
capped sleeved top that is slight belly top
and a long skirt. By her having on trend
clothing it means that when it first came
out the audience could relate to her and
feel she is just the same as them. As
you can see in the picture taken in 2001
the outfits seen in the music video are
also worn by Destiny's Child. This was a
very popular girl band at the time this
means that girls watching will like and
buy the clothes and be able to relate to
them.

10. Extras Costumes
All of the extras in the music video behind the girl are all in relatable on trend
for that year clothing. For example the mother in the drive way has dungarees
which were very fashionable at the time. The children are dressed in children
clothes to represent that they are children. The people who are dancing in the
background are in American clothing to show they are American and proud.
The people who are running in the background to what they are doing and
running clothes that are relatable to what the audience have.

11. Lighting
Throughout the video the lighting is very positive as it is always
bright. In the day time the lighting is very bright allowing us to
see everything g that is going on. This gives the music video a
positive vibe, this is following the codes and convention of a
pop song as pop songs always have positive bright lighting.

12. Lighting
Even when it is night time in the music video the lighting is
still bright, which is still trying to create the positive
atmosphere. As we can still see everything that is going
on and we can still see her face and the passion she is
putting in to singing the song.

13. Props
The props shown in this scene are all the clutter in the
garage, this is showing how full and busy a love life
can and how you can never get rid of all the
memories just like you can't get rid of the rubbish. All
you really need to do is organise them in your own
mind and become in control of them.

14. Props
The piano is the main prop throughout the music
video as it is the main instrument that you can here
through the whole of the song. By been able to see
the piano and her playing it the piano it give the whole
song more meaning. The piano is also known as
romantic instrument as it is gentle sounding
instrument with reference and links to love.

15. Props
The bouncy castle is showing that they are children
having fun. This is showing the first stage of your love life
when everything is funny and you get on well and you are
so in love. It is also showing that both act like children as
they don’t have a care in the world because they are too
in love.

16. Props
The instruments are the in the background
are shown so that the audience can see
where the music is coming from.

17. Props
This is dijunctive prop as the owl as nothing to do with the
lyrics in the song but it makes you want to watch the music
video to see if it shows you why the owl is there. The owl could
be link to the fact that she is wiser now and knows what she
wants and what she wants is the love of her life back and she
will go as far as it takes. As owls are known for been wise.

18. Props
The horses are also a disjunctive prop as they also don’t have
any relevance to the song as it doesn’t mention horse once.
Again this is so that the audience watches to see how it random.
Although the horse could be relatable as it is running which
means it's free to as it wants, this relates to the lyrics 'if I could
fall in to the sky' as this talking about what it would like to be free
from the time and everything around her.

19. Body Language
She is shown with good body language as she is sat upright and
it gives off a positive vibe. She is always looking at the camera
and looks as though she is singing direct to the audience. This
makes the audience feel a connection to her as they feel she is
singing the song just to them. She is also always level with the
camera there is never a low angle to make it feel she is better
than you when you are watching and there isn't a height angle to
make her look weaker than you. Her facial expressions are
happy showing that she is happy and it is a positive song.

20. Camera Angles
This is a wide shot, this is to set the scene of
what is going on. It allows the audience to see
what is in the garage and to see what she is
wearing.

21. Camera Angles
This is a mid shot most shots within this music video are
mid shot this is so the angle can show her playing the
piano so the audience can see where the music is coming
from and so they can see her. It also shows the location
where she is in the music video.

22. Camera Angles
This is a close up camera angle, this is to show her
playing the piano and to show it is actually her hands
playing it. This shows that she is a talented artist, which
will make the audience look up to her as she has taken
time to learn a hard instrument such as the piano.

23. Camera Angles
This is also a close up angle, this is to show her singing and
it gives off emotion to the audience. You can still see a bit of
the mountain in the background to remind the audience she
is still travelling a thousand miles.

24. How it follows the genre codes
It follows the codes and conventions of a pop
music video as it has:
• Bright lighting, this is to make it a happy mood.
• Lyrics about love, as it is a pop song.
• She is wearing on trend clothing, so that the
audience watching can relate.
• She is a teen, as teens will be the main people
who will be watching.
The music video follows these to make it relatable
for the the target audience which is teenagers.

25. What is successful
• This music video is successful as it is
disjunctive so you can stop watching it as you
want to see what will happen next.
• It used on trend costumes throughout, to
relate to the teen audience.
• The locations were adventures, to make it
more appealing for the audience watching.
• The trendy customers used are also very
successful as they relate the target audience.
• The location are normal locations, which
makes it relatable to the audience as it makes
her look like a normal person like the