Textual analysis 3

1. Wilkinson – Half Light
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrX5zrPoZoM&index=7&list=PLCXh08784q72SDV77sYcIAgOA
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Textual analysis

2. Micro elements.
- Costume
- Setting
- Make up
- Narrative

3. Narrative – Relationships
We see cross cuts between the man and the lady at the beginning suggesting they are
thinking about each over. This will gain the audiences attention as we will like to see
when these two people come together. This is similar to other drum and bass music
videos such as Sub Focus – Endorphins as we will see the cross cut between the youths
and police until they clashed. However ‘Half light’ makes the relationship between the
two seem more friendly but Lifeless and Hostile.

4. Narrative – Influential.
We then see the man Join his friends in a car however it is clear that he is unhappy at the
moment through the diegetic sound ‘I don’t want a tin of bear I want to go to bed’ however
soon after this he becomes easily influenced from this tired state as his mate suggests that
he will be fine after ‘A few tins of beer, a few lines of coke and a pill’. This represents a
bigger problem within society because people complain about kids being peer pressured
into taking drugs which becomes a theme throughout the video.

5. Costume/Make up – Collective group
Similar clothing and Facial appearances present them as a collective group, this tells
the audience they feel comfortable around each over. This collective group will
therefore be interested in the same thing such as Drugs and going out clubbing. This
links with the expression they use within there group ‘tin of beer’ as it is unique in
there group.

6. Setting – Unnatural to natural.
We see the two main characters in the beginning separate in very unnatural and urban
environments however by the end of the music video when they are together we see a
much more natural and green setting around them this emphasis the good influence she
has over the man in comparison to the drug culture influence his friends have over him.
However the woodland area is still seen as very gloomy suggesting this drug culture has
stayed within him.

7. Camera work
We begin the music video with our main character in a ruined area with majority close
and mid shots, also you can rarely see in front of the character, this might be suggesting
his entrapment within the society he lives in and that he has no vision ahead of him.
This is completely opposite to the end of the video as we have long shots of him and his
new girlfriend looking out into the town also the natural environment emphasizes this
sense of change. This is similar to the textual analysis I did of Coldplay – The scientist as
in both we cant see in front of the main characters. However in Half light you see
character development and by the end feel he has come out of the horrible culture he
was in.

8. Editing
The parallel editing at the beginning of the video between the male and female character
provokes audience response to wonder when perhaps these two characters will meet?
Whether they know eachover? However once the male joins his mates in the car the
parallel editing stops this is suggesting that the mans friends are holding him back.
However later on when they are in the club the shot reverse shot suggests he has found
his way forward linking to the close face on shots seen previously where he looked
trapped.

9. Mise en scene
Male surrounded by Graffiti on wall juxtaposed with the woman in a clean environment this
is suggesting he has a dirty culture compared to her pure one. Secondly the harsh lamp
lighting during the couples first encounter makes the scene look fake and unnatural. The
fakeness coming from the orange glow made to look like sunlight come through on to them.
Lastly you see him in the natural environment still holding a beer can this is suggesting that
his unhealthy culture is still partly within him.