The music video for the song "Still" by the indie band Daughter uses cinematography, editing, and lighting techniques to convey the mood of heartbreak and uncertainty expressed in the lyrics. The video tells the narrative of a woman returning home alone to find her partner still in bed, with contrasts created between the warm, yellow lighting used for the woman and the cool, blue tones used for the man. Shots throughout the video reflect the lyrics, such as depicting the characters sleeping separately to match the line "but we're still sleeping like we're lovers." The video concludes effectively conveying the feelings of sadness and conflict in the relationship through the woman's emotional reaction filmed in a close-up shot.

1. Analysing a Music Video
By James Hargreaves

2. Daughter- ‘Still’
• The genre of the band is indie/alternative and their songs have
a soothing and calm feel to them.
• In this song the artist sings about a couple struggling with their
relationship and how they are unsure of where they stand with
one another.
• The video reflects the mood of the song and works well in
conjunction with creating the right feeling for the audience of
heartbreak and insecurities.

3. -The opening shot of the music video shows a young woman walking
home in the night. This helps establish the story of the couple in the
video as we see that from the beginning she is alone. The use of this low
camera angle also helps portray the importance of this character
because she is seen on a higher level as well as the fact that she is in
the centre of the frame.
-As the music starts the woman enters the flat and we cut to a shot of
her partner in bed. Through the use of miese-en-scene the lighting used
for the woman, as seen in the previous frame, has been predominantly
yellow (from the streetlight and a lamp inside the hallway). The man
however is lit with a blue and grey tone already creating contrasts to the
characters. This helps to emphasise the point that the couple are
opposites to one another. It is clear that the video is setting a scene for
us to watch, creating a narrative with the song which is what Sven
Carlson developed, this style is classical storytelling motifs.
The singer of the band appears on a television in the bedroom as she
starts to sing. This is an unusual way of representing the artist in a
music video, but an effective one. Perhaps the television with the song
playing in the corner of the room represents the subconscious thoughts
and feelings that the couple have towards each other.
In this shot we see the glow of the yellow light from the corridor contrast
to the grey of the bedroom walls and lighting. This clearly puts into
perspective the difference in the characters. How the woman is
represented in a positive way, through warm colours whereas the man
in a more negative way through the darker lighting and cold colours.

4. The predominant style of the music video
is ‘narrative’ because the actions
happening on screen match to the lyrics
of the song. Such as “but we’re still
sleeping like we’re lovers”. When this line
is sung we notice the two characters on
the bed who don’t seem to acknowledge
each other. This reflects the line of the
song helping to create the sombre mood.
In this shot we are also reminded of the
band playing on the T.V, creating the
unusual performance style and adding to
the underlying theme of subconscious
feelings.
In this shot we see the woman sitting on
the edge of her bed, it is clear that she is
unsure of lying with her partner. This
closely flows the narrative of the song
being heartbreak and loss. We see the
colour scheme at work again through the
miese-en-scene with the yellow lamp
shinning onto the woman's upper body
whilst the man lies under the grey duvet.

5. In this shot we see the woman’s reflections
from two different mirrors. This could be
interpreted as her feeling conflicted about the
situation, in two different minds. Unsure as
whether or not to stay with her partner. This
relates back to the feeling of heartbreak and
uncertainty in a relationship. The lighting is
used again with the yellow lamp lighting her in
one mirror whilst the other shows a darker
light on her face.
This is one of the few close up shots in the
video and is used to show the overwhelming
sadness that the woman is feeling as she
begins to cry. This shot is effective as it conveys
the amount of emotion she is feeling as well as
tying in with the music. This shot is placed
towards the end of the second chorus just when
the song begins to build and reach a crescendo.
This works with the imagery that is being shown
as the woman's emotions have been building
and building until this moment when they are
released.

6. In conclusion the music video is affective at conveying the meaning of the song.
The use of camera, editing and Miese- en- scene all work together throughout to
create the feeling of the song. The filming style of this video is much like an indie
film, this would make sense as the band’s genre of music is indie/alternative. Most
of the shots in the video are filmed using a tripod with very little use of panning or
crabbing. This could be the director referring to the title of the song ‘Still’. Over all
the video works in conjunction to create the desired effect of heartbreak and
insecurity for the audience, and whilst the band do not appear much in the video
(exclusively on the television in the room) this is how a indie band with a less than
average following would want to be portrayed and therefore would be categorized
under televised bard. This is not a performance video for the band it is a narrative
for them to tell a story.