Lana Del Rey's music video for "Chemtrails over the Country Club" contains various symbolic elements and genre characteristics. It begins with innocent, nostalgic scenes of women laughing and swimming but then takes a darker turn when Lana bites into a lemon. The video features dark lighting, flames, religious symbols of the devil, and characters with supernatural features. It is influenced by 1950s aesthetics but also features modern elements. The video portrays women as being in control and presents feminist ideals through its representations of gender. Unique cinematography and editing techniques are used, including bokeh, color transitions, and light flickers between scenes.

1. Lana Del Rey –
Chemtrails over
the country club
(music video)
analysis
Loops Media

2. GENERAL CONVENTIONS1: Lyrics/visuals; Narrative
• 'wearing our jewels' - wearing jewelry
• Diegetic sound of burning (0:42 – 0:44)
• 'all of your jewels' - putting necklace on
• 'Kids' swimming pool' - kid jumping in the pool
• 'you're no fun' - contrasting visuals, people having fun, appears in the
format of a flashback, nostalgic filter
• 'red sports car' - driving a red sports car
• 'we laugh at nothing' - group shot of women laughing

3. GENERAL CONVENTIONS2: Genre characteristics
• Contrast between light dark themes
• Appears unconventional for the first half of the video (innocence
theme) - until video changes
• Striking visual, Lana Del Rey bites lemon, mood changes
• Music style doesn't fit her general music genre

4. GENERAL CONVENTIONS2: Genre characteristics
• Dark lighting
• Flames (hell connotations)
• 'Out of this world' theme – vampire, werewolf, alien-like eyes
• Religious connotations - devilish, tornado suggests God is angry
• Fast editing, unique transitions

5. GENERAL CONVENTIONS3: Intertextuality + postmodernism
• Strong influence from 50s era (old-fashioned sports cars, Audrey
Hepburn influence
• Framing, editing – square, specifically simulacrum. Lines, dots and
static (created by dust) on old film
• Contrast with the modern element (wearing insignificant mask)

6. GENERAL CONVENTIONS4: Representations
• Feminist – men appear secondary
• Only shows the man at the end, he holds her, but she has been active,
dominant in secret,
• Females are in control
• All characters are heteronormative

7. GENERAL CONVENTIONS5: Cinematography + Editing
• Bokeh
• Lighting – transitions from white, light blue to black and white, dark
blue, red
• Unique transition creates image of 'burning' film reel – foreshadowing
the later commotion in the video
• Uses the light flickers as transitions
• Cross dissolves – used to show passage of time