The video tells a narrative story through quick cuts and montages. It begins by introducing dolls representing childhood dreams. A young girl enacts domestic routines to attract a mannequin, representing idealized notions of settling down. However, her dreams are not fulfilled. The dolls burning at the end symbolize those dreams being destroyed, as the darkening lighting brings the story back to reality. The video uses editing, sequencing, and post-production effects to amplify the lyrics and illustrate how childhood dreams of relationships may not match reality.

1. Settle Down
Kimbra

2. Narrative
• Insight into her childhood desire of being in a relationship and having a family
• Now she has grown up she has realised her childhood dream isn't actually what it should be
• “I wanna settle down”, “I” connotes it is about her feelings which reflects that she is telling the narrative
• “Settle down” - settling down is one of the first stages of a committed relationship, settling down often
comes with buying a house, having children etc this implies that she is very serious
• “Raise a child” - comes back to settling down further denoting how serious she is and her ideal life plan
or dream Kimbra's facial expression is very serious reflecting the reality of it.
• The man is a manikin which could reflect her ideology of the “perfect man” but the fact that it is a manikin
implies that there is no such thing as the “perfect man” or if there was it would not be real. You could also
infer that it is following the doll house theme, so him being a manikin is basically a doll.
• Intertextuality - “run from Angela Vickers” reference to “a place in the sun” a film made in 1951 which
explains the voice at the beginning and the text. The film was also about a man being involved with two
women. “George finally meets "society girl" Angela Vickers (Elizabeth Taylor), whom he has admired
from afar since shortly after arriving in town, and they quickly fall in love. Being Angela's escort thrusts
George into the intoxicating and carefree lifestyle of high society that his rich Eastman kin had denied
him.”
• “Star so light, star so bright - sounds like something from a nursery rhyme further suggesting her childish
ideology

3. Camera
• Big close up of lips which creates a sense of mystery and anticipation
• Same shot of the girl looking in the mirror, one with “him” in the background and the girl brushing her
hair and another with her heavily made up (trying to be more like “Angela Vickers” but no man, this
reflects that however hard she tried “he” will never be hers.
• Static - Mostly still shots, no pans which further suggest this dollhouse idea that it is still, not moving
• Most of the shots are tight frames, camera being face on and very up close, this is
• High angles are used to also portray that doll house image, the audience looking down upon them
• There is a close up of Kimbra which suggests that she is telling the story, also between all the scenes it
always cuts back to Kimbra which shows that she is the narrator.
• Throughout the whole video Kimbra does not move which illustrates the idea that she is stuck like a doll
further reinforcing the doll house idea. You could infer although she is in the middle of the two girls she
is still centre of attention with her being dressed in black.
• Long shot used when the girls some into the scene so you can see the contrast of them. The girls
represent her childhood, wearing white which portrays purity and naivety whereas kimbra is wearing
black which symbolizes destruction and death, which could mean death of her childhood dreams which
mirrors the dolls burning.

4. Performance
• Performance - Kimbra is not part of the narrative, she stays near the
dolls which reflect her childhood and doesn't move
• By Kimbra singing along it infer that it has happened to her and the burning dolls reflect her
childhood being burnt since she wanted to “settle down” but it didn't come true
• Kimbra uses other people to tell the narrative, in this case it is two girls which reflects what
is trying to be portrayed, but in other videos she does as well which suggests that she
prefers to use others to tell the narrative
• Kimbra is very still, dancing with her upper body , this makes it look like she's being
controlled which also resembles the doll house theme but then there are the two girls who
seem to be controlled by her as it is her story, so who is controlling her.

5. Star Image - iconography
• She is known for combining pop, jazz, rhythm, blues, indie and rock
• Always wears her hair short, black and curly
• Frigid movements making he seem like a doll in music videos
• Her look is vintage and extremely unique compared to other artists
• She is not sexualised unlike others
• Her outfits are Victorian with modern twist, short and flouncy
• Almost all of her songs are about heartbreak, trying to get a man

6. How does the editing fit in with the beat of the song?
• The cuts happens on the beat which makes the song more memorable thus promoting the artist’s song and
popularity. It also helps to engage the audience because the editing helps to move the scenes fluently, causing little
to no disturbance to the audience’s attention.
• One scene especially has quick cuts, the first young girl begins to clean ‘her’ home, prepare a meal, and dresses up
for the mannequin; she does all this hard work and no one shows up.
• At the beginning there's is an acoustic of her humming the beat, this then carries of on for about a minute before the
beat completely changes, this could suggest that she lingers or that she is constant, the beat doesn't change this is
the same for the pace of the song.

7. How does the editing fit in with the pace of the song?
• They have chose to use quick, simple cuts instead of any specific transition.
This helps to make the song more straightforward and simple to watch,
adding a more natural realistic effect, keeping to the pace of the lyrics and
melody.

8. Are any specific transitions used?
• They kept the transition simple, only using cuts throughout the whole video
this reflects her personality as she is also very simple in regards to her make
up which defines her character however, the video contrasts with this as it is
very complex with deeper meanings.

9. Are there any examples of montage editing?
• Montage of the dolls at the beginning, this has childlike connotations being
that little girls tend to have dolls, so it represents childhood dreams
• Montage of the dolls burning at the end, “keep him by my side” the montage
is made up of fast cuts which cut on the beat and on each word. This comes
across as controlling or slightly possessive in the sense that if he isn't there
something bad will happen hence the fire and burning of the dolls.
Alternatively, the dolls represent her childhood dreams so by them being
burnt it represents her dreams being shattered.

10. How is the video sequenced?
• The story follows the lyrics. The sequence illustrates and amplifies the lyrics
of the song.
• The chronological order of the lyrics reminds the audience of how fairy tales
are told to their children.

11. Lip synching
• The majority of the video is lip synced as she is telling a story, of finding the perfect
relationship; linking with the lyrics “Settle Down”.
• The fact that the artist lip syncs, help to promote her because she is on camera most of
the time. On the other hand, the little girl also lip syncs to parts of the song that has
romantic connotations such as “Won’t you wine and dine with me?”. This could
suggest that it is the little girl’s ideal of marriage instead of her partners.
• One scene for example shows the young girl dressed in a 1950s style dress, singing
over the lyrics “Keep him by my side”. As she is singing over it she is putting on a
pearl necklace, this could connote the fact that she has the mind of a woman but in
reality she is a little girl.

12. Post production
• The title of the song “Settle Down” was presented in the style of old films, which could show how the ideals of settling
down is traditional. “Is the sweet heart u married , the husband u expected to be?” This lyrics was said as the title
rolled on, it’s like a record player. It helps to set the theme of 1950’s. The lyrics seem to challenge the dreams of a
perfect relationship that the girl has throughout the story because the rhetorical question makes the audience doubt
the traditional belief of marriage.
• The burning fire could symbolise passion and destruction. The fact that in the scene where the dolls burn, the fire
was the brightest lighting in that scene which could illustrate the child’s strong desire to have a romantic and stable
life but it backfires, causing it to consume and break her ideals and dreams.
• Colour filters were used to make the video seem brighter at the start, which reflects the perfect relationship that the
little girl pictures however, towards the end of the song the lighting darkens, this could imply that her dreams were
being brought back to reality.