The document provides an analysis of Coldplay's music video for "The Scientist". It notes that the video tells a narrative in reverse, following the protagonist played by Chris Martin. Through the use of lighting, location, and slow motion shots, the video conveys a sense of mystery around the character's origins and leaves the audience wondering how he ended up in this situation until the shocking reveal at the end of the crash that started the sequence of events. Camerawork and editing are used effectively to match the rhythm of the song and show the character in isolation against vast backgrounds to portray his problems. Shots are chosen to elicit audience curiosity and speculation about the character's personality and background.

1. Guy Pollard
Music video
analysis

2. Coldplay's The Scientist is a soul / alternative rock
song which was released in 2002. It is famous for
its unique music video which tells a powerful
narrative in reverse. the character is played by the
lead singer of the band Chris Martin who lip sings
the whole of the song. It is like he is telling a story
in reverse. Through the beginning of the music
video the narrative is shrouded in mystery as the
audience does not know where he has come from.
From the beginning of the music video through
means of mise-en-scene you can see that the
character has come from a bad place as he is
traveling on his own and is walking in rough areas.
The music has contrasting words with the video
such as ‘pulling the puzzle apart’ like the audience
is doing with the narrative. It is only at the end
that the audience see the crash the started off the
sequence of events. This will be a shock for the
audience which will make the video all the more
powerful.

3. The director of this music video uses camera
and editing to full effect to get the contrasting
elements across. Through out the video the
shots are slow pace and consistent throughout
the music video much like the rhythm of the
song so it stay to genre convention. In the top
right shot you will see our character walking
towards (in reverse) a dead body. This shot
shows the main focus of the music video. With
the contrasting effects of the dark lighting and
the dead body this gives the audience the
impression that this is a bad place for our
character as they wonder how the dead body
got there. They use slow motion shots which
gives an impressive spectacle to the audience.
They use wide shots like the bottom right just
to show the audience how alone the character is
and the vastness of his problems he has to deal
with.

4. Since the narrative is supposed to be surrounded
in mystery they start off with a shot that bring in
people curiosity straight away. The first shot is of
the character on the ground in a grotty park like
he is some sort of drug addict or homeless person.
It is only when people see the narrative is in
reverse that their interest in hooked as they are
now egger to find out his story. They use shots to
confuse the audience like where he jumps over the
wall. Although it is shot in slow motion this can
give the audience the impression that he is quite
an athletic or enthusiastic person which helps the
audience make their own assumptions about him.
In the bottoms shot we see our character going
back into the dark. This gives the audience a
insight into his personality. As dark is usually
considered to be a bad colour of evil or depression
it reflects the emotions of our character.