The document provides a detailed shot-by-shot analysis of the music video for the song "Fix You" by Coldplay. It examines 51 shots over the course of the nearly 4-minute video. The analysis describes each shot's duration, camera movements, and interpretations of the connotations and symbolism within the shots. Key elements analyzed include the use of lighting to represent the lyrics and the character's journey from confusion to finding guidance towards performing on stage in front of an enormous audience.

1. Coldplay: Fix You
Shot By Shot Analysis
Duration: 39 seconds , Shot type: The camera tracks forward towards the character until a
mid-shot is achieved and then begins to track backwards at the at a slower pace until a close
up is created and then travels at the same speed as the character.
Connotations & Meaning: Having the camera still to begin with creates almost an establishing
effect of the location, then as we get a mid-shot / close up we get a full view of the characters
facial expressions and emotion. Also, the camera travels from back and forth horizontally
across the character, this creates an effect that allows the audience to see every aspect of the
character.
Shot No.1

2. Duration: 20 seconds, Shot type: Begins as extreme close up, then moves to a long mid-shot
to allow us to see the full upper half of the character.
Connotations & Meaning: By having the beginning of the shot so close, it creates an intimate
feeling with the audience and allows them to completely see the confusion on the characters
face. As it begins to track backwards further from the character, we are then able to see the
surroundings as well as get an interesting lighting effect from the high spot light. This is able
to be seen as the camera is at a slightly low angle.
Shot No.2

3. Duration: 1 second, Shot type: Low angle, mid shot.
Connotations & Meaning: This shot creates confusion within the audience, as it is far shorter
then any other shot so far. It makes the character seem far larger, and therefore more
powerful. The light over head could be seen to be a symbolism of Coldplay’s star status.
Shot No.3

4. Duration: 4 seconds, Shot type: Close up, tracking backwards with the characters motion.
Connotations & Meaning: Allows the audience to see the characters face instead of being
silhouetted into the darkness due to the back lighting. The same lighting effect is created
whereby the characters movements allows the lighting to come into and out of the shot
Shot No.4

5. Duration: 4 seconds, Shot type: Low angle, Mid shot.
Connotations & Meaning: Again we can see the high source of lighting far above the
character, continuing the symbolism of star status carried by Coldplay.
Shot No.5

6. Duration: 7 seconds, Shot type: Close up tracked backwards to become a mid-shot that then
moves with the character backwards,
Connotations & Meaning: In this shot we hear the lyrics “Lights will guide you”. As this occurs
we see 2 lines of lights along the ceiling of the tunnel, creating a pathway effect. This shows
an illustration of the lyrics within the song.
Shot No.6

7. Duration: 2 seconds , Shot type: Medium shot showing the complete upper body of the
character from behind.,
Connotations & Meaning: “Light will guide you home” are said just before this shot, as we
see him following the direction of the lights
Shot No.7

8. Duration: 6 seconds, Shot type: Close up of the characters face, showing all facial
expressions,
Connotations & Meaning: “And ignite your bones” are the lyrics during this shot, as we see a
bright light behind him. This again shows the illustration of lyrics through visual imagery.
Shot No.8

9. Duration: 7 seconds, Shot type: Mid shot,
Connotations & Meaning: Shot shows the character as he has changed direction, he is now
walking in the direction of the lights as they “Guide him home”
Shot No.9

10. Duration: 1 second, Shot type: Long shot,
Connotations & Meaning: The main connotations given through the lyrics up until this point
in the video is that Lights are a positive thing, guiding you home, however, up until this point
we have seen the character walk away from the light, and then double back and change his
mind. In this shot we see the character spinning a light on a cable all around him, possibly
showing the confusion within him in the decision of which direction to take.
Shot No.10

11. Duration: 1 second, Shot type: Mid shot,
Connotations & Meaning: Shows the confusion upon the characters face a his head faces
downwards.
Shot No.11

12. Duration: 1 second, Shot type: Close up ,
Connotations & Meaning: Further shows the downward direction of the characters gaze, as
well as more focus upon the confused facial expressions of the character.
Shot No.12

13. Duration: 0.5 seconds, Shot type: Long shot,
Connotations & Meaning: Shows the character shrouded in darkness.
Shot No.13

14. Duration: 0.5 seconds, Shot type: Close up ,
Connotations & Meaning: Able to create a detailed shot of the characters movement and
change of direction. Looks to be a sense of realisation or shock.
Shot No.14

15. Duration: 1 second, Shot type: Very Long shot,
Connotations & Meaning: Shows very colourful bright lights in the background, possibly
continuation of the character “Following the light”
Shot No.15

16. Duration: 0.5 seconds, Shot type: Mid shot / close up,
Connotations & Meaning: Again the character is seen to turn and look backwards as if he is
startled. All of these short shots occur whilst no lyrics are being heard. The change in the pace
of editing may be present in order to connote to the audience the characters turmoil.
Shot No.16

17. Duration: 15 seconds, Shot type: Mid shot tracking left
Connotations & Meaning: Shows the movement of the character. Also, with a slight low angle,
it allows us to see the colourful billboards in the background fully.
Shot No.17

18. Duration: 1 second , Shot type: Mid shot, low angle,
Connotations & Meaning: Again we see the character twirling the light, however, now we see
from much closer, and the movement seems more violent.
Shot No.18

19. Duration: 15 seconds, Shot type: Close up moving to mid close up,
Connotations & Meaning: we see that a source of light is coming from in front of the
character, and also that he begins to pass the light. This shows that he is still walking in the
direction of the “Guiding lights”.
Shot No.19

20. Duration: 3 seconds, Shot type: Close up,
Connotations & Meaning: “Lights will” Is again sang, and we can fully see the expression of
the character and we can see that he is now following without changing direction, continuing
the illustrative nature of the video.
Shot No.20

21. Duration: 6 seconds, Shot type: Mid shot, tracking camera in a rotating motion around the
character
Connotations & Meaning: This shot shows the audience that character isn’t only following
this one bright light, but in fact a long line of street lights.
Shot No.21

22. Duration: 3 seconds, Shot type: close up,
Connotations & Meaning: Audience can fully see the character as he sings the lyrics
Shot No.22

23. Duration: 1 second, Shot type: over the shoulder shot
Connotations & Meaning: Reinforces to the audience the direction of the character and that
he is following the “Guiding light”.
Shot No.23

24. Duration: 11 seconds, Shot type: Low angle mid shot / close up rotating around the character
Connotations & Meaning: This shot shows how linked the music within the video is with the
visual images. As the camera rotates, we again see the bright source of light and colourful
billboard in the background. As the music finally picks up pace, the characters speed also
increases from a wandering stroll, to a run. As this happens, the editing also increases in pace.
Shot No.24

25. Duration: 0.5 seconds, Shot type: mid / long shot,
Connotations & Meaning: Shows the character running towards a source of light, no lyrics are
present.
Shot No.25

26. Duration: 0.5 seconds, Shot type: long shot,
Connotations & Meaning: Again shows the character running, but this is the first shot that we
see of him running in the direction of the camera.
Shot No.26

27. Duration: 1 second, Shot type: Long shot as the camera tracks left,
Connotations & Meaning: Character is running away from the camera again in the tunnel you
can see lights again working to show the character the direction he should be travelling.
Shot No.27

28. Duration: 1 second, Shot type: outward zoom moving from a mid shot to a very long shot,
Connotations & Meaning: This outward zoom from close up to very long shot shows the
isolation of the character as he enters the darkness.
Shot No.28

29. Duration: 0.5 seconds, Shot type: Handheld, unsteady camera following the character
Connotations & Meaning: The length of the shot, coupled with the unsteady camera creates a
confusion on screen, often these type of shots are used in horror films when a confrontation
occurs.
Shot No.29

30. Duration: 1 second, Shot type: Long shot,
Connotations & Meaning: The shot shows the full body movement of the sprinting character,
tracking backwards in the same direction as him .
Shot No.30

31. Duration: 1 second, Shot type: Long shot,
Connotations & Meaning: In this shot the camera tracks left as the character rounds a corner,
this way he stays fully within the frame.
Shot No.31

32. Duration: 1 second, Shot type: Mid shot ,
Connotations & Meaning: In this shot the camera pans upwards as the character scales the
stairs. As you can see, the all colour is lost from the scene. I believe that this has been used to
mark the transition between the difference in how the character is seen on and off stage.
When the character is seen off stage he is shown to be a normal person, but now he has
entered the arena we will see him being idolised by the audience he is performing in front of.
This short removal of colour acts as a divider as this change occurs.
Shot No.32

33. Duration: 4 seconds Shot type: Low angle, Mid shot to long shot
Connotations & Meaning: At this point we see the character ascend into the light as colour
returns to the screen. Before this colour change, bright colourful lighting was not used, and
we only saw glimmers of colour in the background. However, now we will see plenty of strong
colours as the character enters the stage. I believe this symbolises the change in emotion of
the character and how he is far more energetic and happy whilst on stage.
Shot No.33

34. Duration: 1 Second , Shot type: Mid shot,
Connotations & Meaning: From this point the video changes from an illustrative video to a
performance video. As this occurs we see a change in cinematography and now the video
contains classic conventions of a performance video.
Shot No.34

35. Duration: 2 seconds, Shot type: Very long shot of further character and mid shot of closer
character, The camera moves focus and actual begins with a long shot of the closer character
as to include him when establishing the band. It then zooms to the central protagonist who is
also the lead singer of the band as he moves across the stage.
Connotations & Meaning: I believe this shot and the previous shot work to establish the band
before the lyrics return. It is a classic convention of a performance video to have all members
included in the shot and these 2 work to allow that.
Shot No.35

36. Duration: 2 seconds Shot type: Establishing shot / Wide Shot
Connotations & Meaning: This shot allows the viewers to see the scale of the audience being
performed to and how popular this band actually are. It shows the scale of their stardom. Also
this shot can be seen to be an establishing shot. With the black and white shots being used as
a divider between the 2 types of video, this could be seen as a separate video altogether and
therefore an establishing shot has been used to give the viewers a sense of location.
Shot No.36

37. Duration: 1 Second, Shot type: Mid shot,
Connotations & Meaning: Again this shot has been used to include the other band members
in the video, who up until the point of the performance video transition, have not been seen.
Shot No.37

38. Duration: 1 second, Shot type: Low angle mid shot of the central character,
Connotations & Meaning: Again creates a sense of enlargement in the central protagonist as
he reaches out for the light. This light can again symbolises the “star status” and how he has
reached out and grabbed it to achieve this idolisation.
Shot No.38

39. Duration: 1 second Shot type: Long shot, zooming inwards
Connotations & Meaning: As this shot begins we see the character spinning the light once
again. Before this seemed like a symbolism of confusion, but by this point it seems the
character has made his decision and this movement is a symbol of his choice.
Shot No.39

40. Duration: 1 second, Shot type: Mid shot
Connotations & Meaning: Another shot of the guitarist so that he is included within the band
image.
Shot No.40

41. Duration: 1 second, Shot type: Mid shot
Connotations & Meaning: Shows the bassist of the band again
Shot No.41

42. Duration: 2 seconds, Shot type: Long shot as the camera tracks in a rotating direction
clockwise around the character
Connotations & Meaning: This shot re-enforces the same symbolism and meaning as before.
The shot is also in slow motion to exaggerate the motions of the character.
Shot No.42

43. Shot No.44
Duration: 1 second, Shot type: Long shot
Connotations & Meaning: After skipping another shot of the bassist, we see the main
character still swinging the light, however, his movements are growing more and more
violent.

44. Shot No.45
Duration: 1 second, Shot type: Wide shot
Connotations & Meaning: We now get a longer shot of the character as he swings this light
faster and faster. By having the camera further away, we also get a view of the huge audience.
This is the first shot of the character swinging the light from this side angle and it allows us to
see parts of the audience we have not yet seen.

45. Shot No.47
Duration: 0.5 second, Shot type: Low angle mid-shot
Connotations & Meaning: Again the idea on enlarging the central character through low
angle shots is re-enforced. The character is now swinging the light as fast as he can, as we
expect some kind of outcome of this. Possibly representing how his confusion is also
surmounting to this final decision that the audience expects.

46. Shot No.48
Duration: 0.5 second, Shot type: Long shot
Connotations & Meaning: Here we get a very short shot of the character jumping, we see the
beginning of the action, but it is cut short before we see the result. The angle is now
positioned from the other side and the video has finally achieved a full view of the stadium
from the band point of view.

47. Shot No.49
Duration: 0.5 second, Shot type: Very long, Wide Shot
Connotations & Meaning: We now get a shot that has flipped the perspective as we see the
band performing from a distance where the audience are stood. The camera is raised above
the crowd so that we can fully see the fire work display that is timed with the final outburst of
the music.

48. Shot No.50
Duration: 0.5 second, Shot type: Very Long, wide shot
Connotations & Meaning: After the previous shot, where the viewer thinks he is at the back
of the crowd, we then get an even further shot to show that the crowd is even larger then we
previously envisioned. This also gives a full view of the fireworks being used.

49. Shot No.51
Duration: 1 second, Shot type: Long shot
Connotations & Meaning: This is the final significant shot as we get a sense of resolution of why the character has been
spinning this single light bulb. To me it is a symbol of star status. Being above the character shows how it can seem out of reach,
but if you reach out and grab it then it can be yours. However, in this shot we see the character throwing away this light,
possibly showing how star status is not what it seems, or that stars are just regular people. Perhaps this is why we see him
doing this actions earlier in the video (Shot.10 & 18), to show how when these actions are performed by a normal person off
stage it is simply seen as actions, however, when it is performed on stage by a recognisable “Star” it is fantastic and deserves
adulation. I believe that this whole video is a representation of how stars and celebrities are simply regular people.