The music video for "Chandelier" by Sia features 11-year old dancer Maddie Ziegler portraying the effects of alcoholism. Through exaggerated dance moves in a dimly lit, run down apartment, she symbolizes the protagonist's struggle to cope through drinking. Unusual editing and cinematography techniques like continuous shots and close ups are used to emphasize Maddie's emotional performance. While the singer is absent, the video powerfully conveys the melancholic theme of using substance abuse to escape reality through Maddie's vulnerable yet determined interpretation of the song's lyrics.

1. CHANDELIER BY SIA
Maya Shehata

2. GENRE
• ‘Sia – Chandelier’ from the album 100, it is by the Australian recording
artist Sia Furler, the genre is electro pop featuring electronica, R&B and
reggae influences. The song is written by Sia and Jesse Shatkin and
produced by Shatkin and Greg Kurstin.
• The main genre that this music video would be categorized as is
Electropop.
• The music video is unique and not stereotypical of pop genre music
videos.
Singer does not feature in the music video which is unusual.

3. AUDIENCE
• The target audience for this video is aimed towards teens and young
adults that likes the genre of pop in music, also, these people can also
relate to the idea of using alcohol to escape from reality. the
choreography made the music video stand out to other audiences.
• The use of the dance moves could be interesting to adults, as they are
unique and unusually common, they are extremely exaggerated which
could have emphasis on the lyrics themselves.

4. NARRATIVE
• Maddie Ziegler, who was 11 years old at the time, where she acts the
younger version of Sia throughout the video. The other elements
involved in the video and song that link together is the melancholic
theme which details of alcoholism through the typical thought of a
“Party Girl” which is mentioned in the lyrics as well as represented in the
video.
• There is a relationship between the lyric and video, where the music
video symbolises the meaning behind the song; drinking alcohol and
always partying is a way of escaping of reality and doing the cycle all
over again.

5. CINEMATOGRAPHY
• The camera follows the gymnast as she dances around the three rooms, not stopping or cutting
except for the first few shots at the beginning before the song starts. This could of been done to
demonstrate to ongoing struggle of the party girl like how the camera keeps going on.
• The shots that are used within the video consist of numerous types, there are mostly close ups to
show§ the emphasis of emotion on Maddies face. The most notably the scene where Maddie
travels towards the drapes, hides behind them and then shows her face moving from a low point
to a high point, which suggests that she may be drowning herself to death but she also “won’t
look down” even if she knows the possible consequences of what she’s doing, she’s determined to
ignore them for one night. This again links into the main theme of the video, which is alcoholism.
• A use of close ups are used as well as wide shots of the room are shown to show how the
environment around her is so poor and that no one has lived there for quite a while. By the end of
the video Maddie is seen to be standing near a doorway almost lifeless while the camera pans
further and further away from her, then the video ends. Also throughout the video there is no part
where she is lip synching the song, this is all focusing on her performance and how she attempts
to mimic the storm of emotions that Sia has had at that point in her life. The inner turmoil that she
had experience with her use of alcohol and how she felt when she was younger. In my opinion I
think this was a very eye opening and meaningful video, not just for the artist but for many people
who may have had a similar experience, that feeling of helplessness and confusion.
• During this music video, they use a lot of wide-angle shots this way they are showing the
background. Showing the fact that there is only one person in the music video

6. EDITING
• Camera zoomz into the hallway of the house.
Cuts to another room which looks like a bedroom with a wide shot.
- Non- diegetic sound of a buzzing sound than the song starts.
- Cuts to the doorway with a long shot of a young girl.
- Camera zooms in on the girl and then cuts to a shot of her feet from
a low angle shot.
- Camera is handheld as it moves in a titling way to show the girl
dancing and moving towards the couch.
- The girls hand movements go with the beat of the song.
- Handheld camera is used to show the movements of the dancer and to
make the audience feel as if they are in the room watching her dance.

7. MIS-EN-SCENE
• Make-up: The costume, hair and makeup of Maddie resembles the artist Sia, as she wears
sia's trademark bleach blonde hair, shoulder length hair with a full fringe. her emotions do
change depending the lyrics.
Setting: a colorless, run down apartment as the setting and the lighting is quite dimming. All
of this creates a depressing mood to the video.
• Actors/costume: The dancer in the video is in the TV reality show ‘Dance Moms’ and by
appearing in this music video is a slight intertextual reference. wearing the skin toned leotard
is used to shock the audience and make them feel uncomfortable as the use of such a young
girl who dances a quirky contemporary dance to a song about depression and drinking
would appear wrong to most audiences. Her outfit makes her look almost naked with would
resemble vulnerability in the character.
• Lighting: The lighting at the start of the music video it is very bright, they use very high key
lighting. This is a contrast with the out side of the world because the bright lights are coming
into the old broken window. Also when they do the zooms onto the girls face its very bright
and you can see all her features. This way all of her movements are on show and the key light
helps highlight this.

8. SOUND
• The video begins and ends with a dull, monotone buzzing sound,
resembling the sound florescent lights make. It’s as though the white
noise of the scene is all that the narrator can hear, contributing to the
feelings of being out of control.
• the lyrics themselves refer to the narrator’s alcoholism in both literal and
figurative ways. In a literal sense, the lyrics of the bridge are: “One, two,
three, one, two, three drink / Throw ’em back ’til I lose count.” This is an
obvious reference to drinking copious amounts of alcohol.
• the extended metaphor created by the imagery of “swing[ing] from a
chandelier” creates an almost triumphant picture–an interesting
juxtaposition to the previously established feelings of being out of
control.