When talking to my group we discussed using a slow song but some issues were raised when we talked about editing. Slower songs require slower editing and that can cause the audience to lose interest and after watching a few videos we decided to think about whether we wanted to use slow song. However one of the videos we watched was A Great Big World's "Say Something" and I wanted to go back and analyse the video in more detail.
The song itself is full of emotion and has a very moving message to it: "I am here for you". Many people spoke about how sad the song was when watching it but I think there is more behind it and want to find out what it is that makes this video so emotional. When reading through the comments of the video many people were explaining their loses as the song lyrics trigger this emotional train of thought and the video itself provided images that would make maybe people feel sad. Every scene in the video takes place in the same dark and open spaced area which creates a certain atmosphere.
The opening scene starts with one of the singers from A Great Big World playing the piano in the same dark and empty room. To me, this brings out the theme of isolation due to the mist and darkness that fills the room so that nothing else can be seen. Both the piano and the singer blend into the background suggesting his own isolation in the scene.
The second scene that is introduced is two people, presumably a couple from the way they are dressed, lying on top of a mattress bed before quickly cutting back the the piano scene and the singing begins. The editing here is very smooth as it introduces a new scene but quickly cuts back for the lip syncing and then having a close-up on each of the couple's face. The man looks angry or tense whereas the woman is upset and facing away from him. This could suggest maybe narrative plots: Is the male the dominant character in the relationship? Have they fallen out of love or where they ever in love? Is one of them abused? There is also a short cut from the woman's face to a water droplet falling which I like to interpret as a tear drop, which represent the current situation of the relationship. The woman also sits up and looks over at the man but he remains lying down, looking away from her. This scene can be interpreted in many different ways which is why I think many people could relate.
During the previous scene there is a cut back to the singer and a shot introducing Christina Aguilera as the female singer. The close-ups on both singers shows there serious faces to match the somber feel of the video. A new scene is then introduced: a young girl sitting alone on her bed. The space around her is dark - which could continue with the theme of isolation - yet she is wrapped up in white sheets. I believe that this is a symbol for her being the light in the darkness and the dark in this particular scene could represent fear. The girl then hides under her covers and a short, and dark, clip plays of two adults arguing. I missed this scene when watching the video for the first time and I think it gives a lot of meaning to this scene. The adults are most likely arguing, something that no child likes to hear, so the young girl flees to her bed but when the arguing continues she hides under the bed. Everything about the girl is related back to the colour white: her clothes, her bed sheets and her bed posts showing her innocence about the whole situation, which is matched by her hiding under the bed. Under her bed is a dog and I think that the dog represents the girl. Dogs often want the attention of their owners - in the girl's case her parents - and in this case when the parents argue she hides just like the dog.
The next scene, in my opinion, is the most emotional. A hospital bed is shown with an old woman lying inside, beside her is, presumably, her husband who is crying by her bedside. The theme of this scene is love and loss and it is presented beautifully. The edits are smooth and are in time with the piano making the sequence flow. Each edit back to the elderly couple shows the true sadness of the man and how he cannot cope without his wife. The sequence is the most relatable in the entire video as it links back to the song lyrics "say something, I'm giving up on you" and captures true human sadness within a couple seconds. The shots in this scene are similar to the first one. Shots of each character's face and many of them together except, unlike the first one, the man in this scene actually shows sadness towards his partner.
The next scene is back at the piano and it reveals that all of the stories are in the same room and one by one the emotionally hurt person in the scene walks over to the centre to be group together as one. This scene is beautifully edited: the woman in the first scene gets up and walks away leaving the man only to watch her go, the young girl is offered a hand which she takes. They all then have their own walking away shot to match the line of the song "I'm saying goodbye" - a powerful line matched with powerful visuals, each character is leaving the one they love because it is time to say goodbye.
This video is one of the best videos I have ever seen and it has completely changed my opinion of slow songs. This video proves that a slow song that have a good pacing, a narrative and performance shots and still make the audience feel all sorts of emotions and that is exactly what this video does. The editing and narrative and overall look of this video is something that I strive to have in my own music video and I will defiantly be re-watching this to get more ideas during the planning phase.
No comments:
Post a Comment