Student Video Analysis 1 - The Good

Character:
The characters included in this video are the band who sing and perform for the audience, as well as a girl who seems to be in a relationship with the lead singer. So conclusively there are 5 characters starring in this music video. Three of the four members do not interact with the audience at all and are just there to play their instruments, the fourth member sings, his lip synching to the song is also extremely good, as well as his acting e.g. if he is building up to the chorus, he looks like he is doing so instead of just miming the song.
Mise-en-Scene – CLAMPS:
Costume – The costume used in this video is very casual, consisting of normal every day clothing such as hoodies, jeans, T-shirts etc. which creates quite an informal atmosphere.

Lighting – Lighting for this video was very well used and extremely well enhanced, e.g. in the band performance scenes the lighting is relatively high key, but there is darkness in the background, this can be seen as a clever technique used by the producers in order to attract as much attention as possible to the band playing by blocking out everything else in the background. The lighting is also used to enhance and emphasise the lead singer's appearance. The lighting is also used to create atmosphere within the video, e.g. during the band performance scene as the song reaches it's chorus the lighting is seen to turn down to near low-key lighting, this connotes the climax of the music video and can be used to increase the viewer's interest.
Actors - The actors starring in this video consist of 5 people, 4 are band members, the 5th is a girl who takes part in the scenes where the band are not performing. The leads singer looks very much like he is genuinely singing the song, the hint of realism within his music video creates a good effect of increasng interest as the lead singer looks like he is putting effort into singing the song. As for the other actors in the band, they also look like they are playing the instruments, and also conduct with a familiarity of those instruments, hinting to the audience that these 4 actors are probably in a band themselves.
Make up – As far as the audience can tell no make-up is used within the making of this video, as the four boys look normal, no face paint, hair gel etc. and in the scenes with the girl it is too dark to see her face properly.
Props – One of the major props used in this music video are the musical instruments and gear such as the guitars, microphones, drum kits etc. These create a very large sense of realism in this video as the band members use them with familiarity which makes it look like they are actually playing the song. Other props used are 'memento' type props such as photographs which signify a story is being told by looking at these.
Setting –  The music video is set in a studio/hall where the band perform as if it has been done professionally, but you cannot see what type of place they are using very well as stage lights are used to enhance the image of the band as they perform. Th music video also takes place in a couple of other locations, predominantly one is on top of a hill overviewing a city, this is where the lead singer and his girlfriend come in to the video as they are casually hanging around that area, possibly waiting for the sun to rise as it is early in the morning. And the last place where the music video is set is in the lead singer's room where he looks at a picture of someone unknown to the audience until a short scene is shown of the picture frame being empty.

Iconography:
There is a diverse use of iconography within this video, firstly is within the scene on the hill where the lead singer and his girlfriend are sat, the scene keeps on switching to him and his girlfriend, then to the lead singer by himself, this could signify that something is not entirely right. This further on then switches to a scene of him lying in his bedroom looking at a picture frame, because this is aimed away from the camera the audience does not know what the picture is until later on when the picture frame is viewed and it is empty, this could connote that his girlfriend has possibly left him, or that something is missing.

Narrative:
Narrative within this video is only of the song playing, no overhead voice is used.
Themes:
The theme for this music video basically consists of a relationship going wrong between the lead singer and a girl unknown to the audience, and throughout the video it shows certain momentos of their relationship being good and happy in some places and bad in others, but as the song comes to the end it goes wrong and the girl leaves the lead singer.
Sound:
The only sound used within this music video is of the song.
Editing:
For editing there are some fantastic pieces used to pique the audience's interest, such as at the start of the music video there is a series of cuts to various scenes of filming such as the lead singer on top of the hill, cars passing by a motorway in fast motion, which could connote the passing of time, as well as small cuts between instruments before they have been picked up by band members etc. and this all happens in the first 12 seconds of the video.
Another feat of editing done by the makers of this video is using the overview of the city and the sky and filming it, then speeding it up to connote the passing of time, I think this is very clever as it gives off a certain sense of tension within the atmosphere as the song builds up to its chorus.

Camera:
There is a very wide range of shots and movements used within the video, so much so that there are not many instances where only the basic shots are used. Some of the more complex movements and angles are shallow and deep focus, hitchcock zoom, blurring so only lights can be seen (picture to the right) etc. as well as integrating the basics into the  video such as long/mid shot and close up, some establishing shots are also used, as well as zoom which appears commonly in this video e.g. zooming out to see the entire band, or zooming in only to see the lead singer, the zooming is also not done slowly but is instead done with speed and precision.
There are also some unusual camera shots taken that would not ususally be thought up, but yet provide a different perspective of the scene. (Picture to the right).

Overall I think this is an extremely well done video which has been very well acted, shot and put together.