Textual analysis on 2 music videos

‘SOS from the kids’:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl0XSWGsTqA

‘SOS from the kids’ is an environmental song protesting for protection of our planet. The music video includes many different children singing and performing, it also contains footage of some of the children at the climate change strike in March 2019. Also in the music video, we see some footage of a couple of the children travelling on trains with their climate change signs an posters, this is presumably the children on their way to the march. In the music video the children are showing their creations of posters and signs in protest against climate change, these have been hand-made which shows they are exploring their curiosity and their potential, meaning that they are putting a lot of effort into resolving the problem. For a large percentage of the music video, we can see that the children are outside, exploring their creative nature, enjoying the presence of the earth; this helps to reinforce their point about how much they care for the environment and wish to end climate change. The use of children for this song and the music video is to remind the audience that the earth will be theirs when we have all left, so we should act now to prevent further problems in the future.

Most of the shots in the music video are medium close-up shots and some medium shots. Direct eye contact is used throughout the music video, this has been used to connect with the audience so that they will act of the message of the song and try and help to save the planet. Inter -titles have been used in this music video to help get the message across so that you both hear and read the message they are trying to get across. Near the beginning of the music video, there are two young children singing into recording equipment, here they have used a high angle shot to show how small they are in comparison to the problem, however, as the music video progresses, we can see the angle of the shot gradually get shallower as more children join the shot, this has been used to show that if more people try and overcome this problem then it can be resolved, this helps to encourage the audience to do something about the climate change crisis.

Throughout the music video, the only type of transition used is a cut, this is to give the audience enough time to read the hand-made signs and to show the children performing the song. Some of the shots used show a camera filming a child singing, this is to show the audience that this has been created by children as the person filming the children is also a child, this tells the audience that it is the children’s idea to create the music video and they have designed it.

The song in this music video is created by children’s singing voices. There is no added sound to this music video like the sound of the crowd at the march. Some of the sound is diegetic sound such as the children singing into the music equipment. Most of the sound in this music video is non-diegetic sound, like the instrumental music that is played in the background of the lyrics. At some points in the song we can hear individual voices from the children instead of the same voice that we hear for most of the song, this is used to make the audience react to the music video and make them it seem more personal to encourage the audience to act.









‘Flying’ by Seize The Day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNO7F5m-7pQ

cinematography, editing, sounds, mise-en-scene

Various shot types have been used in this music video, including medium-long shots, medium shots, long shots, a close-up shot at the end and medium close-up shots. Medium close-up shots have been used when the main singer is performing to the camera, she performs to the camera because that way direct eye contact occurs and it is an effective way to engage with the audience so it will help to get their points across about saving the environment. The music video also includes words, an example of this is when somebody is writing into the sand, this is an example of an inter-title; the use of this is to make sure the audience hear the problems and remember them as they are joined with an image to make them more memorable. At the start of the music video, the band are running around of the beach, playing games, this is to represent everyone else in the world who are not acting or trying to save our earth. It could also be used to show that once we have resolved the crisis, we can go back to having fun. Zooming out has been used in this music video to show the size of problem that we are faced with and how little a small percentage of us are in comparison to it, this makes this music video similar to the other music video I analysed. The objective of this music video is to highlight some of the ways that we can try and decrease the size of the environmental issues, such as riding a bike, wearing eco-friendly clothing and possibly not travel.

This music video uses a couple of different types of transitions including cuts and dissolving. The cuts are used to transition between the story and the performer. In the music video there is a section that goes into black and white, this is used to represent a bad time, but the black and white section only lasts 11 seconds and then turns back to colour to show that times will get better again after a while when we all act. There is a frame around the music video which minimises the view so that you do not have to absorb the entire screen just to look for the subject of the shot. Borders also frame work to signify importance.

There is no background sound in this music video like the waves from the sea or the wind. In the music video there is someone playing a saxophone, however there is no sound in the music video of a saxophone being played. In the song a question is posed by the singer about what she should do- go visit her family or protect the environment, during this part of the song, the words are spoken instead of sung, this is to make sure the audience is listening as they will be intrigued by the change of speed that is happening; the change also forces us to think for a bit about what to do. The musicians have added facts into this bit as the change in melody should help us as the audience to remember the facts that they put down.

The music video is set at a beach because the music video is about the environment and celebrating life. The reason it is set on a beach is because beaches are very free places due to the miles of outstretched land and they are empty for most of the year. The music video includes footage of an EasyJet plane coming into land at an airport and then the pilot leaving the airport, during this part of the song the lyrics relate to most peoples excuses for not doing anything for the environment: “But he doesn’t have the money and he doesn’t have the time”. In the music video, there is clear demonstration about what you can do in order to help save our environment, this includes recycling, using your bicycle to travel around or walking instead of car and only filling the kettle up as much as you need. However, the next part of the song says that we do not need to give up everything to help out our environment, for example we can still travel around to see people, “Don’t take my freedom away, don’t take my holidays”. During the part of the song that involves speaking instead of singing, the ‘lover’ is demonstrating her knowledge of what air hostesses do when on a plane to show the passengers the emergency exists, this shows how often she has been on a plane recently as she knows the emergency exists off the top of her head, this informs the audience that if they know the emergency exists aboard a plane then they have been adding a lot to the environmental issue.