Smokers outside the hospital doors Analysis

I wanted to use 'Tubechop' to help explain what I'm talking about, but it's not working for this video. So I'm having to leave that out. I was not able to embed the video from youtube either, so here's the low quality version from dailymotion:

I have decided to analyse a music video by The Editors - 'Smokers outside the hospital doors'.

I have decided to analyse this music video for many reasons, one of those reasons is that I think that, although there is a storyline which runs throughout the video, the story perception can different to each person who views it.

This is similar to what I want to have in our music video, because I think that a great piece of art doesn't simply have one meaning, it can convey many meanings to many people.

Every time I watch this video, I notice something different, or depending on what mood I am in, I feel something different. This is something I want our music video to be. It's important to create a video that will can be repeated many times, like a novel, or a piece of music, without the audience getting tired of it.

I like how the video starts with birds singing, without the music, and the door opens with a girl coming out, what looks likes like a derelict building, which is of course the hospital. The colours of the video are faded to give a hint of grey, which I feel has been used many times before in similar bands. I like the use of faded colours, because it's been used so much before by other indie videos, such as 'The Kooks - always where I need to be' and 'Mumford & Sons - Winter Winds', I think it now relates to that genre of music.

In my opinion, the narrative starts to become clear when the young girl has escaped from the building, and the freedom is realised when the music starts playing. The video is performance and narrative based, which I'd like to consider for our music video. However, I prefer that actors be kept a minimum, including band members. I say this because I am a fan of simplicity.

I am a huge fan of the camera work in this video, the smooth pans, and sharp focus really makes the video look visually pleasing. I like in some clips the background is out of focus. This is something i'd like to include in our music video, because I think that it looks professional, and finishes off a shot. The main point of the narrative is that the young girl is running away. I really like how throughout the whole video she is running with the music. This carries on the pace of the song, and although it is just running, it's entertaining. The constant change of location also contributes to the entertainment and pace. The use of motion blur in editing adds to the pace and makes the shots piece together faster, yet retaining the smoothness.

I like the fact that the young girl runs across the water, which in my opinion could be controversial towards religions, as it holds religious connotations. I think because it's controversial, It makes it interesting. For example Madonna's 'Like a prayer' was very controversial with religion, which I find really interesting.


Scribd Version:
Smokers outside the hospital doors