Textual analysis from our genre - Cold Play

Textual analysis from our genre

Narrative

For this section the narrative isn’t as straight forward as it seems as there isn’t a noticeable narrative other than there is man walking down the road which is brightly lit. However, there are aspects of ‘Props’ theory which relates to whether there are recognizable characters as I do not think there are.  The theme that is noticeable throughout is ‘night’ as throughout the whole music video it is dark/night time and he constantly looks like he is making his way back home or on his way to somewhere as the way he is walking suggest he is on a mission of some sort. The generally overview of the story line is that the character is singing whilst he looks like he is making his to a certain place and then there is a twist as he’s actually running to a concert to perform in front of a large crowd which creates a twist to the video but we did not know this at the start.

Genre

I am going to analyse Coldplay – fix it using the different areas as listed below. I know from this being in my genre that this music video is alternative rock therefore I didn’t have to investigate this. There are connotations of alternative rock seen throughout this video as within alternative rock videos the lighting tends to be rather dark which is seen throughout this video. In alternative rock videos the camera tends to be free hand most of time as it sometimes in videos it follows the character around to create a confused/exciting atmosphere which is actually seen in most type of rock genres.

Visual codes

It is set in London and I know this because within one of the shots you see a rail sign which says ‘Kings Cross’ which is a well-known place in London as seen as I live close by it was easy for me to see. Also, it is set in the arches underneath the rail station which you tend to see in London but is seen everywhere. There is a colour that is seen a lot within this music video and that is black, this colour is usually affiliated with death and the fact the song is called ‘fix you’ could suggest that they are talking about someone who might be close to death or maybe ill.

Audience

This music video is different from ones I usually analyse as I don’t think this music video is directly aimed at a certain group of people this is because I know it is liked by people of all ages as I know a lot of people who listen to this song, ranging from my dad and my granddad who are in their 50’s and 70’s. The key signifiers that indicate this is that there are no codes and conventions that fit into a certain age group. By this I mean that in teenage based music videos there tends to be bright colours whereas in this one it is rather plain which suggest it can be liked by all age groups. However, I believe that only an adult would be able to listen to the lyrics of the song and understand what it means which connotes that the audience is adults of all ages.

Technical codes

Camera shots and angles are used effectively in this video as they make it look professional and aesthetically pleasing to the audience. The first one which I think starts the video off is an establishing shot which shows the setting of where most of it is filmed and the main character and gives the audience an idea of where they are (London). Another interesting shot is the use of the low angle which is in the middle of the clip and is used to make the character seem dominant/ powerful which is stereotypical because men are usually the dominant gender and this is proving that this may be correct. The editing that is used throughout is rather slow which fits the pace of the song which is also slow therefore it shows consistency. Transitions aren’t very frequent and they aren’t constant which also adds to the slow pace of the video. The effect of all of this to create a miserable atmosphere which links in with the name of the song.