Wednesday, 28 September 2011

Analysis of Alex Lloyd-What We Started

Background information on Alex Lloyd
After careful research on Alex Lloyd, I came across some background information on my chosen artist. I discovered that he is a Australian songwriter who was born in 1974.
Although I chose this song because it was not very well known as it only has 18,984 views on YouTube and it has a lot of potential to create a good music video. Alex Lloyd created and produced many songs, and received lots of awards, and to my surprise, "What We Started" is his newest song which was released in 2009.

The Analysis
The song choice of Alex Lloyd-What We Started commences with a fade transition from black to a black and white scene in the coffee shop to show the establishing shot. A fast pace editing of "beating" occurs, and whilst this takes place, a shot of the coffee shop from behind the counter is shown. The main male character is then introduced, as a customer ordering from the coffee shop. The camera changes from a long shot to a medium shot as he stands behind the counter. As this happens, the beat of the song starts as well as the continuation of the beating.

The male character is shown dressed in a suit, with messy hair and a slight stubble on the chin. This could mean he is employed or likes to dress smartly, but could be feeling fed up or unhappy about something or someone and this is what makes the listener/viewer ponder on the genre and lyrics of the song. The camera then changes to watch him walk to the table on his own by the window. A "over the shoulder" shot is then shown to show his face as a medium shot then what he is looking at, outside. The view changes to rain, showing a miserable day and people rushing around with umbrellas. The weather influences the mood, and shows the sadness he could be feeling due to his emotionless face.


There is not too much too analysis about this video, as there is one location and one thing happening the whole time, meaning the video editing, movement and mise-en-scene gets repetitive and the same. The lyrics do not relate to the video in the way that the narrative based music video is about a man drawing a woman dressed as a pirate, which is abnormal. The lyrics base the meaning of missing someone, memories, old times or events happened in the past, but this video doesn't help the lyrics at all. However, lots of close up and medium shots are used with slow pace of editing, which does contribute to the rhythm of the song. However, after watching the video several times, I reliased that the lyrics "What we started, here today.." plays at the end of the song when the woman stands back outside so he can draw her, and as they exchange smiles, it could be the start of a friendship.



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