Research into music videos by our chosen artist

Research into music videos by our chosen artist: Tom Odell-I Know

Below is an analysis of Tom Odell's I Know music video, carrying out this analysis will allow me to get a detailed insight into Odell as an artist in terms of what he wears and the role he has in his music videos which will help us when choosing actor to play the artist in our music video as well as with costumes when deciding what the actor should wear in order to suit the genre. Analysing a video from our chosen artist also means that we can get an idea of any themes or common elements found within our chosen artists music videos meaning we can implement them into our music video again to fit with the genre of the song and artist. It can also be used to give us inspirations for elements such as settings or camera angles so that we can ensure that our music video is as much like an official music video as possible.

The genre for this music video is indie pop whilst the genre for the artist is indie pop/rock and folk. Is not really a typical narrative within this music video as it just involves the artist walking and running through a forest by himself apart from at the end where we see a woman stood in the middle of a path but she has no face. Outside settings and basic low budget videos are often expected for song within this genre due to it being a more independent genre and therefore not as popular compared to genre like Pop of Hip-hop. Something unexpected in the video is the ending where we see the woman with no face stood stationary in the middle of the forest. This is unexpected because there is no obvious link/ relationship to the lyrics that explain why this piece of narrative occurs. There are not any intertextual references that I can see in the music video.

In terms of the narrative for this music video there is not an obvious one that I can seen when watching the music video, The music video just consists of the artist walking and sometimes breaking into a run through a forest/ woods. Due to the fact that there is not much narrative, it is hard to pick out any themes but as the artist is by himself when going through the woods there are connotations of loneliness whilst also elements of peace. Linking to this is the idea that this music video doesn't go past the first stage of equilibrium in Todorovs theory, there is no disruption within the video and therefore  it stay at a steady equilibrium throughout. The music video can be seen as linking with the lyrics at some points as when he sings "every time I run " he starts to run. The lacking of narrative within this video can however be a good things as it allows audiences to interpret the word in a way that's specific to them making them relate and feel more involved with the song and the artist.

In terms of representation, no issues are raised as the music video does not contain and representational elements apart from gender with which there is no major issue. One thing you could say is that at the end of the video when we finally see the woman, her face/head is faded, this has stereotypical connotations that she isn't that important and that she is just seen for her looks and not her personality. Throughout the video the artist is not portrayed as a celebrity, although he is highlighted as the artist as he is the only male in the video and he lip-syncs the whole song.

Similar to what I mentioned previously, the setting of the video has connotations of loneliness and peace. This is also shown through the low key lighting and bland blacks, greys and dark greens used throughout the music video. Lots of mid shots are used within this music video, this type of shot is used to shoe the emotions on the artists face as well as the setting that he is in to ensure that the loneliness and darkness is visible and prominent.

In my opinion, I would say the audience for this music video would less mainstream both males and females between the ages of 17-25. This is because the artist is within the same age bracket and therefore this type of audience can relate more to him. The record company does not play a role within the music video.






Erin Parkhurst