Analysing a Music VideoBy James Hargreaves

Sia- ‘Elastic Heart’

• The genre of the artist is alternative pop and her music uses traditional instruments as well as synthesisers and other electrical sounds.

• The song is about someone dealing with emotional problems and how it leads them into dark places.

• The video shows a husband and father trapped in a cage which is a metaphorical representation of how they are tapped in their own problems that the father has created.

The opening shot of the music video shows two characters who could be a father and daughter at opposite ends of the cage. This establishing shot helps show the audience where the video will take place. The colours are all very drained, this reflects the sadness the two characters are feeling having been trapped in the cage which could represent their problems. The Miese en scene that is shown creates the overall look of sadness and depression reflecting the mood of the song.

As the music starts the camera cuts to serval medium shots tracking forward to the father and daughter. Then as the artist begins to sing both of them begin to move in a form of interpretive dance. Although the dancing includes movement which appears to be erratic and unpredictable, they move in a fluid movement that is in time with the song. The two dancers are also wearing light brown tight dancewear. This use of clothing helps show how they are both stripped down to the basics and have little left of themselves or each other.

Because the actors in the video move in such a unique and unusual way it means that their dancing can be interpreted in any number of ways. In this shot we see the daughter crawl across the floor reaching her left leg over the top of her head. As she moves forward the father begins to crawl across the floor towards her. At this point in the song the music is building towards the chorus, and to build up the rush of emotions the video cuts between the shots of the daughter and the father much quicker. This use of editing effectively correlates with the pace and structure of the song.

We cut to a wide shot of the cage and see that the father has climbed to the top. This action occurs after the first chorus when the music begins to become slow down and calm in pace. This shot could be interpreted as the father attempting to escape from his problems and leave the daughter behind. It is fitting that the music would slow down and become quieter as this is a significant part of the video that allows the audience to reflect on what is happening.

The father then jumps down from the cage and lies down next to his daughter. The music begins to build again as he reaches out to her. This helps create the necessary tension that is created between these two characters. The camera begins to track into the pair and then as the second chorus begins we cut to a different angle of the pair to create a change in mood as the daughter becomes aware that the father is reaching out to her, which she does not want.

The daughter manages to escape the cage leaving the father behind. This could be showing that the daughter is able to leave the father and his problems behind whenever she wants whilst the father can not and is trapped in what he has done and has to face them alone. This use of video making would fall into the category of Televised Bard in which the artist (Sia) uses the imagery in the video to tell a story which reflects that of the song.

The song moves into the final chorus and as it does so the daughter moves back into the cage and climbs onto the father’s back. This is the ark in the story in which the daughter finally accepts his mistakes and decides to stay with him. Because this is the last chorus of the song, more is added to the sound in the way of harmony, bass and vocals. This build in music is reflected through the performers in the video as they act out the change in attitude between the two characters.

The video finishes with the daughter leading the father out of the cage, however she is unable to pull him through and he remains stuck. The use of this low angle shows how the father has sunk to his knees and is emotionally drained. We also she the daughters hands pulling on him as if she is pulling him to where we are (out of the danger). After the music has finished the video continues to show the daughter attempting to pull the father through the cage. Multiple shot types are used to show this, such as the one shown above as well as a wide shot and also a medium of the daughter. By allowing the video to continue after the song it could show that the father may never be able to escape.

In conclusion the music creates an engaging story for the audience to follow that incorporates the lyrics of the song with the actions in the video. The overall look the video is filmed and edited very well, all of the camera movement is controlled accordingly and helps to show the audience exactly what is happening. The editing works with the music allowing the two elements to flow with one another as well as showing the audience a range of different shot types to keep them engaged throughout the video. The performers in the video work well with one another in order to show the relationship of the characters. Their dancing moves in time with the beat of the song and this means that the video moves with the song. Because the style of the video is televised bard everything in the video has to reflect what the lyrics of the song is saying. The actions in the video do not directly reflect what the artist is singing about, and this allows the audience to watch and decide what they think the song is about.