Music vedo analysis - Essay Example

?Music Video Analysis- Why Am I the One by fun. The paper at hand focuses on analyzing the visual symbolism of a music video. I have chosen to work with fun.s’ song called “Why am I the One.” Background: The New York based indie-pop band ‘fun.’ is a very passionate and fun loving trio of members Nate Ruess, Andrew Dost and Jack Antonoff. A struggling band for several years, their lives changed with their hit song ‘We Are Young,’ which was played during February's Super Bowl. It was their second album, ‘Some nights,’ that transformed the unpopular band into one with sold out gigs and their songs playing all over the world. The nine month dedication for the album was reflected from the success of songs: ‘Some Nights,’ ‘Carry On’ and ‘Why Am I the One.’ These songs proved the goal of the band to bring innovation to the indie music while retaining its retro touch. Introduction: This paper discusses the song “Why am I the One,” which is a hit single released recently on February 26th 2013. The song is sung from the male perspective and talks about relationship and moving on. However, in my opinion the song holds significance for more than just that. It also provides stability as a theme, as well as reaching a final place of happiness. On the surface level the song talks about a relationship between the male and his female partner and how he is trying to find the right place, but soon has to pack up his stuff again. However, on a deeper level, the song maybe an immediate reflection of the lead singer Ruess’ life in terms of how he left his former band ‘Format,’ and went through a lot of different situations, met a lot of people, but none helped him and he finally moves back down to the western town, where in the end he joins with Dost and Antonoff and forms fun., thus finally finding the right place where he belongs as well as his passion for music. The music video, directed by Jordan Bahat, is greatly supportive and effective in portraying the theme of the song and, thus, enhances the viewer’s understanding of the lyrics. The director, therefore, deftly employs various cinematographic techniques to materialize the theme of getting lost, wandering through various phases in life and in the end finding oneself, thus rather pointing to the pursuit of one’s true identity and passion and belongingness. Symbols Employed in the Video: The first thing I noticed in the video was the suitcase and the pareidolia it reveals. The term pareidolia refers to the phenomenon of finding patterns or hidden significance in insignificant things. The suitcase exhibits pareidolia as it represents a face by way of the two round bolts of its handle that signify the eyes and the horizontal tape that signifies the mouth. The face holds a rather dazed expression, a nearly numb or robotic expression and that might be as a result of the continuous wandering it has been through in the journey of finding itself, or rather the right place where it belongs. This is further represented through the lyrics “I've got the feeling that I'm right where I belong” in the song. Also the tattered appearance of the suitcase is symbolic of the wariness as well as marks caused on the body of the person due to various obstacles and phases he faced in his life, also signifying a long time of wandering and being on the quest to find himself. The handle of the suitcase consists of different kinds of pieces of clothes attached to it, which represent the hair of the person. Thus, giving the overall perspective of a person’s face that reflects the long and painful journey of self-discovery he has been through. At 3:56 a bird is show flapping its wings and soaring higher to the sky, this indicates the steady freedom that the singer is finding, by moving on to a new life with his other band members that awaits him. Cinematographic Techniques Employed in the Music Video: The music video begins with the camera rolling in through the airport floor and ends with camera rolling out through the road, this represents the journey of the singer, where the airport may signify his lost and restrained phase in the beginning, whereas the road signifies his freedom in the end. Talking about the music video, the quality used is the “Technicolor,” and the video basically consists of color rather than black and white shots (Part 3: Cinematography). However, it can be noticed in some places that the color sort of blends into black and white, and also in most shots the surroundings are in black and white, whereas the main objects or characters remain in color such as in 0:46-0:51, where the color of the officer or guard as well as the door fades into black and white, whereas the suitcase remains its original color. From this shot, the transition to the next shot is giving by the closing of the door, implying the end of one scene. At 1:15, the case is thrown out, and after it lands there can be seen the fading out of the background to black and white. Similarly from 2:12-2:15, the background is black and white, whereas the person carrying the suitcase, the suitcase itself and the pawn shop are shown in colors. Other shots where this technique is used is at 2:38, 2:53, 3:02, 3:28, 3:46 etc. In terms of contrast, the video seems to employ “low contrast” in order to get a more “naturalistic lighting,” however at 1:23 and all other car shots that follow, the back window shows the background in high contrast almost blinding the viewer’s vision, whereas the side windows show the scenery in a much lower contrast and surroundings are visible easily (Part 3: Cinematography). This may give the connotation that the singer is blinded to his journey whereas the other two know where they were and where they are going to. The director employs the technique of deep focus which is evident from shots at 0:13, where the trio waits for their luggage, a person exiting the airport and another person going up the escalator as well, and at 3:08, where the suitcase is shown, along with a view of the background, the road, a man rolling his luggage as well as a red car passing by. Deep focus provides a “truer representation of space” and shows more of what is happening around (Part 3: Cinematography). Exposure given throughout the video is mostly medium or underexposed which gives “a darker image” and at 4:07, the colors have been given a more bluish hue, suggesting passage of day, thus the length of traveling (Part 3: Cinematography). At 3:46, the town from where the suitcase came is shown in black and white, whereas the rest of the shot is in color, implying that the singer is moving on from his monotonous life to a more colorful one. The camera is mostly placed in a “low angle” such as in 1:41, thus showing things from the point of view of the suitcase and mostly “following shot” to always maintain focus on the suitcase such as from 0:39-0:48, 1:44-2:07 and so on, in shots where the suitcase is shown (Part 3: Cinematography).The technique of “close-up” is also used extensively such as in 0:40, 1:36 etc (Part 3: Cinematography). All these techniques build up to the main theme of the song, giving the viewers a better perception. Relationship of Images to Lyrics: “I got enough on my mind/That when she pulls me by the hair/She hasn't much to hold onto.” Just before the song begins, the suitcase is shown being pulled by the guard and as mentioned earlier it has a few piece of cloth that look like hair, thus “not much to hold onto.” It implies that the musician has a lot of thoughts going around his head, which signify his problems, and he is stressed out from all of it thus he has only a few hair left. “She keeping count on her hand/ One, two, three days that I been sleeping on my side.” As Ruess reaches ‘one, two, three’ he uses his fingers to indicate the figures, and as he sings ‘sleeping on my side,’ the suitcase is shown undergoing scanning while it is laid down on its side. The scanning maybe referred to the scrutiny he undergoes from her or others around him. “I finished kissing my death/ So now I head back up the steps.” At this point the suitcase is thrown where it rolls on all its sides and follows a crack on the ground, thus kissing can be taken as every time its edges touch the ground and the crack can refer to death by way of some kind of injury or disease. “I wanna feel with the season/ I guess it makes sense.” Here the car passes by the suitcase and spatters some mud onto it, can be taken in the sense of the rainy season when there is mud and splashing, whereas on a deeper level, it can be referred to as the ignorance he faces in his life from his partner, but mostly from his own obliviousness to his true passion. When Ruess sings “Never been one to hold on” the suitcase is shown ripped away from its place. When the chorus is sung “Why am I the one always packing up my stuff?” exactly at “my stuff,” the tag of the suitcase is shown, which reads fun. At “I'll move back down/ To this western town,” the biker man takes the suitcase and sets towards the west. My favorite part is the end which is so meaningful and the words “Finally found you” can be heard in a distant echoing way, thus implying the resonation of the band at becoming one and as the three stand in front of the doorway, the glass shutter is shown being closed from 4:44 onwards, therefore indicating the end of the journey of the singer. Conclusion: A detail analysis on the music video has been conducted and it transpires that the various cinematographic techniques employed by the music director in the video indeed being an overall effectiveness in communicating the theme sung by the lyrics through the song. The video thus materializes the theme of getting lost, wandering through various phases in life and in the end finding oneself, thus rather pointing to the pursuit of one’s true identity and passion and belongingness. It represents the final reunion of the band members and their elation in finding each other through Ruess’ journey. Why Am I the One (Lyrics): I got enough on my mind That when she pulls me by the hair, She hasn't much to hold onto. She keeping count on her hand: One, two, three days that I been sleeping on my side. I finished kissing my death, So now I head back up the steps Thinking about where I've been. I mean the sun was never like this. I wanna feel with the season. I guess it makes sense. 'Cause my life's become as rapid as A night out in Los Angeles, And I just wanna stay in bed. I hold you like I used to. You know that I am home. So, darling, if you love me, Would you let me know? Or go on, go on, go on, if you were thinking that the worst is yet to come. Why am I the one always packing up my stuff? For once, for once, for once I get the feeling that I'm right where I belong. Why am I the one always packing up my stuff? She got enough on her mind That she feel no sorrow. I let my fate fill the air, So now she rolling down her window. Never been one to hold on But I need a last breath. So I ask if she remembers when She used to come and visit me. We were fools to think that nothing could go wrong. Go on, go on, go on, if you were thinking that the worst is yet to come Why am I the one always packing up my stuff? For once, for once, for once I get the feeling that I'm right where I belong Why am I the one always packing all my stuff? I think I kinda like it but I might have had too much. I'll move back down To this western town. When they find me out, Make no mistake about it. I'll move back down To this western town. When they find me out, Make no mistake about it. I'll move back down To this western town. Go on, go on, go on, if you were thinking that the worst is yet to come Why am I the one always packing up my stuff? Go on, go on, go on, if you were thinking that the worst is yet to come Why am I the one always packing up my stuff? For once, for once, for once I get the feeling that I'm right where I belong Why am I the one always packing up my stuff? I think I kinda like it but I might have had too much. I'll move back down... (Fun Lyrics). Video Link: Works Cited Part 3: Cinematography. Yale University, New Haven. August 27 2002. Web. 12 Apr 2013. Fun Lyrics: Why Am I the One. 2013. Web. 12 Apr 2013. Read More