CB: Music Video Analysis 1

Deconstructing a Music Video

 

 

Burn (Ellie Goulding, 2013)

 



Audience

Like many music videos, this video might be consumed through tertiary consumption; on adverts on TV or on music channels such as Viva and 4 music. This way of consuming music is often referred to as ambient viewing, which means that the audience are not choosing to watch the video, but are instead forced to listen to it as background noise. Alternatively, the video could be consumed through focus viewing, which means that the audience are choosing to watch the contents of the video. Focus viewing would particularly apply to a teenage audience, with new music videos being of social interest spread via word of mouth as the pop culture is associated with youth.

Institution

As Ellie Goulding conforms to the pop genre, her music video, in terms of institutional context, would have required an industrial production in order to maintain the high quality pop standard look. Therefore the record label (Polydor) would have played a huge role in the creation of the video, ensuring that it would be a big hit in the charts and sell the song when it got released on media platforms such as iPhone's (on apps like iTunes).

Genre

Using Goodwin's theory, it is evident that the video is made to appear amplified with some of the lyrics connecting to the visuals. For example, when Ellie sings 'burn', an image of a red flare is shown as well as a field of glowing orbs when she sings 'lights'. This is a conventional feature of the pop genre as it creates imagery for the audience in being able to understand the lyrics and connect with the song.

 



The video is fairly conceptual with actors seen dancing within it making it seem like a performance, however it also communicates a careless narrative attitude which suggests that teenagers 'burn' their worries away by committing anti-authoritarian acts. For example, by joy riding, dancing on a runway and playing with flares.

 

 

In demonstrating these actions, the dominant ideology of youths being stereotyped as rebellious is reinforced. This is also a conventional element of pop music videos and is not seen as unusual, with the target audience for them being youths. Therefore, youths look at such videos in humour and find them funny as they mirror actions associated with them.

 

Narrative

 

Furthermore, the use of an orange colour scheme and solar flares shining on Gouldings movements highlights a unique art style which adds to the conceptual mood being conveyed. It also provides the video with an intertextual reference to UFO's and extra terrestrial activity, in the way that the solar flares are used as a symbol of this in films. For example in ET, with the colour of his forefinger glowing in a similar orangey colour.

Throughout the video, the camera tends to follow Ellie around and linger on her face which provides the video with a voyeuristic look whilst also highlighting her importance as an artist. The fourth wall is broken within the concept of the notion of looking as she is directly communicating with the audience by looking straight into the camera. In doing this, Ellie is able to connect with the audience by making them feel as if she is singing to them and therefore making them a part of the world of the music video.