P!NK – I DON’T BELIEVE YOU

A wedding themed video analysis

The first verse The video fades in from black Its also a soft focus to convey the idea of romance We see a close up shot of the artist P!nk In the mise en scene we see her wearing a veil covering

her face, though we can still see the detail in her facial expression as it’s see through

In the mise en scene she does not use an eyeline match to make her seem more expressive

Throughout the video it’s black and white It also looks its shot on a real/has an old style digital effect,

possibly to make it seem nostalgic and conveying the idea of ‘going back in time’

In the mise en scene we also wind is blowing through her veil to make it seem more dramatic

There is also asynchronous cutting and it cuts to a mid shot of her sitting down, singing alone

This contrasts with the idea of her having a big glamorous wedding as her wedding dress suggests, to make her seem isolated

This is possibly due to the meaning of the song of how she doesn’t believe her partner saying he’ll leave her, as it’s an unhealthy relationship

The camera zooms in very slowly

There is more asynchronous cutting every time we hear the instrumental indicate she’s about to sing again

It cuts to a close up shot of her face again similar to the start to again show her facial expressions in detail

Through out the verse this cutting rate stays the same and the camera shots are very similar

The chorus There is a tracking shot following P!nk

running up the stairs In the mise en scene we can see the

venue is highly decorated with flowers indicating celebration

However she is still on her own running to no one

At this point there is match cut to a mid shot from the front of her running and she’s stopped singing, to show the narrative

It then cuts to a point a view shot of a grande wedding cake rotating

As the camera gets closer to the cake, we then start to see the bride and groom dolls on the wedding cake, reinforcing the idea of romance, despite the song’s sad meaning

It is also a shallow focus of the cake to show how symbolic it is in the narrative and how the artist wants someone by her like the dolls

This idea of P!nk wanting a happy relationship like the dolls on the cake are representing is reinforced through a slow pull focus on her face looking at the cake with a disheartened facial expression

In the mise en scene the gust of wind is a lot stronger and blows the veil out of her face

This is possibly to show a realisation of how she wants this stability in her life, which is reflected in the song’s meaning

It then cuts to a close up shot of the cake again rotating focusing on the ‘dolls’

It also has a shallow focus showing how close the dolls actually are, showing stability and comfort

This is possibly what the artist wants in her life

It then cuts to the scene of her performing again sitting down like the previous scene

It has a soft focus again

2nd verse We then see a cut to a low angle shot of

P!nk’s hand opening a book saying ‘our wedding’

And then cuts to her reading the book It’s still a soft focus possibly to show her

emotions/security of relationship is unclear

The cutting rate also gets faster In the mise en scene she is still singing to

blur the lines between the narrative and the performance

In this low angle shot, in the mise en scene we see her turn the pages which are empty

It then cuts to a shot of her walking alone in this grand building

There is also more low key lighting to give the feeling of darkness

The cutting rate heightening is evident through a match cut of her walking in the room, a mid shot from her side profile

Although it’s hard to tell due to the colours and soft focusing/reel effect it is infact low key lighting possibly to indicate more darkness

As she says “one of those bad dreams” there is a cut to a scene of her waking up in her wedding outfit

There is now parallel cutting between her running in the main empty wedding reception and her performing outside, heightening the cutting rate

The Bridge section/ending Through out the video these scenes/shots are

repeated and the cuts are very similar However there are scenes of her performing but

singing in a mirror We also see there is hardly any light apart from

flashes of lighting We then see her blow out a candle This reinforces her lonliness The mise en scene drastically changes as she isn’t

wearing her wedding dress but a black provocative outfit. This is to suggest her inner darkness contrasting with the previous wedding scenes

The video then ends with her lying down in her wedding dress the same place she was at the start possibly to indicate she’s at ‘rest’ maybe waiting for her partner to come back to her as the meaning of the song is she knows he will come back for her

It again has a soft focus like the start to suggest make it seem cinematic

This is possibly linking to the fairy-tale sleeping beauty

This again makes P!nk seem innocent and makes the audience sympathise with her