How to save a life by The Fray

‘’Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend, somewhere along in the bitterness’’

‘’And I would have stayed up with you all night, had I known how to save a life’’

An alternative rock record released in 2005 under Epic Records by American pop rock band, The Fray

Writers – Isaac Slade, Joe KingProducers – Mike Flynn, Aaron Johnson

The original music video was released in 2006 and premiered on VH1, an American cable television network

The recurring themes for the video consisted of light and the stopping of time

The video was released on the bands VEVO channel; TheFrayVEVO and has achieved 106.3 million views

to date

The videos thumbnail is as the image shown to the left, it shows a close up shot of a girl staring directly into the cameras . This creates a connection and instant intimacy with the potential viewers of the video and those looking by chance

The notion of voyeurism looking and theof the human body … Andrew Goodwin

The video is composed through the use of intimate close-up shots of various characters and musicians.

Some of the characters first initially shot are shown later in the video, this time holding some kind of emotional development. Forexample, a young girl is initially shown looking shocked, saddened and disturbed. She is then featured in a later close up shot smiling with a seemingly different mood. The use of these double featured characters creates a storyline for the video itself. This adds depth to the video and creates intrigue and speculation amongst the viewers regarding the meaning of the song itself. This shows the characters have been on a journey and draws links between them. This can also tie a link between the start and end of the song. The song has a shift in the emotions it produces and presents a contrast. This links the music to the video.

“And you’ll begin to wonder why you came”

Deeper meaningful shots were also used in the video. One of the first features an extreme close up focused on an eye. Another shot focuses on a hand blocking the intimacy felt through a close up shot. These relate the video to real life and represent the problems faced in everyday life e.g. anxiety and privacy

The notion of voyeurism looking and theof the human body … Andrew Goodwin

A number of shots are interlinked through the editing technique of jump cuts. The initial high angled shot showing the group as a whole. The next shot shows the group from a longer distance in the background of a shot. The handwritten word LISTEN is shown in the foreground on a white relatively transparent background. This shows a clear effort to make the watcher aware of the sudden change in the shot. This is shown through the change in angle, shot distance and the additional affects layered over the image. This creates a link between the music and the video. Changes in the keys, pitches etc. of the song are shown by an abrupt change in shot. This is also to strengthen the storyline of the video. The first action results in the audience being made aware of this group of children. The next shot creates a sense of intrigue and mystery & suggests the word listen is significant to these children. It also symbolises that the children have something to say and need someone to listen to how they feel. This is also suggested by the lyrics in the song as it suggests the song is about suicides. The next shot shows a close up of the children from the original high angle. Around 10 children are featured in this close up as oppose to the previous whole group. This creates more of a connection between the children and the viewer as they are learning more about them as the video progresses and their storyline intensifies and grows throughout the duration of the video, resulting in them becoming more and more interested to watch the video progress.

“As he begins to raise his

voiceYou lower yours and grant him

one last choice…

Drive until you lose the

roador break with the

ones you've

followed”

The relationship between the music and the visuals… Andrew Goodwin

‘Step one, you say we need to talkHe walks, you say sit down; it's just a talk

He smiles politely back at youYou stare politely right on through’

These images are all featured during the reciting of these lyrics

A relationship between the music and visuals is originally formed when the word ‘talk’ is featured in the quoted lyrics and the visual with the word ‘LISTEN‘ imprinted in a black handwriting style font coincide. The word ‘LISTEN’ emphasises the action the Fray are singing aboutand gives us an insight into this interaction. It gives us a view from a character involved, as we view the word as one said/shouted from one character to another in a dialect scene. This creates a storyline and a sense of intrigue for the viewers to follow the rest of the video. It signifies that the characters have something to say and need someone to listen to them. This fits into the theme of the song which is based on the horrible truth of suicide and depression. This is because most people who suffer from mental illnesses such as depression are extremely unhappy and feel as though they have nobody to talk to and this may lead to people committing suicide. Therefore these visuals and lyrics compliment each other well as they empathise that these children seem to look unhappy and as a result feel like thy need to talk through their problems and have someone their for them. The hand written aspect also gives a personal touch. This is an example of how a relationship between the music and the visuals can enhance the both of them and pull viewers in through an emotive feel and a reaction which creates intrigue for the watcher and provides them a connection to the music video, this in hand producing a connection between the viewer and the song. This technique may influence the viewer to carry on watching the video as they want to find out hat happens to the children in the end nd hat sort of message they had to tell someone.

The relationship between the music and the visuals… Andrew GoodwinEmotions are the bonding tie between the music and the visuals in the Fray’s music

video. Various emotions are displayed visually and textually throughout the

video to present different depths

These images all show emotions throughout the video. Various numbers are featured at the beginning of these emotions

The first textual scene in the video features the word ‘one’ in the foreground with the band performing live in the background. As the video progresses, more emotions are featured. These emotions are all featured after a number, for example, the text ’22. CRY’ is

shown in the foreground of a scene. The technique used which increases the number as every emotion is portrayed creates a storyline and gives the video direction. Two consecutive scenes portray two separate emotions. The first scene writes ‘22. CRY’ and the second scene writes ‘23. ACCEPT’. This links the two emotions together, drawing speculation as to what has led one emotion on to the other. These emotions are stereotypically associated with grief or a breakup; the sad stage and the acceptance stage. This adds depth to the video and gives the reader an indication as to what the music itself is about through what the visuals portray, creating a relationship between the two.

Technical aspects…Camera work, mise enscene, editing… Andrew GoodwinEDITING

The editing in this video combines simplicity with abstract fantasy. The minimal shots of the band performing are contrasted with the shots combined with high-tech edits, for example, a vivid blue edit has been applied to the butterfly on the right. This creates a contrast throughout the whole video, enhancing the song itself through the shock and intensity the video gives. This idea of hyper-reality suggests the song itself could have these extravagant elements to it which increases the listeners focus on the lyrics. This, in hand could increase a listener’s connection with and opinion of the song. There is a lack of continuity editing through the video, this is only apparent when the shot shows the band progressing with the live performance section. There is a lot of cutaway and jump cutting techniques used which creates a manic and unsettling feeling due to the fact nothing is simple or straight forward. This, draws the watcher in and increases their desire to watch the video.

textual effects through out the video. As seen in the extracts above, various words,

specifically those emotive, are featured on top of shots. These have also been used

in the video to present a characters internal thoughts and emotions out loud. This provides a personal level of

emotive skill and can create a connection for the watcher with the character.

There is a focus on

Technical aspects…Camera work, mise enscene, editing… Andrew GoodwinCAMERA

WORK

A lot of close-up/extreme close-up shots are used. This enhances the personal feel

the song itself has and establishes an intimate connection with any characters

These images all show various characters throughout the video in intense shots. These mix of close-up and extreme close-up shots

show create attention amongst the viewers. The video appears to be more complex due to the fact there are a large number of different characters all with, seemingly different stories. These shots

could also be penned as reaction shots as specifically the one showing the young girl crying, they show some form of portrayed

emotion as a reaction to a certain situation. These camera techniques play on a viewers

emotions/feelings and also add a sense of intruigity because the technique persadues the viewers to continue watching the video to find

out why the characters are upset and what happens to them at the end of the video.

“Lay down a list of what is wrong, the things you’ve told him all along and pray to god he hears you”

There was a lot of extreme-close up focus on various objects throughout the video. A blue butterfly was amongst these subjects. These extreme close-up camera shots have been used to show the significance these subjects have in relation to the video and the various character’s stories throughout the video. For example the butterfly resembles beauty but also delicacy and the idea of bein fragile. This could relate to the video as the theme is about depression and it could link to the emotions of the characters in the video as they may feel fragile and emotionally unstable. This is an example of how various camera techniques can tell us the hierarchy of various subjects within the video

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‘How to save a life’The album byThe Fray… Analysis

The main subject of this front cover shows a warm-toned decorated tree edited to the shape of a lightbulb. All significant parts of the lightbulb are there, including the base, which shows the lightbulb is more prominent in the image than the use of the decorated tree. A lightbulb is stereotypical of the phrase ‘bright idea’, that the ‘bright idea’ phrase relates to the music the Fray have produced for this album. This creates interest for album itself through the visuals of the album cover. This particular cover focuses on fantasy as oppose to reality, which creates intrigue amongst the buyers of the album due to the fact nothing literal is given away.

The back of the album is mainly taken up by a photo of the band. The

main common convention (featuring the track list) has been

used on this album. Other conventions e.g. the barcode, credits

etc. have also been used. This slightly contrasts the front cover of the album as the non-reality theme

distracts away from the stereotypical album cover.

The back cover has been designed simplistic and minimal.

Album covers