Tom Odell video anaylsis

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S Music Video Analysis 1 Tom Odell – Another Love

Transcript of Tom Odell video anaylsis

Page 1: Tom Odell video anaylsis

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Music Video Analysis 1

Tom Odell – Another Love

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Background Information

‘Another Love’ is a song by British singer-songwriter, Tom Odell, which featured in his debut album ‘Songs from Another Love’ (2012)

The song was released in the UK as a digital download on 17th June 2013

It became Odell’s first top UK hit when it reached number 10 in the single chart on 29th June 2013

Odell’s genre of music can be described as folk, indie pop

He is under the label of Columbia Records, and In The Name Of

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Lyrics and meaning of the song

This song is describing the pain that the singer is going through by not being able to love the woman in his new relationship because of negative feelings caused by his previous relationship, such as trust issues and sadness

This is why the fact he is staring straight down the camera for the duration of the video, and that he is ignoring his girlfriend show him affection, and show anger towards him etc., shows that he is completely caught up in his past relationship

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Lyrics and meaning of the song

Some examples how the singer’s point comes is displayed: The chorus – ‘On another love, another love. All my

tears have been used up’ The verses – ‘And if somebody hurts you, I wanna fight.

But my hands been broken, one too many times’… ‘I wanna sing a song, that'd be just ours. But I sang 'em all to another heart’.

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Camerawork

The first shot is an extreme close-up of the singer, Tom Odell’s, face

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Camerawork

Throughout the video Odell is seen to be staring straight down the camera, whilst seeming to ignore what is going on around him

He stays in the same position

throughout the video, which

adds to the eeriness of it For example…

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Camerawork

The camera position does not move throughout the whole video. Tracking shots, POV shots or cutaway shots are featured in the video

The use of a few similar shots throughout the video, e.g. close ups, medium shots, two shots and medium-long shots, enhances the singers focus on what he is singing about; in this case, about how his previous relationship is haunting him and affecting his current relationship

The only slight variation of camerawork through the duration of the video is the use of some panning shots and the slow zooming out, which allows the audience to gain more of an idea of the location as the video progresses on

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Camerawork

The final shot resorts back to the beginning shot, with another extreme close-up

of the singer’s face This technique of repeating a shot during a music video is common. The singers face acts as an anchoring motif for the audience, which also promotes the artist

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Editing

First minute and a half of the music video, there doesn’t seem to be very obvious uses of technical editing due to there being no cuts throughout the whole video

At the beginning, during the extreme close up on the singers face, there seems to be a blue coloured tint to the shot, until the spotlight shines onto his face

The first visible use of editing is when the female character fades out and then quickly after the bookshelf and cupboards fade in

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Mise-en-Scene

Costumes The singer is dressed very casually in a jumper and

trousers The female character, however, is seen to be in a

series of different outfits and changes throughout the video

This could enhance the fact that she is trying to impress the singer, and trying to grab his attention but he is not interested due to his previous love

This also shows the difference in their attitude within their relationship that she is making an effort with her appearance, whereas he is not making an effort at all

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Mise-en-Scene

Location The setting of the video seems to be in a run down

flat, which is in very bad condition as you can see the cracks in the walls and the missing paintwork etc…

Nearer the end of the video where the bookcase and the other furniture fades into the picture, that could be interpreted as what the flat looked like before the girl left him

It also enhances the extent to which he has been affected by this previous relationship because when the girlfriend is wrecking the flat, he is just staring straight down the camera without taking any notice

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Lighting

Low-key lighting is used at the beginning of the video, then it seems to gradually get lighter, which may be a connotation of the progression from nighttime to sunrise

Throughout most of the video there is a spotlight to the right of the singers face, which causes shadowing on the left side, which enhances the eeriness of the mood

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Lighting

As the tempo increases with the song, the lighting dims, which I interpreted as it progressing into the evening

The lighting has a slight orange tinge to it, which makes the surrounding location look more authentic

As the song is finishing, it goes back to the very low-key lighting with the blue tint to it, the same as to which the song started

This could connote the cycle of a day, where it went from dusk, to sunrise, to daylight, to the evening with lamplight then back to dusk

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Theory in the video

E.A. Kaplan in Rocking around the Clock: Music Television, Postmodernism and Consumer Culture (1987) Kaplan explains the necessity and requirement of returning

to a close up of the singer’s face during the music video Kaplan describes the reason for this as the singer’s face

acts as a key anchoring motif, which us subsequently resulted as being a visual hook for the audience

This theory is used throughout the whole music video as Odell consistently looks straight down the camera

There are also close up’s of Odell’s face which are featured at the opening and closing seconds of the video

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Theory in the video

Laura Mulvey in ‘Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema’ Screen Vol.16 No.3 (1975) Mulvey describes the concept of scopophilia,

which is where images of women are created and incorporated for the gratification of men

This is seen when the female character is seen to undress herself, whereby you can see the back of her in the reflection in the mirror.