Music Video Analysis

I have chosen to analyse "Drumming Song" by Florence + The Machine

1. The music, lyrics and imagery do work in collaboration. Certain dance moves and scene changes happen in time to the beat of the song. For example at 0:35. Whenever the words "drumming song" are said the sound of heavy drums is used the highlight and emphasise the lyrics, for example at 0:07 and 0:15.

2. The performance definitely drives the music video and is sustained throughout. It starts calmly with a close up on the artist standing still and as the pace of the music picks up so does the performance. There are some conceptual elements as you can see two different sides of the artist: one in which she is wearing blue and in the other she is wearing black. It could be symbolic of two different personas.

3. The artist lip syncs throughout and it is done well.

4. With the conceptual idea that there are two possible different personas to the artist it could be said that she switches between characters. However, it could also just represent two different sides of her as herself.

5. The artist is known for this type of music video, the fans will expect to see a variety of dance moves. But, it could be argued that it does not fit in with the conventions of the genre. Despite it having a very upbeat chorus, a lot of the song is rather sombre and the lyrics are more intricate and we don't usually associate that with a big dance number.

6. The music video is visually striking as it is set in a serene and vast building. The dominant background colour is white. What makes it striking is the contrast between the building and the action inside the building.

7. The music video features highly stylised hair, costume, make up and backdrops. It is all created to fit in with a rather eerie atmosphere.

8. There is development as the action gets more intense as the video progresses. Towards the end of the video the two different personas begin to merge/become similar. This could be a comment on how in spite of the juxtaposing personalities it is still the same person on the whole.

9. We see a sense of the artist's identity through the dance moves. The viewers can probably assume that the artist produces similar style music videos. The dark and edgy sound and look to this song and its music video is something the listeners might enjoy which will make them assume the rest of the artist's music is similar and they will proceed to listen to more of her albums etc.

10. Close ups of the artists act as beauty/money shots and also the wide shots of the building as it makes it seem a lot more extravagant.The music video starts with a close up on the artist's face even before she starts singing.

11. The idea of binary opposites could be present in the concept of their being two personas in the music video. When the artist is in blue she is "angelic" and "heavenly" whereas when she is in black it is shown that she is a lot "darker" and "mysterious".

12. There is some discontinuous editing for example at 1:03 when there are jump cuts to create an almost disorientating/crazed effect to fit in with the themes of the music video. Discontinuous editing is also used at 2:05 where the artist is first dancing with her back up dancers and then suddenly it cuts to when she is dancing alone but in the very same place.

13. There are not many references to pop culture. There is a running theme of "heaven and hell" or "good vs evil" (shown in the lyrics "sweeter than heaven and hotter than hell") in this song and this sort of theme has been around for centuries not only in music but in books and films and the modern audience still get a good thrill out of it.

14. The video is polysemic. Also the lyrics itself show that it has many interpretations such as "I swallow the sound and it swallows me whole" this could be hinting at a struggle in the relationship so the two people are trying to "swallow" each other so they are always at each other's throats arguing. The colours used in the music video are quite bland and the rather hypnotising dance moves suggest dark undertones to the song.

15. It may not provoke a strong audience reaction but it is visually stunning so they are likely to engage with it.