Class Analysis - Music Video - Summertime Sadness - Lana Del Rey

Upon watching this video I am put under the impression that this is not only a video of the performer singing, but it also has an element of story telling without verbal expression; additionally the lyrics of this specific song give a narrative for the video. Further research suggests one may also include a dance in a music video, such as in Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud", but I digress. Notwithstanding the lack of a dance, this video follows most conventions.
The video is also well synchronised with the song, matching it well. The timbre of the music could be described as dream like, thus the fact that some scenes are not recorded in high definition supports this image, making the audience to look at the landscape and other establishing shots as if they were impressionists - not allowing to see what exactly is there, but letting them think of what they feel to be there. The visual quality also gives a warmer feeling, considering some shots look like they were taken off a 90s VHS tape.

The shot to the left of this text is the first in the aforementioned video. It is an establishing shot of the clouds, potentially foreshadowing, if one is to take my perspective on the video. This is more symbolic code.

 This closeup shot is of the singer. It is a close up, and is to let the audience see who is singing, both to advertise, and give the video some coherence. This provides some narrative to what is happening.

 Here is where the actual story begins, a long shot of the protagonist next to some trees, singing. She is alone. Mis-En-Scene implies this is how she feels, also. Alone, and small (in comparison to the trees).

 Now the singer spreads her arms apart and jumps off the ledge she is standing on. This is a long shot, showing her entire body, emphasising on the mis-en-scene, that he position she is in is that of the christian crucifix.

 Here we have a new character, a sullen looking women driving. This shot is a medium shot, letting us know that she is in a car. The woman in this scene is wearing red. This may be symbolic, telling the audience that this character is a loved one of the protagonist. Interestingly, the lyrics at the beginning of the song states "I've got my red dress on tonight".

 She has now stopped on the bridge, and proceeds towards the edge of it. We can interpret this as it is a long shot. Despite my view from the last shot, red may also be symbolic of danger, and jumping of a bridge is dangerous.

 

 This is now our second theme of the video. A close up of the singer performing the song. This may give the audience an idea of what it is like to see the singer live. The light above her head may also support this, although I doubt this, as she may dazzle the audience.

 Back to a medium close up, we can now see the secondary protagonist contemplate suicide, or what is believe to be it. This is a technical code. We expect this to happen, and it inevitably does.

This medium long shot appears to be a flash back, looking back before the protagonist jumped off the ledge, which is evidently behind her in this shot. Her position in this scene could be seen as casual.

 Here is a religious figure. His arms are spread apart on a crucifix. This is potentially what the establishing shot looking at the clouds was suggesting, a religious influence on the video.
Naturally, this is a medium shot, allowing the top half of the cross to be fully visible, whilst covering the screen.

 Once more, we can see the suicide of the main character, this time a medium long shot.
Assuming this does have a religious subtext, she is wearing a white dress because she is pure, but this may be slightly ironic, as the video suggests the two women being lovers. This may imply the video is about a religious female failing to come to terms with her homosexuality, which is unusual for someone in this modern day and age, which also brings us back to the VHS look of the recording.







Medium close-up is what I also believe the mis-en-scene of the cloud and the crucifix to be suggesting. The woman who was standing on the bridge now has wet hair, and is surrounded by smoke. Other than this, there is nothing else in the shot. This I believe to imply that she has passed, and is in the afterlife.




The Picture beneath this body of text as may provide back up to my belief.

Interestingly most shots begin on the first beat of the bar, and either last one or two bars, depending on the section of the song. The ones that deviate from this rule are the shots which alternate between the two characters doing the same thing. These shots last two crotchets each. It isn't like this through the entire video, however what is consistent is the timing of the shots - they all start on the beat, whether that be the first, second, third or fourth.