
The way that the man sits at the back of the church on his own suggests that he may even be part of the problem, as he has purposefully avoided sitting with Cath's friends and family.
The setting also emphasises the seriousness of the situation that Cath is in. The lyrics of the song reinforce that she has had to make a difficult decision, "'Cos your heart was dying fast/and you didn't know what to do". This is further supported later on in the video.

As he enters the church, the band enters the room into which they are headed in their own journey. As he does this, grass grows in the room and this seems to suggest that he is offering Cath a new lease of life; grass grows in the spring time and the spring time is associated with rebirth and new beginnings. Notably, when he leaves the church later on, the grass disappears. This can be taken to signify the opportunity leaving her; as she has decided to marry the "well intentioned man" instead of the other man vying for her affection.
Alternatively, his exit from the church can be seen as him leaving her life. Her entire family and friends are there, presumably (from the way they look at her); she also made her critical decision there, and her husband is now there. It is as though he has left her life permanently through his departure.
The music and the visuals are synchronised nicely together, especially upon the man entering the church. The music is not exactly slow, but calmer with only two noticeable instruments being played. However, as he enters the church we hear more instruments being added, and upon the vocals being included, we see far more of the scenario. When the music is played at the beginning, we see only feet and either very close up or far away shots. When there are more instruments and more depth to the tune, we see faces and locations more clearly.

The quick cuts suggest that the video happens in real time, which makes it seem more tense as Cath has the duration of the track to choose what to do.


There is also a part of the video where her friends and family, the priest and the groom are all frozen in time. This is the point where Cath and the other man kiss. This can be seen to suggest that the views of the wedding guests are also frozen in time, traditional and resistant to change. They are encouraging her to marry the "well intentioned man" rather than the scruffy one who turned up late to the ceremony.
Cath..
She stands with a well intentioned man
But she can't relax with his hand on the small of her back
As the flashbulbs burst she holds a smile
Like someone would hold a crying child
Soon everybody will ask what became of you
'Cos your heart was dying fast
And you didn't know what to do
Cath...
It seemed that you live in someone elses' dream
In a hand-me-down wedding dress
With the things that could have been are repressed
but you said your vows and you closed the door
On so many men who would've loved you more
Soon everybody will ask what became of you
'Cos your heart was dying fast
And you didn't know what to do
The whispers that it won't last roll up and down the pews
And if their hearts were dying that fast
They would have done the same as you
And I would have done the same as you
Excellent close analysis of this video, with confident terminology and well-selected screen grabs to focus your interpretations. Has any of this video helped in terms of generating ideas for your own production?
ReplyDeleteT: consider the effect of the pace of editing
This video has many close ups in it, of faces, flames and feet which I think is effective in an instrumental section of a song, particularly in the introduction. It helps to set the scene, through symbolic shorthand; the flame is from a church, where the video is set; the faces are of the artists, who have created the song; and the feet are of the main male character, who is one of the focuses of the video. Since we see him running, we are able to deduce that he is about to do something important.
ReplyDeleteThe pace of editing in this video is also something I am looking to replicate in my own; with the cuts between shots being made when there is a distinct musical note; at the end of a bar, for instance.
There is a moment in the video for Cath where the music changes away from the style it has been in for the previous parts and there is a repeated tune that has a less complex element, with one aspect being repeated. The action in the video changes too, with the people in the church freezing and our two main characters being able to move. In my own music video, I would like to emphasise this aspect of Light Up The Background by changing the pace of editing and style of the action that we see, to help bring the audience's attention to it.