Favourite Videos (Task 5)

By Brittany Matlock

‘Rabbit Heart’ – Florence + The Machine

I chose to feature 'Rabbit Heart' by Florence & The Machine as they are currently my favourite band, and I feel that this is their best video. I feel it is very stunning visually: the soft colours throughout, including within Florence's clothing,

create a romantic and dream-like feel, much like the song itself, and the setting is very organic and naturally

beautiful.

‘Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above’ - CSS

I chose to feature ‘Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above’ by CSS as this is also a favourite song of mine, and

the interpretation of the music within the video is very clever. The high-pitched, eerie noise in the beginning of the

song is interpreted by a paper ghost on a stick, as a cute and funny addition to the band. Also, the lyric ‘Kiss kiss

kiss, will make this earth quake’ is interpreted several times in the video (i.e. at the 30 second mark) by the extras

pretending to be thrown around by an earthquake. At the 49-second mark, the 6 band members are edited onto a

skyline photograph of São Paulo, which is a very cool special effect I would like to feature in my own video.

Another section of editing is the rewinding of the lovers during the ‘earthquake’, creating a surreal effect.

Kiss Of Life – Friendly Fires

I chose to feature ‘Kiss Of Life’ by Friendly Fires as their interpretation of the song is obvious in the

video. The song features a prominent Samba beat throughout, which is displayed in the video,

several extra musicians play instruments such as the Surdo, the Pandeiro and the Tan-tan, whilst stood towards the back of the shot throughout. The setting, in the island of Ibiza, adds to the

vibrant and joyous nature of the song. The slow motion part at 2:10 is a calmer section in

comparison to the rest of the fast-paced video, but fits in well, allowing the viewer to take in the

setting and mise-en-scene.

Strawberry Swing - ColdplayI chose to feature ‘Strawberry Swing’ by Coldplay as I feel the

use of stop-motion chalk drawings is original and creates some stunning imagery. I first saw this video as a trailer at the cinema, and the imagery blew me away, and the effort of the artists really showed throughout. All of the drawings, by a small group of visual artists known as Shynola, tell the story of a superhero - played by Coldplay’s lead singer Chris Martin – in a mission to rescue a damsel-in-distress from an anthropomorphic evil squirrel. The video features drawings such as Chris Martin flying over landscapes and cities, living within a sea monster’s stomach, finding a squirrel’s lair (a

castle amongst the clouds), and kissing the rescued damsel whilst standing on a moon with butterflies from the destroyed castle descending in the background.