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Music Video Analysis

Lana Del Rey – Born To Die

This music video begins with a medium shot of Lana Del Rey herself and a male actor. They're stood in an intimate embrace, which shows connotations of love and trust, which emphasises the giant American flag in the background. The American flag, and the showing-off of the American flag connotes patriotism, loyalty, proudness, etc. which all have an underlying theme of love. However, juxtaposed to the love and intimacy is the feature of piercings and tattoos on the male, as opposed to the 'pureness' of Del Rey. Tattoos and piercings have connotations of rebellion and danger, but the intimate embrace in front of the American flag almost lets the audience see past these factors, plus the dreamy, sleepy looks in their eyes show trust. Altogether this whole image could represent the 'American dream', or the two sides of the American dream: Lana Del Rey, the 'pure', innocent one has achieved it, whereas the tattooed, rebellious male hasn't.

The next shot after this is that of a church, which represents faith and religion. The camera pans in a downwards motion to reveal Lana Del Rey sat on a throne, as though implying she is a royal and that she is in charge. Further emphasising that she is in charge are the two tigers laid calmly beside her. Tigers are seen as being dangerous, wild animals, but the fact that they are calmly laid on either side of her gives an example of how powerful Del Rey must be, that she is above wild animals, that she can control them shows that she must be more wild than the tigers herself. Her outfit is quite plain and simple: it is a long, white dress. White has connotations of being pure and innocent, plus the length of it hints that she wants to stay covered up, thus emphasising the connotation of innocence. However, just above the breast there are two cut outs, which perhaps represent that she isn't completely pure. Del Rey is also wearing a crown which symbolises her royal status, although the crown is made up of flowers, which connote girlyness, and could represent that she's a gentle person.

This image is then juxtaposed with a cut to the male from the beginning leaning against his car, smoking. This image shows that he's rebellious, with the foot on the car showing he's care-free. He appears to be of a lower class to Del Rey, as she appears to be alike to 'America's sweetheart': the story is cliché at this point, the innocent, rich girl, running off with the lower class, bad boy. The scene is dark as though they're not allowed to be seen together, and he's parked outside somewhere very upper-class and posh which can be seen by all the marble statues stood outside, could this be Del Rey's home? The audience gets the impression that this is indeed her home, as she comes running down the drive with a bag in her hand. She's dressed simply, in shorts and Converse trainers, and as she runs to him, she drops her bag and embraces him as though she's not been allowed to seen him in a long time.

Throughout the music video, it cuts back and forth between Del Rey on her throne in the church and Del Rey and the male acting almost 'rebellious' and like two young people dangerously in love. During the close ups of Del Rey on the throne, she looks quite sad and as though she's deep in thought, reminiscing about the old times with this boy. It then cuts to the pair kissing in his car, then cuts back to a shot of the church's ceiling, juxtaposing a sense of innocence and rebellion. These cuts continue to happen, with the next being a medium shot of the boy lighting a cigarette with a tattooed hand, with Del Rey innocently watching in the background as though in awe of him, which further emphasises the sense of rebellion, and as though he is power of her.

This time when it cuts back to Del Rey on the throne, her facial expression makes her come across as feeling quite uncomfortable, as though thinking about him and what she did with him makes her uncomfortable. This could imply that he controlled her, and corrupted her: made her do things she didn't want to do. The next time it cuts back to his car, he's putting the cigarette in her mouth and he watches in awe as though he enjoys corrupting her. Lots of kissing and intimate moments commence after this, as though being controlling attracts him. 

When the music video cuts back to Del Rey in the throne, the lyrics says 'come take a walk on the wild side, let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain', as though she is the one with all the power now - she can no longer be controlled. This lyric is juxtaposed with a cut back to them both kissing. The video then cuts to a medium shot of the male stood topless, showing off his tattooed torso, and he mimes shooting Del Rey in the head. This powerful image shows how in control of her he is, as she doesn't struggle, or seem afraid when he does it, she seems to be under his spell. Again, the video cuts to them acting intimate again in his car - the music video is juxtaposing their love/hate relationship. Once again, the video cuts to another dangerous scene - it is almost the same medium shot as last time, but this time he's yanking her face towards his, emphasising that he's definitely dangerous, that he controls her and corrupts her, but she can't get enough. The video cuts to this medium shot once again, but this time they're stood kissing while he has a tight grip on her chin, as though ensuring she can't escape him.

This time when it cuts back to Del Rey on the throne she looks stronger than she has the past few times, as though she's overcome his grip on her. A cut to a close up of Del Rey sat on him in his car shows her whisper into his ear the lyrics, 'because you and I, we were born to die', as though this is the point where she starts to overcome him. At this point, with her sat on him, she's showing that she's in charge - the close up hints at intimacy, but the chilling lyrics she speaks hint at danger, but this time danger coming from her: the roles are seemingly reversed.

Instead of cutting back to Del Rey sat on her throne, this time the narrative takes a new direction and it cuts to Del Rey laid on a large, royal-like bed, wearing a simple, white nighty, with her hair and make up done. All of this effort, but she still looks miserable. The white dress connotes innocence and faith, and the long blonde hair represent girlyness and also innocence, as does the simply make up. Surrounding Del Rey on the bed are wreaths of flowers, like what you’d see at a funeral. Over the bottom half of her and the other side is a black shadow, perhaps representing evil or a dark side to her. The screen cuts to black, which then fades out to reveal the ‘evil’, ‘sinister’ ‘boyfriend’ laid beside her, with a hand possessively laid on her forearm. Del Rey looks more miserable before now his presence is beside her, although maybe it’s just an illusion and he’s not really there at all, it’s just her reminiscing, and the blackness connotes his presence.

Again, the camera cuts to another shot, this time to Del Rey simply stood, singing the lyrics ‘I can see, but once I was blind, I was so confused as a little child’, as though confirming she didn’t really ‘see’ her boyfriend, she was blinded by her love for him meaning she didn’t see the real him, but now she can and she’s scared of what he’s done to her, scared of him, which is why in the video the blackness moves to reveal him. As she sings the above lyrics, it’s like a revelation to her, as the lighting goes from dark to bright. Her facial expressions during this verse are also very childlike, as if emphasising the lyrics, and the fact that she now feels so little and scared because of him. During this verse there is also a shot of her stood looking scared and miserable, holding some flowers (similar to a wedding), and in the background, the blackness fades to reveal the male stood there looking sinister, making a cutting gesture against his throat – is this an enigma code for what is about to come? Is he death?

The video cuts to a long shot of a dark road, and a car speeding up it, gradually moving closer to the camera, and the camera pans up the car, past the headlights, until it cuts to showing Del Rey’s face via the her window, with her hand pressed up against it, as though she’s trying to escape. Her facial expression is miserable and forlorn, as though she doesn’t want to be in that car with him. During this part, the lyrics are saying ‘sometimes love is not enough, and the road gets tough’, although she is not singing along as she previously was. Throughout this scene, there is a close up of her boyfriend as he keeps glancing at her and then glancing back at the road with a cold look in his eyes; it’s as though he’s in silent recognition with her, that her love isn’t enough.

Now, for the first time in a while, the video cuts back to Del Rey on her throne, perhaps emphasising that this is the end of her story. At this point, she looks quite and relieved, as opposed to earlier on in the video when she looked quite apprehensive and uncomfortable. Again, she is singing the lyrics: ‘keep making me laugh, let’s go get high’, and it’s as though she’s almost forgiven him at this point. The lightness of the whole shot, and the fact that she’s in the church again have connotations of a new start, that she’s happy and innocent again, as though she’s been reborn.

The video cuts back a long shot of the side of the car going down the road, then cuts to a close up of the male with an evil look in his eyes and a smirk on his face, as though he’s up to something evil. The rest of the scene is dark, but his face is lit up, as though this is all the enigma code the audience needs in order to make up their mind what is going on. Del Rey herself is looking off into the distance and looking quite scared and apprehensive, emphasising again that she doesn’t want to be there. The video cuts to a pan shot of Del Rey on her throne with a hard expression on her face – she knows what is going to happen next and it isn’t good. She looks away as the lyrics say ‘you like your girls insane’.

The video cuts back to a medium shot of the pair in his car and, as the lyrics said earlier (let’s go get high’, Del Rey is smoking whilst looking like she’s trying not to cry, as though she needs to smoke to get through whatever is about to happen. The video cuts to a shot of Del Rey looking out of the window, and then she looks back at the male driving as the lyrics say ‘choose your last words, this is the last time’, and he looks back at her with a confident, cocky look on his face. The video cuts again to Del Rey on her throne as she says the lyrics ‘cause you and I, we were born to die’.

When the video cuts this time, it’s back to the car and it’s extremely dark, with just a light in the centre of the shot highlighting both of their faces. Del Rey’s boyfriend is grabbing her face again, whilst he’s driving, and it looks as though it’s against her will. The video cuts back to Del Rey on her throne looking disgusted, as though she wished it didn’t happen. It cuts back to a close up of the front of the car travelling extremely fast down the road, then cuts back to the pair both still kissing. This is a massive enigma code for the audience, although it seems the intended meaning is that he’s trying to kill them both. However, it’s almost like he doesn’t want to assume responsibility, therefore by kissing Del Rey it would just be ‘by chance’ if they happened to crash. He’s grabbing her face so that she cannot pull away however, suggesting that he doesn’t want her to prevent the crash.

The video then cuts to a shot of the church ceiling, with the camera zooming away from it. The church ceiling could perhaps symbolise heaven, as though that’s where Del Rey is now. Now when she’s sat on the throne she seems more lively and happier, and when she sings the lyrics ‘you like your girls insane’ she makes the stereotypical ‘crazy’ hand gesture against her head. Again the video cuts to a shot of the church ceiling but this time the camera pans downwards and the lighting becomes darker, but then as the camera nearly levels out, the lighting becomes lighter again, as though establishing that the time/scene has changed, and then becomes darker again.

The scene changes to that of a royal looking hall way, and there is light coming through the windows but the shapes keep changing as though time is passing by quickly. Del Rey can then be seen walking down the corridor, dressed in the same plain white nighty from before and barefoot. White has connotations of purity and innocence, and barefoot has connotations of poverty and also has many historical and religious representations such as being seen as a sign of respect. Again the lighting is quickly changing, although she is walking slowly as though time is passing her by – it’s surreal, as though she is no longer a part of the real world. In this scene she looks alike to an angel, as though she is just about to enter heaven. White dresses are typical of angels, and she has her hair and make up nicely done as though she wants to look perfect, perhaps for her ‘new life’?

While walking down the corridor she looks slightly apprehensive and scared, but with a slight hint of confidence. When she gets to the end of the corridor, she pushes open the large double doors and reveals a bright white light which could represent heaven, as though she is now free. The video cuts to medium shot of the ‘villain’ in a very dark setting, with hints of flames behind him. His faced is all cut and he looks as though he’s regretting his decisions. The darkness and the flames juxtapose the lightness Del Rey has just found and have connotations of ‘hell’. The camera zooms out to a medium/long shot to reveal him holding Del Rey’s bloody body. The audience can now clearly see that her character has died, although him standing there holding her body is an enigma code, as it’s not clear whether the flames are from the car or if he’s in hell. If it is hell, holding her body symbolises that he now has to live with what he’s done – he’s always going to be reminded of it.

The scene fades to black, and then cuts to the beginning shot of the pair embracing in front of the American flag. This image juxtaposes the whole video before it as it is gentle and loving, whereas the audience has just witnessed the violent side of the male. This time the male is gentle stroking her back as though trying to comfort her, although his eyes are closed as though he doesn’t want to face up to what he’s done. There is a direct gaze from Del Rey straight to the camera, as though she’s stronger now – eye contact symbolises confidence, whereas not looking at the camera symbolises weakness: the roles have now changed. However, the tight embrace could purely symbolise that through everything they still love each other.