Rise Above ThisSeether

Music Video Analysis

Basic Structure

- This music video has a narrative as well as performance elements.

- All shots of the band members were in the same room throughout (an apartment building) which the main character in the narrative is surrounded by.

- What is portrayed in the music video matches the lyrics to the actual song.

- The does seem to be a colour scheme of blue and red throughout the video, even matching the lead singers hair.

The music video starts off by panning away from the window, revealing every musician in the band playing to the song.

The lead singer then walks towards the camera as it continues to retreat until he reaches a microphone. It then cuts to an extreme close up of his face, focusing more on the lyrics he is singing rather than his portrayal in these sections.

We are introduced to the narrative of the music video. There is a medium shot of the main character looking towards a large industrial area.

As he looks over his shoulder it is as if he is conscious someone (the audience) is watching, and from his expression, we get an idea of what his true intentions are in this scene.

It then cuts to show the direction he is going to go, as well as making him seem small in comparison to everything around him, even the frame. As he looks down, it confirms our recent theory: he is planning to jump off the building.

The lead singer makes eye contact with the camera, the audience, as he is trying to send a message within the lyrics and trigger emotion from the story being told.

The other band members are not forgotten as they are frequently shown playing to the song throughout the music video. In some shots, just the instruments are shown.

In sections of the song, like the chorus, the camera is handheld and very shaky to emphasise the more powerful segments of the song.

We are shown a close up shot of a photograph of the main character’s family, then a reaction shot showing his sadness to leave his family behind.

One by one, a close up focuses on each member in the photograph being held.

After a character is focused on in the photo, we are shown a clip of that person living their happy everyday life, contrasting with the introduction of the main character.

Each character unaware of what the main character is going to do. Without words, we are able to figure out who each family member is to the main character.

An extreme long shot shows him looking down at us from the building and dropping the photograph; he has made his decision.

The family members start to feel the wind as if they are on the roof with the main character. This could also suggest they have a strange feeling of what is about to come.

As the character falls, each ember of his family also falls as if they are all connected. This shows how his act would have an impact on those who love him most. This is a powerful message to the audience watching.

We are then shown the photograph again to reveal the lead singer is one of those family members, who also falls. This then connects him to the narrative as well as the performance pieces

Shots in reverse are added after he jumps. Each family member falls back upwards as well as the main character, showing back to before he committed suicide as if to say he has more than one choice – he can choose to live.

The message in this video is that you are not alone and you have the strength to make the right choice – to live and stay strong, because the people around you will also be affected. The lead singer moves back towards the window where the music video began showing everything has been reversed and another choice can be made this time around.