Music Video Analysis

I have analysed Alice in Videoland's music video for their song Going Down.

The video starts with the headlights of a car looming out of the darkness, with the head of a black dog dominating the rest of the frame, which then fades to another shot of the car headlights, illuminating the silhouette of a woman, as well as the silhouette of the large dog stood over the character. Smoke sweeps across the frame, but is only visible in the beaming car headlights, rendering the scene mysterious, and giving the vacant black some more substance and atmosphere. The headlights get brighter, the light from them more intense, revealing more of the characters so the woman is more than just a silhouette now, she is still in deep shadow, but her vibrant red hair is visible, the style rough and messy. The shots of the woman range from long shots of her entire body on the floor, medium shots, and some close ups and meat shots of her singing the lyrics. During these shots, she is in various positions, from laying on the floor to being on all fours, crouched, almost in a threatening, predatory position. All of these shots at this point in the music video are low angle shots, giving her a domineering, intimidating image as she looks down upon the camera, looking down to the viewer. These shots are inter-cut with some shots of the black dog, silhouetted against the headlights, the shots of the dog and the woman fading into each other. At 00.25, the shots change to a long shot of the woman walking down what looks like a road, she is just off-centre in the frame, surrounded by darkness, the only exception two strips of red lights marking the side of the path or road that she walks, which flash in synchronization with the beats of the music. The woman walks holding a thick silver chain, bright in contrast against the black, and has the large dog on a lead. She also walks with definitive steps, she walks in a determined manner, the movement of her hips and the swing of her arm are in time with the music, they amplify the rhythm. You can also see her a lot clearer now, despite the dark background, she is well lit and her pale skin glows in contrast to the darkness. Her vibrant red hair is matched by a bold red lipstick and a red, low-cut top. She also wears a ripped top, so ripped that it is barely there, just straps hanging off her body, and it looks almost skeletal. She wears chains on her trousers, and the whole image and mise-en-scene of the woman fits in with the gothic or punk stereotypical image. It cuts to a medium close up of the woman, showing her lip-syncing the lyrics to the song, an expression of determination evident on her face. At 00.43, it shows a road lit by only headlights, for 2 seconds, a point of view shot from the car bonnet. There is then another low angle medium close up of the woman, starting off with just her head being visible, then her torso as she walks towards the camera. The video is crosscut with a multi-strand, the woman walking down the road and the shots of the car. Just as the music changes slightly, there is a shot of the car from the road, to amplify the change in music, then a cut zoom to the car at a closer angle. The video then cuts to a three shot inside the car, but the lighting is low-key so only half of their faces is visible, they are in shadow, which introduces mystery and the curiosity of who these characters are. Although the shots of the woman are quite repetitive, variation is kept because the while the shots are always in the same location, the range of shots used is quite wide, from showing a long shot of her quite small in the frame, surrounded by the red lights and darkness, to a meat shot close up of her face, establishing her character, and her role in the video, and the band. As the video continues, the shots of the car and the people inside it increase in length and frequency, until it shows another point of view shot from the car, smoke once again illuminated in the headlights. There is a medium close up of the woman, then a long shot of the headlights in the distance, a tiny light in a black screen. The shots of the woman are then cut zoomed in and out at a fast pace, anticipating some action in the video, then it zooms out to a long shot, the angle changing to behind her as she walks towards the headlights in the distance, her body still visible in low key lighting, the headlight completely immersed as she steps in front of them. She almost fades to black, then it cuts to a close up of her face, the closest up shot used in the entirety of the video. It cuts to the back of her again, she walks forwards and the headlights come towards the camera, lighting up the screen until it dissolves into a bold red screen, ending the video.