The document provides an analysis of two music videos: 1) Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" features close-up shots of the lead singer to convey deep emotion. Though there is a weak connection between lyrics and visuals, the muted colors and calm shots create a melancholy mood. 2) Dizzee Rascal's "Holiday" uses vibrant colors, multiple shots of people, and revealing outfits to portray a lively, energetic atmosphere and holiday theme. While lyrics and visuals are loosely connected, the fast-paced editing captures the happy, bouncy feel of the song.

1. By Matthew Wheeler

2. The first music video I will be analysing is…
Snow Patrol – Chasing Cars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrpSjXo6ah0

3.  Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish/Scottish alternative rock band formed at the
University of Dundee in 1994.
 Their second studio album, Eyes Open, (2006) and its hit single "Chasing
Cars," propelled the band to greater international fame. The album topped the
UK Album Charts and was the best-selling British album of the year, selling
over 6 million copies worldwide.
 There were two videos made for this song, I will be looking at the first video
which was made in 2007.
 Nick Brandt was the director of the music video for snow patrol. He was a
British photographer and music video director, born in London, England, UK,
now based in Topanga, California, USA..
 The music video for „Chasing Cars‟ is very simple and was probably produced
at a low price. The technologies used in this video are also very simple as there
are no special effects or CGI as the song doesn‟t require it. A maximum of 2
cameras could have been used.

4.  Snow Patrol is an alternative rock artist.
 In their video‟s they convey a deep and meaningful emotion, in
most of Snow Patrol‟s video, the main focus is the lead singer and
the connection you can get with him.
 I find Snow Patrol‟s video‟s are very moving and full of emotions,
and the way it has been filmed backs this up even more, you see
the emotion through his eyes and movements.
 Most emotional music video‟s are about one main person singing
the lyrics, but the lyrics are full of emotion, and you can feel this
throughout the lyrics but that just fits the whole atmosphere of the
song.
 Just like how the main singer looks and is dressed, he looks like
your typical bloke that was once very happy with a girl, all of this,
music, lyrics, props and scene, all adds together to give the viewer
the best feel of the whole atmosphere revolving around the music
video.

5. In this particular music video there is a weak relationship between the lyrics and video throughout.
Visuals – Video
 Always on main singer, close-up shots, focusing on main features like his mouth, hand & eyes.
 The colours are quite muted and dull which can affect the mood of the whole video, colours give a
great opportunity to enhance the mood of the video.
 The way the shots have been filmed really show how the video is calming but full of emotion, by having
close up’s with the singer, you can get a connection to them and feel the emotion that they feel and
what they are trying to portray in the song.
Lyrics – Music
 The lyrics have a weak relationship, the video is mainly focused on the main singer and what emotions
you get from him.
 The music video is quite calm and relaxing just like the lyrics are, so they tie in together. But one of the
strongest links between lyrics and visuals is, when he sings ‘If I lay here, if I just lay here..’ it pans out
a little bit, for you to see that he is laying down, it also shows you a shot from his perspective of the
cloudy sky above.
I think when the lyrics and the visuals tie in with each other ever so slightly but it gives an involvement
of the two together, it shows there is a direct relationship between the two. Visuals are used to amplify
what is being said, it gets the message across by pictures as well as text, your not only hearing it, your
seeing it too.

6. Here are a few screen grabs
always on main singer, close-up
shots, focusing on main features
like his mouth, hand & eyes,
using these you can get a real
emotion from these screen shots.

7. Below I have featured the colour palette that is
used throughout the whole of Snow Patrol‟s
video, this just enhances my point about how the
colours can affect the mood, most of the colours
below are dull and earthy. Which creates the
mood of sadness, coldness and so on.

8.  There is a calm music rhythm that is present throughout the whole
video, the visuals and music tie in with the whole of the video
 The visuals are very calm and gradually change, instead of
switching really quickly which will not flow with the beat.
 The video has cleverly used camera work to create the mood too,
the main focus is the lead singer, he is shown in a very calming
state.
 To me, it doesn’t look like much editing has gone on to link the
visuals and the beats together, it just runs smoothly which really
fits in with the whole atmosphere of the video.

9.  There is a mixture of slows up, tilt shots, mid-shots and long shots.
 The main singer is in every single shot in the music video, the reason for this is so
that us as a viewer, can gain a relationship with the artist, the easiest and most
efficient way to do this is by seeing him all the time, you concentrate on him and this
is a relationship will form.
 The song is an in-depth song with a lot of meaning behind it, and by viewing the
singer all the way through, you can feel the emotion that he is feeling whilst
performing the song.
 The lead singer is in sync with the song that is playing, but switching from seeing
him, close up to his own view. The reason they do this is to „suspend reality‟.
 Close-up‟s convey a passion from the main singer, you can get a real sense of
emotion from them.
 You can see, rain bounce off of his face, create a big sense of reality, as you see the
weather change.
 My favourite camera shot is at the end which is a bird eye‟s view of the singer.
Slowly the camera zoom‟s out until you can barely see the singer anymore. This
emphasises the lyrics in his song where he talks about how small he feel‟s in the
world.

10. Here is are a couple of examples of how the posture and how look of the main
singer, can affect and enhance the whole atmosphere of a song. In the two
pictures featured, you can see how the main singer looks very lost and
heartbroken, in the second screen shot, he’s looking up, almost looking up to
God, to help him.

11.  The main transitions used are quick cuts
and fade in and outs. The pace of the
editing is appropriate since the song is
quite slow and the transitions match this.

12.  The music video portrays a story, its all about how the man feels,
towards a female. All the props and scenery assist in showing this,
because to begin to see his viewpoint and the way its filmed you
can get a connection as your seeing him close up, you get a
connection with him.
 The main singer shows this as there is a connection between the
visuals and the lyrics. The video shows a great feeling and emotion
from the main singer, without the video you could only listen to his
emotion through the words he was saying.
 In this video it is a very relaxed performance, it isn‟t a
choreographed routine, practised over and over again, the main
singer just has to relax and have a meaningful performance. I think
this a more natural performance, in-keeping with the whole
atmosphere of the song. I like the relaxed approach to the
performance, it gives a calmer feeling towards the viewer, and I
would like to take this forward into my work.

13.  There was no iconography that was relevant to the band
used in the music video.
 Because chasing Snow patrol is a instrumental band
one of the things I would have expected to see would
have been all the members on the screen in at least one
shot (playing their instruments). You often see this in
other band videos.
 In fairness I feel that for this music video the band were
trying to show their own individual image of what their
band represented rather than representing a typical
band from their music genre.

14.  At the time this was produced the record
company would have wanted to “sell” the band
in the style of an „indie band‟ which was a
popular, new trend. Previous videos made by
snow patrol are very similar, for example „Run‟
is very simple and has a simple message that
the video tries to get across to the audience in
an easy and understandable way.

15.  The image the band is trying to project in
this video is one of vulnerability and
loneliness; they are definitely not trying to
be aggressive. The band looks very
conventional in this video and simplicity is
shown rather than creativity.

16.  The target audience for this video are people in there
early teens up to mid/late 20‟s. This video would be
aimed at this age group because alternative rock is a
newer genre of music which is generally aimed at
teenagers. It would also appeal to people who may also
feel alone and who could relate to the message of the
song. The target audience is meant to sympathise with
the main character of the video as his sadness and
loneliness is projected to the audience.

17. The second music video I will be analysing is…
Dizzee Rascal – Holiday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANE9A5osUes

18.  Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), better known by
his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is an English rapper, MC,
songwriter and record producer.
 His music is a blend of grime, garage, hip hop, rap, electronic and
R&B. Best known for his number-one hits "Dance wiv Me,"
"Bonkers," "Holiday," "Dirtee Disco" & "Shout," his debut album
 “Holiday” the single debuted in the UK at number-one upon initial
release.

19.  Dizzee Rascal is a Rapper / Hip-Hop artist. The song “Holiday” would be
more of a Hip-pop genre song. One thing I found was that Dizzee Rascal‟s
earlier songs when he first started were more in the genre of garage and
hip-hop. But as he became more recognised by the public he started
moving his music genre away from garage and towards pop styled rap. My
guess for him doing this would be because there was a larger crowd for
pop music than garage.
 In his video its quite an energetic mood, which conveys the feeling of
happiness to the viewer.
 I find Dizzee Rascal video‟s are very energetic and full of colour and loads
of other people to help enhance the vibrant mood across to the viewer.
 Most emotional music video‟s are about one main person singing the lyrics,
but the lyrics are full of emotion, and you can feel this throughout the lyrics
but that just fits the whole atmosphere of the song.
 Just like how the main singer looks and is dressed, all of this, music, lyrics,
props and scene, all adds together to give the viewer the best feel of the
whole atmosphere revolving around the music video.

20. In this particular music video there is a weak relationship between the lyrics and video throughout.
Visuals – Video
 A variety of shots throughout the video, using lots of people, a selection of shots are used too, such as close up,
panning and so on.
 Extra props & scenery enhance the relationship between the two, the use of Sun, Sand, Bikini’s, Sunglasses,
Hats and Swimming Pools in the video do this.
 The colours are very vibrant and playful, give the sense of happiness which ties in with the mood of the whole
video, colours give a great opportunity to enhance the mood of the video.
 The way the shots have been filmed really show the energy and playfulness of the song, by having lots of shots
that include other people close up’s with the singer, you can get a connection to them and feel the emotion that
they feel and what they are trying to portray in the song.
Lyrics – Music
 The lyrics have a strong relationship with each other, you can feel through the music the lively atmosphere of
the song.
 The music video is quite energetic and bouncy and you can feel that through the lyrics but its enhanced by the
video.
 Unlike the previous two video’s there has been lyrics and direct video to complement it but in this particular
video, its themed for the ‘Holiday’ so it doesn’t need specific video to lyrics links. However there is a couple
featured on the next page.
I think when the lyrics and the visuals tie in with each other ever so slightly but it gives an involvement of the
two together, it shows there is a direct relationship between the two. Visuals are used to amplify what is being
said, it gets the message across by pictures as well as text, your not only hearing it, your seeing it too.

21. Here are a few screen grabs
always with lots of people, using
To the right is the
all the props, such as bikini’s, direct link between the
palm trees, sun & water to visuals and the lyrics,
enhance the ‘holiday’ feel.
the first picture is
Dizzee showing the
outline of a passport,
when he’s singing
‘Don't watch my
passport photo’ and
the bottom screenshot
in the red circle is a
balloon flying away,
whilst you see this on
screen, the lyrics that
are sung are: ‘If you
ain't doing nothing let's
fly away..’

22.  In this video there is a continuality of
women in bikini's, pants and other
rather revealing outfit‟s.
 This is a technique used to attract more
of a male audience and to keep them
looking at the video hence why there is
such a consistence of female models
appearing on the screen every few
seconds.
 It could also be giving the message out
to the audience that this is the kind of
ideal female for the artist to affiliate
themselves with.

23.  There is a energetic music rhythm that is present throughout the
whole video, the visuals and music tie in with the whole of the
video.
 The visuals are quick to change, sort of a bouncy feel, to enhance
to party, holiday feel.
 The video has cleverly used camera work to create the mood too,
the main focus is to get the energetic mood across, by close up’s,
panning shots to show the whole of the scene/
 To me, not much editing has happened, just mainly shots have
been put together quite flowing but bouncy, to tie in with the whole
atmosphere of the video.

24. Below I have featured the colour palette that is
used throughout the whole of Dizzee Rascal‟s
video, this just enhances my point about how the
colours can affect the mood, most of the colours
below are energetic, vibrant and warm. Which creates
the mood of Sun, Sea, Sand and happiness!

25.  Close-up‟s convey a lively and energetic passion from the
main singer, you can get a real sense of emotion from them.
 The main singer is in pretty much every single shot in the
music video, whether by himself or surrounded by people, the
reason for this is so that us as a viewer, can gain a
relationship with the artist, the easiest and most efficient way
to do this is by seeing him all the time, you concentrate on
him and this is a relationship will form.
 The song is a happy song, give the listener/viewer a sense of
happiness, and for me the song always makes me smile.
 Dizzee is in sync with the song that is playing, but switching
from seeing him, close up to panning away from him, or not
seeing him at all. The reason they do this is to „suspend
reality‟.

26. Here is are a couple of examples of how the posture and how look of the
main singer, can affect and enhance the whole atmosphere of a song! In
the two pictures featured, you can see how the main singer looks happy
and energetic and creates the ‘party’ mood.

27.  The main singer is in pretty much every single shot in the
music video, whether by himself or surrounded by people, the
reason for this is so that us as a viewer, can gain a
relationship with the artist, the easiest and most efficient way
to do this is by seeing him all the time, you concentrate on
him and this is a relationship will form.
 The song is a happy song, give the listener/viewer a sense of
happiness, and for me the song always makes me smile.
 Dizzee is in sync with the song that is playing, but switching
from seeing him, close up to panning away from him, or not
seeing him at all. The reason they do this is to „suspend
reality‟.
 Close-up‟s convey a lively and energetic passion from the
main singer, you can get a real sense of emotion from them.

28.  The music video portrays a story, its all about going on holiday. All
the props and scenery assist in showing this, because to begin to
see his viewpoint and the way its filmed you can get a connection
as your seeing him close up a lot of the time, you get a connection
with him.
 The main singer shows this as there is a connection between the
visuals and the lyrics. The video shows a great happiness from the
main singer, without the video you could only listen to his
playfulness through the words he was saying.
 In this video it is a very relaxed performance, it isn‟t a
choreographed routine, practised over and over again, the main
singer just has to relax and have a energetic performance. I think
this a more natural performance, in-keeping with the whole
atmosphere of the song. I like the relaxed approach to the
performance, it gives a calmer feeling towards the viewer, and I
would like to take this forward into my work.

29.  This music video falls into the category of
pop/ dance and rap, so there is plenty of
iconography shown throughout this video.
 An obvious example of iconography used in
this music video would be all the dancing
going on around the swimming pool which
is typically found in pop/dance music
video‟s.
 Another example of iconography used in
this music video would be the camera shot
of Dizzee Rascal dressed in a smart suit
(pimp), standing next to a nice car while he
holds the door open to let a female model
in. This is typically found in most hip hop/
rap music video‟s. The saying is “money,
nice cars and hot women”.

30.  As a holiday tune!
 As a pop or commonly said hipPopmusic
video. The reason behind this is simply
because the pop genre has the largest
audience out of all genres meaning more
profit and publicity (radio station‟s pop
charts, ect..)

31.  The main image that I feel that the artist is
trying to get out is that he can adapt and
change his music genre to appeal to the
masses. In past music video‟s before he
moved on to pop styles song‟s Dizzee
rascal was making grime and garage which
hasn‟t got as large a crowd as pop music
does. Hence why the sudden change to
pop music lately.

32.  Dizzee Rascal is aiming for a more
commercial audience these days as you
can tell from the “Holiday” music video, but
he used to make grime music for the
underground music scene. some fans feel
he sold out his original fans by becoming
more commercial sounding, but its where
the money is..