Music Video Analysis (The 1975, A Change Of Heart)

Bio

Seen above is the music video directed by Tim Mattia of A Change of Heart by the 1975. The 1975 are an alternative rock band formed in the UK. A Change of Heart is the story of two people falling in and out of love with each other, done by showing a rather slapstick mime character as the male and an arguable over dramatic clown as the female.

Relationship between visuals + Lyrics 

In the screenshot to the left is a point in the song where the lyrics link to the visuals on the screen. In this screenshot we see to people with their backs to each other representing a negative attitude towards each other. At the same time as this scene appears we hear the lines "I've just had a change of heart" which of course shows a direct link to the visuals. However there is no mode of address as the performer is not playing the music as it comes on. However we get a blurred version of this as the character is played by a mime. Which could possible signify why the couple has fallen out of love, which could be a result of lack of clear communication. 

Genre Characteristics

Arguable this music video follows the conventions of the indie genre however it is even possible to say this song really fits no specific style. However I do favour it to fit into the indie genre. This is because this music video shows us a different perspective of the situation at hand. Evident by the change in colour of the images as it was obviously a artistic choice to convert it to being black and white.

Intertextuality 

Reference to modern culture

There are no other texts directly referenced however there are some links to mime culture and the Charlie Chaplin era. There is also a slight link with modern trends as we see the main character dab which you can see around in and around social media. 

Performance, Narrative and or Concept
A Change Of Heart can be characterised as a narrative music video, as I have explained before we see a story unfolding of two people falling in and out of love with each other. You could argue there is an element of performance as one of the band members appear in the video throughout however he is not directly playing any music just miming along to the lyrics. This is reflective of the genre however it isn't really a strong convention as it tends to be shared by lots of music video genres.

Performance style
There is no performance when it comes to instruments or physical singing however the lyrics are displayed through dancing. This dancing is clearly choreographed and staged in order to give a professional look to the production. After some deep research I found out that the video was choreographed by Katie Collins, who has extensive experience working with people for music videos and television.

Linear, closed narrative

This video has a linear narrative as there is no set reading but instead it allows us to create our own interpretation of the story line. Like I've mentioned before the story line I picked up, is one of two people falling in and out of love with each other. I identified this story line as opposed by others as it was the only one which carried without the full song.

Mode of Address

There is only one very small moment when the audience is addressed and it only lasts around a second. it does reveal a lot. It uncovers that the female is performing showing she is aware people are watching. You could also say after this moment the mood changes maybe signifying that the person she was waving at may have been a person who is getting involved in their relationship. However we could rule this out, as we don't see another person at all in the film representing that this is all about the two main character.

Star Treatment

Star treatment does exist in this video as the person in the band has the most on screen time. For example later in the video there as some scenes where the male (Matt Healy, the main singer in the band) is alone having one on one time with the camera possibly signifying who is getting their point heard more in the argument.

Audience in the video

No audience existed in this video apart from the fact some of there listeners may be going through the same situation as the to characters, that being the very common argument with their partner allowing the audience to relate to the people within the video.

Male Gaze

There are some element of the male gaze as the female is involved in the relationship and during this relationship we see the male chasing the female as of her good looks, in the context of the video. However this is not directly relevant and is the second reading.

Representations

The video represents several members and sections in society. Including people who are young adults, they represent this group by showing the type of relationship problems they have, but on the other hand it could be seen that they are representing people who have relationships in general. as we can clearly in the screenshot to the left the people in the video they are young adults.

Pace and Variation of pace

There is no constant pace in this video as there is a strong variation which reflects the mood. Making the dancing a form of prophetic fallacy. For example while the couple are breaking up the speed of the dancing speeds up however the music does not match this trend.

Shot Variety + No. of setups

Within this video there are 3 setups/ stages which take place. These are 1- the couple falls I love, 2- the couple are in love and 3- the couple fall out of love. There is differing shot variety for each scene, however each scene is in the same place (a fairground).
In the first scene where the couple are falling in love there is more shot differentiation and an increase of shots in general, which reduces the how quick the cuts were. This may connote the pace in which people fall in love.

In the second stage of the music video the cuts are still around the same pace and length however there is a lack lf shot differentiation for example at one point they are showing a one scene and they use 4 different shot types all which are very similar. As seen to the left.

Finally, in the third stage of the video there is a huge increase in shot variety and numbers this will be to denote the complexity of their argument. as there is approximately 25 different shots which is a large proportion compared to the total shots in the whole video.

FX

There is a very little amount of SFX used in this video, as there is a lack of CGI and complicated transitions. However the couple of FX they have used are very significant. The first one being that the video is only in black and white in order to put across the time when this video was made. The second effect is that they have included black borders at the top and bottom of the image in order to create a cinematic effect.

Location and Mise-en-scene

The Change of Heart music video was shot in an empty fairground. This of course was deliberately done to connote several things about the topic at hand, love. I feel that the fairground represents that relationships are often fun an enjoyable however this is contrasted by the lack of people in the fairground. Possible signifying loneliness that comes with the downs in relationships.

Subcultures

Often in music videos subcultures exist due to specific genres in which the song fits into. However in this video these don't really exist as the song fits no genre as I have said previously. However this song does tend to be popular with indie crowds so you could argue it shows us an individualistic view of non mainstream relationships.   

Notable Shot/ Framing

The shot I feel tells us the most and is most notable appears at the start of the video, where the for ground is out of focus creating a shallow depth of field which connotes that we only see into the present as he is not in the foreground while the characters past is blurred and unclear. This shot again can be seen to the left.

Director Style

Tom Mattia is the director for several other music videos for example Bitter Pill. He arguable has a certain style however it is a bit vague as often he tends to concentrate on indie videos. However in a few of his videos he has made them black and white like A Change Of Heart. An example of one which of course isn't A Change Of Heart would be Bitter Pill one I mention earlier. A screenshot is yet again on the left proving a Bitter Pill is of course in black and white.