Chasing Cars
- Snow Patrol
Brief Introduction
Chasing Cars is an alternative rock song written by the alternative rock band Snow Patrol. It was their second single in their fourth studio album 'Eyes Open'. It was record 2005 and was first released in June 2006. The music video is a mixture of Narrative, Performance and Conceptual with the main focus of the video being the idea of following the lead Gary Lightbody throughout the video, mainly focusing on close ups of his face. It could be argued that there is an element of Performance however i believe that is not one of the main focuses of the video.
ANALYSIS
Mise En Scene
In the music video for 'Chasing Cars' the genre conventions are both adhered to and subverted. When it comes to costumes of the individuals featuring in the video I believe they are conventional. The costumes are casual, with the main character, Gary Lightbody, wearing a pair jeans a jumper and some trainers. This is very informal and relatable for their target audience as these types of costumes (Informal) will be much more like the day to day costumes that most of the target audience will wear. This allows the band to connect with their audience on a deeper level than just their music and this can relax the audience and make them enjoy the music more as they feel more comfortable. I am starting to see a pattern in indie rock music videos in which artists seem to be following the conventions in terms of costume, this looks to be a popular technique and i believe that our group will follow these conventions as well in order to connect with our audience. When we look at setting the story is a little different as it is not conventional for the songs genre. In the music video we see the lead singer Gary Lightbody walking around an urban setting (New York City). This is a really large, busy built up setting which although is not conventional of the indie rock genre, which tends to be simple and natural settings, the urban, city setting will be relatable for the target audience which again helps them connect with the band which will increase their chance of enjoying the music. Also, the song has a strong and powerful message of not forgetting to make time in life to just stop and appreciate what you have. The use of this setting, which is large and busy, helps emphasise the point of the song as in a city like NYC there will be millions of people who are focusing all their energy on their work and letting their life slip away from them. When really they should just listen to the message of the song and take some time to appreciate what they have. My group could incorporate this idea into our own work if we were to try and place a powerful message into our piece, breaking conventions would be a good idea if it were to emphasise a message we are conveying. When looking at blocking in the music video for chasing cars we can see that for the majority of the piece Gary Lightbody in centre in the foreground of the shots. This, for the audience, connotes that Gary is important and as a result of this the audience is naturally drawn to him because of the authoritative, important position he is placed in.
Soundtrack
In the music video for Chasing Cars, when looking at the soundtrack you can see that many elements of it are featured. For example, when looking at diagetic sound you can hear that diagetic sound is not used. This has been done on purpose in order to allow the audience to focus solely on the non diagetic sound ( Score), their attention is drawn to the score as it is the only sound in the video which highlights its importance. Our group could include this technique in our own work as our genre does focus on the score and the talent of the artists and by doing this that shall be highlighted. Other sections of the soundtrack include Score and Tempo, when looking at this we can see that the score is slow paced, this makes it easier to hear and take in all of the music. The result of this is that the audience are more likely to connect with the score and enjoy it more.
Editing
In the music video for Chasing, when looking at the Editing you can see that many elements of it are present. For example, throughout the music video slow cuts are used. This is done in order to slow the music video down to match the tempo of the score to help certain aspects flow smoothly along side each other in order for comfortable viewing. As our chosen track has more of a fast paced tempo slow cuts will not be a technique used by us however we can use this concept of matching shots with score to make the video more comfortable to watch. As our video is fast paced we could focus mainly on quick cut. Another editing technique used is a Camera Zoom. The use of a camera zoom focuses attention on what the Zoom is aimed at, in the case of the Chasing Cars music video the focus is pulled to Gary Lightbody, the lead singer of Snow Patrol. This suggests to the audience that he is important and has the same effect as Blocking..