Binary Opposition

In this blog post I am going to look at Binary Opposition; this is where something is opposed to each other for example fighting. To explain this I am going to use the music video White Lies - Bigger than us.

This is the opening shot of the video, already we can establish that something bad is happened and that there is an accident scene. In this shot it is like it is black vs white, the shot has an edge of black and then in the middle is white as well as this we have police officers in black uniform and forensic scientist in white, this shows that they are opposing.

This shot is showing some forensic scientists strapping down a giant chocolate bar, this could be opposition between consumerism and real life as well as battling against each other to hold down the chocolate bar.

This shot shows binary opposition because of the colour of the shot, black vs white, the person is getting out a guitar from a freezer this could mean that they are getting their passion out of a dark cold place. 

This shot shows the boy reaching out to the chocolate bar, this is like the boy fighting against the consumerism, he is reaching out. This shot could represent good vs evil, the hospital could act as the evil and the boy and the chocolate bar are good trying to fight their way out. 

This is a birds eye shot of the police arriving at the scene, this shows binary opposition because of the colours and the fact that the police are fighting against what is happening. On top of the police car is the red and blue flashing light, this could show binary opposition because they are against each other.

This image shows the fight between the public and the police, it's like showing the battle with consumerism, people wanting to see what is going on, they are trying to battle their way through the police to get into the scene however the police are pushing them away.

This image is of the boy in the hospital bed reaching out as they take the giant chocolate bar away, again the battle with consumerism for the boy not to have the giant chocolate bar, in this shot the hand is black and the background is white, this binary opposition between the 2 shades.

This shot shows a girl coming out of the giant chocolate bar, she is brought out by the lead singer, the binary opposition is the fight to get her out, the video has revealed what the point of the giant chocolate bar is.

This is one of the final scenes where we see the girl and the boy unite, this is binary opposition because it is the girl against the boy, they are opposites and they attract. We still have the public looking on and the yellow and black police tape on the left, this is another sign of consumers and the public.

Hannah Culley