In this blog post I am going to look at 1901 by Birdy. This music video is a cross between a performance and a narrative.
This is the very first scene in the music video, showing the girl running away, the camera is handheld giving us the impression that the person she is turning to look at is holding it. We don't see the artist first, we go straight into the story. We see that it is a dark atmosphere telling us that it is the evening in a normal setting like a town or city.
This is one of the next shots we see, introduced is the man, this tells us that it isn't him holding the camera, there are other onlookers in this shot, the camera zooms out so we can see the whole of the man.The man walks up to the woman and they carry on showing a shot of the woman's face where she is smiling showing that she is happy (below). Their costume is what is in fashion today, it is old style brought back, a vintage style. The lighting on the above shot is quite dim especially on the man, he is like a silhouette, just a dark figure.
Th next shot is a long shot from above of the couple on the floor together hugging, this is showing us that they are happy together. What the couple are wearing and where they are in the shot below is quite a vintage look, their hairstyles and what they are wearing, this could link in with the title of the song - 1901, showing an old style on a modern day video. The next shot we see is the woman at work; following this is the man appearing in the window of where she is working with a question marked on his hand and pressed up against the glass window. This could be seen as maybe quite a traditional way instead of a modern day method such as texting or phone.
Following this shot we see them on another date in the same place they were in the first shot and then in bed together. This whole first bit of the story is done in small shots with cuts in between but we have a clear understanding of what has happened. The actors in the video are like dark and light, the woman has very pale skin and light blonde hair whereas the man has dark hair, wears dark clothing and dark rimmed glasses this could suggest that they are opposites maybe con-notating that opposites attract.
This shot is when we first see the artist, playing the piano in a room full of guitars, the looks is very old fashioned and vintage linking in with the title of the song. The video quickly cuts back to the narrative, we are then in a house which again is an old and vintage style.
This shot shows the man walking the woman to work, they then depart and the lady has her headphones in and looks upset, the man just pulled her back to give her a kiss on the cheek, the lady doesn't look impressed and doesn't return the favour. The man walks away looking back at her. The shop is another old shop, showing clothes from the 1900s, this has a big link with the title of the song. Following this; a man walks into the shop (shot below) and buys an item, there are close up shots of the man and woman's faces, they are looking at each other intensively and smiling at the same time like they are flirting with each other.
This above shot shows the man sitting outside what is like his shop of selling second-hand furniture, maybe old furniture again linking in with the title. This shot is very colourful and squared, a perfect long shot showing everything and the vintage decoration.The lighting is bright and then dark on the inside with silhouettes.
Afterwards, the couple are walking looking very sombre in the dark to a pub where they look like they are meeting friends. At first the camera is just on the woman making us thing that she is walking alone but then the camera turns to show the man as well, so we are deceived at first.
This shot is when the camera pans out to the right to show the man is there, there is a clear divide in the way they are walking and the woman's face looks sad and lonely.
By this point we know that something is going wrong and the couple aren't happy, when they arrive at the pub, the man is seen chatting and getting close with another woman just like this girl did with the man in her shop, so it seems they are both doing the same. The lighting is dark because it is night time however on them is a pinky red light which could con-notate love or passion. The woman looks on at him getting close with the other woman and clearly looks upset. Her make up is very 60s with red lipstick and light blonde cropped hair with a black hat.
The above shot shows the other woman looking at him while smiling, she is very similar to the other woman with short blonde hair. She puts her hand on his and the other woman sees it, takes a drink and looks very worried, she is in a dark lighting with a dark blue background whereas the above shots show that they are still in a reddish pink light.
This shot above shows the rejection from the woman, this is a very dark shot, no colour and they look hidden, the man tries to hold her hand but she rejects it. After this they arrive at the flat where she walks on, it's dark in the background where he is standing and as she walks on she goes into the bathroom where it is bright and light suggesting that she has walked out of the bad and into the good where she is in a room on her own locked away (shown below)
There is then a series of shots after of them texting each other, this is bringing in a modern touch to an old vintage video and song. The below shot is of the text conversation between them, his phone is smashed which could con-notate that he is broken, maybe heartbroken because of what is happening or maybe because it is over her conversation that she is broken.
Mean while Birdy is filmed with a haze over the shot, we can't see her clearly because maybe the focus doesn't want to be drawn on her even though she is the main factor, maybe it is to come across that she is still there but she wants to focus on the story not herself. (shot below)
The shot below shows the man still texting 'Helen', in his glasses you can see the reflection of her face as his phone background, this could mean that she is in his eyes, he loves her and that he is the apple of his eye. The furniture is very vintage and old fashioned linking in with what he is wearing, a spotty knitted jumper.
The very last scene (below) shows the woman slowly walking out of the bathroom, the shadow of her comes first like she is still hiding and she is scared but then she comes out, the lighting is sombre with colourful fair lights and a lamp, so it is quite dim, you cannot the the man's face so we don't see his reaction to when she comes out following another text from him. The ending is quite hidden and leaves us on a cliffhanger, do they reconcile? Is it a happy ending?
This last shot could link in with Lauren Mulvey's Male-gaze theory where women are objectified or centred as being the main factor. The woman in this shot is standing up whereas the man is sitting down making the girl look like the one with the power. This shot makes the girl look mysterious and the main focus is on her coming back into the room.
I personally think that this is a very good music video because it fits in with the title, tells a clear narrative and also shows shots of the Artist, it is a simple story to work out and the costume, lighting, actors etc are all perfect for the song title.
Hannah Culley
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