Analysis of a music video

Adele- Chasing Pavements


Label- XL Columbia


Adele Laurie Blue Adkins(born 5 May 1988), known professionally as Adele is an English singer songwriter. She was the first recipient of the BRIT Awards Critics' Choice and was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2008 in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2008. She is a multi-Grammy Awards nominee who has won two awards, Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 2009.
She has described her musical style as "heartbroken soul." Adele agrees with critics that have suggested that her vocals are more developed and intriguing than her songwriting. She also received praises from Paul Rees, editor of Q magazine, who said it was "refreshing to hear something different" after a thousand years of "identikit bands who want to sound like The Libertines".

By the beginning of 2009 listeners and critics started to describe Adele as unique. AllMusic wrote that "Adele is simply too magical to compare her to anyone". Venus Zine recognized Adele on its 25 under 25 list of women for her “distinctive, unusual voice” that “blends the bubbly clarity of pop with the sophisticated phrasings of jazz and blues.”

Genres-Pop, soul, jazz, blues, country

This is a long shot from birds-eye prospective. Here you can clearly see two people interacting. They are laying on a pavement (relative link to the song title) however they are moving in a way to make it look as though they are stood up. From the previous shot we can see that the video is shot on a street, as we can see a road, parked cars and houses. The leaves surrounding the shot and the actors dress show that is it autumn, this is a romantic shot of the two people meeting. The lighting isnt very bright, emphasising the time of year it is.

Here is an establising shot, this shot confirms ideas of it being on a street, side walk. This shot is very picturesque. The mise-en-scene supports the serene atmosphere, as it has quiant features such as the old fashioned lampost. The shot shows the artist walking along the path in slow motion, singing in casual autumn clothes, this does not make her stand out from the actors within the video. However the close up shots of her singing make it clear that she is the artist.

The video follows the song structure well and changes pace with the music, for example, when the chourus begins the still couple on the pavement begin to move and the video begins more upbeat with the music.
The video uses mainly straight cuts however there are some blurred effects used, for example; when adele is sitting in a car with a man the blur her face out whilst she is singing to make the viewer concentrate on his reacted facial expressions.

Here is a shot to show the actors' movements. The move in a very contempary style to suit the artists also contempary style. In this sense the relationship between the music and the visuals is very strong.
This shot also shows the varied use of effects, as this shot is black and white, this could give an impression of surrealism. 

This is a long shot, and shows several people on set as well as the two actors who do the contempary movements. The mise-en-scene shows a car crashed into a tree and an ambulance. This gives some narrative. In this shot the lyrics have no noticeable relation to the imagery shown, and there is then a shot of the artist walking by as though she hasnt even noticed the crash. The chourus then begins again and the ambulance is cleared and the actors continue moving.

 Heres an effective mid shot as it show the two actors moving along the pavement, and the shadow of the artists standing over them. The shadow then walks away as the lyrics say, 'Should i give up', this is an effective link between the music and visuals.A majority of the shots were based on the pavement as the song is called 'Chasing Pavements', they have thought about the relationship between the video and the music well

This is an authentic video to support the unique style of music. The video isnt extravagant to try and convince the viewer of the artists musical prowess as Adele's voice does that capably.
The record company is selling the artist by presenting her in a simplistic loveable form, her music and visuals are compatable and her voice is strong.
Many videos have motifs that have been previously used, and this is no different. Using two different gender actors to be in the video whilst the artist sings is a common method. However, the use of contempory dance lying down, whilst making it look like they are stood up is quite a unique technique, and creates a sense of surrealism.

This video has given us inspiration for our work as our song is also a heartbreak song and we intend on using two actors aswell as a singer to be in the video.