Case study music video

Afet KoraltayMs.Rudhun

Case studyLilly Allen - ‘Smile’

The song is introduced with a close up of Lily’s upper body with her sitting on a bed looking down towards the floor and avoiding eye contact with the camera whilst eating a bar of chocolate. This suggests that she is in a reminiscent state of mind although the vibrant colours in the background on her wall and her green top contrast her sad face as these bright colours are usually associated with happiness or joy of some sort.

The camera continues to zoom closer to her face so the audience can familiarise themselves with the character which could possibly evoke more sympathy. This negative opening to the song is juxtaposing the title of the song which is ironically ‘Smile’, the audience are provided with the impression that the song is about something that makes this artist smile however this is not evident so far in the video.

The lighting has now darkened slightly in the same bedroom Lily was filmed sitting in and a boy is introduced to us and they are holding hands which indicate that they are in a relationship. However, the camera quickly moves on to a side shot of Lily sitting in a reflective way and the camera continues to switch from a sitting up right angle to a laying down camera angle consistently until she begins to sing.

Afet KoraltayMs.Rudhun

There is a change in setting from her bedroom to a public street where we see the boyfriend that Lily was laying in her bed with earlier on in the video. Now he is on the phone walking on his own towards the camera smiling which is the first suggestion to the song title although interestingly it isn’t Lily who is smiling giving us reason to believe that he is the cause of her not being able to smile and be happy. The first time we see Lily smile in her video is at 1 minute 5 seconds when we see violence and pain caused to her ex boyfriend for whatever suffering he has caused her.

Then we flash back to her sitting on her bed in her bedroom with bright natural light reflecting on the bright red wall. She has her leg crossed which suggests she is in control of the situation in comparison to earlier on in the video when she was leaning or lying down.

Afet KoraltayMs.Rudhun

There is a change in setting 2 a café now with them both sitting opposite together drinking tea or coffee. The camera is positioned behind Lily and facing the boy as an over the shoulder shot then it is quickly turned in her direction where we can see her face. She is wearing many gold chains and jewellery which is a common feature of an Indie artist.

Now there is a reverse in the gestures of the characters, the boy is now looking reflective and there is a close up of him putting his hands over his face in hopelessness. This demonstrates a change in role and position from the beginning of the music video showing there is progress of some sort.

In all of the shots Lily is in she is wearing dresses and jewellery throughout the whole video even though they do change both colour and design depicting her femininity and showing her individuality through her style of clothing.

Afet KoraltayMs.Rudhun

Nonetheless the end of the video is completely different from the beginning and Lily Allen is smiling whilst walking down a narrow public road suggesting her freedom from the situation and misery she was earlier in.