Happy Little Pill analysis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEWHF3E9YJQ

Troye Sivan – Happy Little Pill“The track is an ambient piece of slow-burning, electronic pop.”

This music video follows the general convention of electronic pop, with usually dark colours and the story in two halves.

Roughly 1/3 of the video consists of Troye infront of the camera singing the lyrics with little to no performance aspect to it…

…1/3 of the video is of a young footballer lonely on the pitch, many of the lyrics coincide with the camera work and what is happening in shot…

… and 1/3 of the video is the story if Troye alone in a hotel room. This ties the video together as it matches the lyrics of the song.

The general conventions of electro pop tend to be a very dull colour scheme, however due to this being his first music video with the label I believe it followed the colour scheme of the EP.

Happy Little Pill and Royals

Goodwin’s theory: Genre Characteristics

- Muted colours

- -Close up on artist

Goodwin’s theory

Notion of Looking

Opposite to the male gaze theory and the men often portrayed in a negative way, instead the male footballer in the video is shown to be vulnerable and lonely.

The Demands of the Record Label

Despite him being signed to a major label (Capitol Records) he is still given the creative freedom he wants due to already having a fanbase which will buy the records, so they don’t control his music too much.