Lorde-royals video analysis

Lorde-Royals video analysisBY Lucy Collings

I’ve chosen to do my video analysis on Lorde-Royals as I feel the message through the lyrics and video has a meaning which can relate to many teenagers. I’ve chosen 8 specific shots throughout the music video which I feel best describe this.

Introduction

Shot 1The establishing shot shows an empty street with both sides almost symmetric. The camera shows this from a long, landscape shot of the street. One side of the street is darker than the other, both the colouring of the houses and the overhead sky, this could be suggesting the two different sides of society, the poorer side and the richer. As the camera films this it slowly moves backwards to reveal along both sides of the road.

Shot 2This shot shows Lorde in direct mode of address, this is shown through a close-up shot she is looking straight into the camera and making involvement with the audience. The pale pink background blends with the white top of the artist, however both colour’s contrast with Lorde’s dark brown hair, bringing her forward and drawing the audience’s attention to her face, she is also placed in the centre of the shot.

Shot 3Here we see a side profile of a boy who has just washed their face. This is presented in a close up shot. During the shot he does not move, but allows all the water to drip endlessly from his face. The focus on the shot is on the water, as we cannot see his face but only the outline. This is also the photo placed on the cover of the album, promoting the digipak.

Shot 4Here we see a mod shot of a sports hall, the hall itself is fully symmetrical, and also empty except for the one boy placed in the centre. The red line is also one of the signs of bright colour we see. The attention of the audience if drawn to boy. The emptiness of the hall could be suggesting he feels empty inside, alone or maybe the empty space could be symbolising his future, there is nothing ahead.

Shot 5Long-shot in landscape, shot just before an entrance to a room. There is very little colour in the room, possibly suggesting the little happiness the two boys have in their lives. Both are boxing each other, this could be something they aspire to be in future. There is a sense of emptiness in the room as the only object are the plant, television and chair. Suggesting boxing is the way these teenagers can escape the boring reality.

Shot 6Here we see a landscape long-shot of the same room in the previous shot but from another angle. Again there is a sense of emptiness and the television has no channel showing but a plain grey background, again symbolising emptiness. The teenager is to the side of the shot rather than the centre, drawing more focus to the television. Possibly the screen could be showing the future of the boy or what’s going through his mind (nothing). There is also no colour in the shot, it is all very dull and neutral.

Shot 7The focus in this shot is aimed at the boy lying beside the train track. The background and his surroundings are blurred out. There is a theme if emptiness throughout the music video. All of the teenagers shown have aspired to be something, boxers, basketball player and a swimmer. This shot shows one of the boys, the fact they are laying down beside the train track shows rebelliousness and carelessness. Quite the opposite to something a “Royal” would do.

Shot 8 In this shot we see four of the young men who have been featured throughout the music video, the camera shows them from behind at a mid-shot angle. It appears they are waiting at a bus stop, after seeing what I can assume are their ambitions for future (swimmer, basketball player, boxer etc) they could be leaving the area in order to succeed. The camera takes these shots slowly, and cuts to the facial expressions of some of the boys at the bus stop and during the bus journey.

Goodwin: The lyrics do not tell a story however they do describe the fantasies of young teenagers around the world, most less fortunate than others and that is what we see in the music video.

Carlsson:commercial exhibitionist: The concept of the video is not promoting the image of Lorde as she is in no way shown as an iconic figure during the video.

Shore:Immediate gratification is shown as the music video is not all focused on Lorde, only small clips as she is showing other teeenagers struggling with their lives.

Theories

I've never seen a diamond in the fleshI cut my teeth on wedding rings in the moviesAnd I'm not proud of my address,In a torn-up town, no postcode envy

-I found this verse of lyrics very descriptive, the way she sings “cut my teeth on wedding rings in the movies” as if she has never seen one before and wants one so desperately she is gritting her teeth. She isn’t proud of the area in which she lives, the town is old and knackered and she does not in any way envy her home or the area. Unlike many other rich teenagers around.

But every song's like gold teeth, grey goose, trippin' in the bathroomBlood stains, ball gowns, trashin' the hotel room,We don't care, we're driving Cadillacs in our dreams.But everybody's like Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece.Jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash.We don't care, we aren't caught up in your love affair.

-In my opinion this bridge just describes a fantasy of most rich teenagers, having wealth and not worrying about anythingas they have the freedom to do whatever they want. However this isn’t what she wants, they are “driving cadillacs in their dreams”. It’s almost as if she is saying she doesn’t need any of those things because she can dream about having something which she thinks is better. Later in the song she uses the lyric “we crave a different kind of buzz”, suggesting she doesn’t need money, drugs or alcohol, she craves something much deeper such as success.

Lyrics