Music video analysis

Track title: Chandelier

Artists/Album: Sia/ 1000 forms of fear

Genre: Electro pop Ballad

Year of release: 2014

Music Video Director: Sia Furler

Record Company: Monkey puzzle, RCA

Writer: Sia Furler, Jesse Shatkin

Producer: Greg Kurstin, Jesse Shatkin

Length: 3:36

Music Video Type: Performance based music video

Concept/ Narrative: "Chandelier" has a sad theme talking about the glitter and fatigue

of a party girl's life. It has a dark theme, toeing the line between celebration and self-

destruction as it becomes increasingly more blurred. The artist performing in the music

video moves like a puppet, with fake smiles and tears, strokes her belly, argues with no

one and collapses on the floor. This denotes a fake, objectified life of a party girl, who

has to put up a false façade for the world.

Media Message: Sia’s raspy vocals tell the story of a party girl with a divine

manifestation. It’s almost like she’s narrating verses, where the contrasting lyrics that

holds black humor draws in the listener. It reveals that the ‘Part girls’ are objects for

people to toss around, they aren’t loved or respected and they have yielded to these

ideologies. They are viewed as Call Girls and there is no one to shift the blame onto.

Representation: The puppet-like, sharp and whipping denotes that the time in the

life of a ‘Party Girl’ shifts without waiting for itself to register and their reactions and

actions have to be whimsical and impulsive. It also signifies that the she is controlled by

others, her strings in the hands of a man who dominates her. The entire music video is

divided in three parts;

Bedroom: It has moldy walls and strange portraits; the room is almost barren except

for a few pieces of necessary furniture. There is also a strange drawing of a figure on

the wall beside the mattress and Signatures on the window and the wall. All this

contributes towards revealing the stark naked truth of her life, while on the outside she

carries a pretentious happy façade. Bedroom is the most personal area and it

personifies the real personality of the person who possesses it. In this case, it highlights

the inner state of mind of the artist; Bereft and Gloomy.

Kitchen: This is as decrepit and stingy as the bedroom, with bare minimum things and

only room for one, which emphasizes on her loneliness. There is, however, no food on

the table, yet she still pretends to eat, most probably mocking her own situation. She

keeps on talking to herself and maneuvers her own body.

Living room: This room, in surprising contrast, is more kempt as compared to the rest

of the apartment. The light comes in through the windows, there is appropriate furniture

in the room, and overall it looks cheery. This could probably because the pretense starts

from here and it is here where she puts on her aloof mask. The artist ‘entertains’

invisible guests and dances passionately to a party that is not there.

A pattern could be noticed here, where more personal, intimate, real glimpses of the

artist could be seen in the bedroom. Her personality is reflected in the outlook of the

room. As she moves to the kitchen, there is an obvious control, jerk in her movements,

mostly like someone or something holding her back or controlling her. By the time she

waltzes her way to the living room, she loses track of her real self and launches herself

into the pretense game with full force.

Genre:

Although it is officially stated that ‘Chandelier’ is an Electro-pop song, but in truth it is

just a sad ballad song in disguise of Electro pop music, which creates a shocking yet

uniquely amazing contrast. The visualization of the song is also actually a fusion of two

different genres, where we see the young artist performing ballerina moves thrown in

with the free style contemporary dance.

Audiences/ Institution:

The demographic bracket of audience is not as significant as the psychographic group here, as

the music video is performance based, very conceptual and the narrative lays deep within,

where the viewers are required to dig it out. Every move the artist makes, every dance

movement unfolds the story and draws us in. For some people, an 11 year old performing such

mature and bold moves would be offensive. So, people with conservative mind-set, who are

myopic would not appreciate the art. Moreover, the music video employs Uses and

Gratification theory, which assumes that audience members are not passive consumers of

media. Rather, the audience has power over their media consumption and assumes an active

role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives. It could also be related to the

Reception theory by Stuart Hall, which claims that Audience in response to the media text

decode it and viewer interprets the meanings of the text based on their individual cultural

background and life experiences. In essence, the meaning of a text is not inherent within the

text itself, but is created within the relationship between the text and the reader.

Ideologies:

‘Chandelier’ especially challenges the main beliefs and values of society where a Party Girl is

judged on her way of leading life, regardless of her reasons or intentions.

“Sun is up, I'm a mess

Gotta get out now, gotta run from this

Here comes the shame, here comes the shame”

Chandelier has a distinct but subtle message about the potential limitations of society

Liberalism.

The song’s heavy beat disguises its message with a superficial pop feel, but that adds to the

takeaway, party culture means you have to keep up regardless of the hangover. To put it

bluntly, the song feels like a morning after-- living like tomorrow doesn’t exist might catch up

with you on that very tomorrow.

Theories applied to the Music Video:

‘Chandelier’ relates to the theories by the contemporary theorists in terms that it employs and

at times completely counters the characteristics that are defined by them.

Andrew Goodwin

- Music video demonstrates genre characteristics;

The genre of Chandelier is Electro-pop fused together with ballad and both the genres are

depicted by the artist throughout the performance. There is contemporary dance with the

Electro-pop beat and ballerina moves to go along with the ballad. The artist dances in a

deserted apartment while spinning, kicking, leaping, crawling, falling, twirling and hiding herself

behind window drapes.

-Relationship between lyrics and visuals; lyrics represented with images

The lyrics and visuals are in sync with each other, as the meaning or story behind the lyrics is

completely illustrated by the imagery

The moment where she says ‘push it down’ and stresses the syllables of “down”, the performer

jumps from her position and a mid-close-up of her feet and calves is shown. She is shown in a

position as if she is bracing herself from a fall.

Can't feel anything, when will I learn

I push it down, push it down

A recurring chorus in the song is visualized in a way that it seems like she is arranging and

tossing back the drinks to the rhythm of the music.

1, 2, 3 1, 2, 3 drink

1, 2, 3 1, 2, 3 drink

1, 2, 3 1, 2, 3 drink

-The demand of record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the

artists and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work.

The main artist – Sia Furler doesn’t even appear in the music video, let alone giving her close-

ups or developing a motif. She denies the spot light and instead features eleven-year-old

dancer Maddie Ziegler.

Moving on to the other Theorist,

John Stewart:

He claims that the music video has the aesthetics of TV commercials, involving a lot of close-ups

and lighting being used to focus on the Star’s face. As is seen in this Music video, there are

certainly a lot of close-ups and soft lighting used but not in the sense described by the theorist

instead they are there to depict and denote the meaning.

Here a close-up and soft light is focused on her face not to create a star image but to emphasize

on her innocence.

Similarly, here the lighting is dull and there is mid close up which helps to set the dark, gloomy

mood and focus on her jerky, puppet-like movements.

Laura Malvi:

expresses her feministic views of her world by stating that it is still a man’s world, which is a

concept explored by media, too. She claims that women are looked and focused at for the

pleasure of men and they are the objects of Voyeurism. The pleasure in looking has been split

between active male and passive female. This whole theory is not directly seen in the music

video; however it is a part of the narrative. In essence, it could be said that the theme of the

music video is Voyeurism and objectification of women. The lyrics of the song are a connotation

of that;

Sun is up, I'm a mess

Gotta get out now, gotta run from this

Here comes the shame, here comes the shame

But I'm holding on for dear life, won't look down, won't open my eyes

Keep my glass full until morning light, 'cause I'm just holding on for tonight

Symbols, Codes and Conventions:

The nude leotard worn by the performer is not for sexual purposes or to appeal the

audiences, rather it symbolizes her raw feelings and emotions.

The blond wig is a signature style of Sia and it shows that the artist performing is a

portrayal of her.

Dirty hands & empty, apartment: the dirty hands and apartment represent the girl living a dirty,

hard life with no parental guidance

The curtains represent the girl trying or considering taking her own life.

The creepy curtsey represents her being a puppet to society, drinking, and the party life

Electro-pop generally contains several notable characteristics like Up-tempo, upbeat music

intended for clubs, with a danceable or dance-centered nature

Also a strong emphasis on beats and grooves

The song also features ballad characteristics but in a subverted way. A ballad is a soft, light

romantic song whereas; Chandelier denounces sentiments and reveals the real aspects of

the world.

Can't feel anything, when will I learn

I push it down, push it down

Technical Codes:

Camerawork/ shots:

For the first 10 seconds of the music video there is a slider used as the camera moves into the

three different rooms with cuts. It creates the effect of inviting in the viewers; like drawing

them in.

The camera pans along with her, making it look like we are trying to keep up with her.

This is wide shot, with a framing technique, to show her small frame (on her knees) against the

room. The position and shot together makes her look vulnerable.

Again a wide shot used, with her being positioned right in the center and in front of the window

to emphasize on the barren surroundings.

A mid closeup, along with rule of thirds being employed to make the viewers focus on her and

her actions.

There is a Long shot at first, then the camera tracks in slowly towards her and finally zooms in

align to her split legs. Again, drawing the viewer in to the situation and making us feel closer to

her.

The camera shifts up along with her.

Editing:

The editing work in this music video is minimal, with very few cuts. Most of the video is in

continuous shots, keeping in mind the 180 degree rule.

Lighting:

Natural lights are used in the entire music video, with hardly any artificial or stage lights. One of

the main reasons for this could be to draw a contrast between her fake, false objectification of

her and only natural lights seeping in through the windows.

The window light is used to create an shadowy figure of her frame.

The natural light coming in through the windows is used as the Key light.

Lights used in this part of the setting are dark, creating a gloomy atmosphere.

There is light in center where she is performing and the rest of the area is dark, highlighting her

frame.