Music Video Analysis James Bay

James Bay Music Video Anaylsis.

At the start of the music video we straight away get the idea of mood. The colours in shot are dull and almost blurred which can represent the storyline of the song as it is about sadness and letting someone go. They use a tracking shot in order to include the mis-en-scene of the house which then leads to a mid-shot of James Bay himself which will straight away attract an audience’s attention as he is actually performing within his own song this is supporting steve archers theory of star image as they are creating the storyline around performer.

For about 20 seconds they use a slow zoom towards James Bay which allows the viewers of the music video to focus onto the performance. Because he is not singing whilst performing at the moment it will create interest and people will wonder where the storyline is heading. Is it to do with his past? Nobody knows yet. The close up of his face then allows the viewers to see that he is singing his own song in the video this is supporting Andrew Goodwins theory of music. Also by using the effect of seeing his breathe shows that it is cold in the house which could be a representation of what the song is about. Almost ‘cold hearted’ they then use a tracking shot into a zoom which then fades into a POV shot from behind him allowing us to see what he is seeing. As it zooms out to view him from a different angle you are able to see the setting in shot which shows a quite modern housing lay out, which people could assume that it may be his house this is supporting steve archers theory of narrative and performance as it is not telling the complete narrative but there is some hint of story starting to show.

The use of fire in the background is in contrast with the first scene as it was showing a cold atmosphere now it is starting to be warm which could represent the building up of lyrics in the song. By using a tracking shot you are able to view everything that he is viewing and the setting behind him. He supports Andrew Goodwins theory with matching lyrics and visuals. As the camera fades into black it views the reflection of himself and the lyrics as the time say ‘its funny how reflections change’. There are lots of close ups of his hat which is one of his trademarks which can help the advertising of him as well as the song.

As the burning of the books are viewed you start to understand the emotions of the song. The fire could represent anger and burning like something has happened to him with a lover etc. which has made him angry. As he walks away from the building you start to get the impression that the burning of books is a metaphor for the burning of memories. As the song is called ‘let it go’ he is walking away from everything in his past to start new. This is supporting archers theory of how the video relates the visuals to the song because as the song builds up the fire also becomes stronger and the sound becomes louder.