George Ezra - Blame it on Me
Textual Analysis
The initial establishing shot of George and the Chinese man sets the scene, it's high-key lighting connotes happiness despite the scene being pretty plain and on a basic, run down street making it relatable to the desired audience.
The Chinese guy then asks George a question, "Are you sure you want to follow the yellow brick road?", illustrating that George is going on a journey, because of the reference to the Wizard of OZ.
The Chinese guy then asks George a question, "Are you sure you want to follow the yellow brick road?", illustrating that George is going on a journey, because of the reference to the Wizard of OZ.
The bright lights could also connote youth, along with the young, pretty females who aren't seemingly wearing any make-up which has childish features to it.
The mid-long shot of these girls and George's reactions are shot reverse shot, maybe suggesting flirting or just highlighting the fact that people live there, despite the initial thought of it being a run down area. They are both wearing modern clothing and have their hair down with minimal make up, showing again natural elements.
The bird's eye shot of the gold glitter symbolised as bird poo draws the audience's attention to this moment and how perhaps it is seen as lucky. By using a close up shot it show's the details within the substance; the gold and the glitter. Or instead of it being lucky, perhaps because it's gold it could suggest that the people who live in the most run down areas value joy the most, having down to earth morals, thus making them rich. George is wearing a smart shirt which makes the 'bird poo' stand out even more because it's more unfortunate that it happens when he's looking smart.
George looks in a car window to try and sort himself out, which is shown by an over the shoulder mid- close up, but then using quicker editing than the rest we see a young boy in the car holding a hang gun. This clearly represents how Ezra's life has been turned upside down as a boy who connotes innocence is so majorly linked with a weapon that connotes war and danger. We then see a plunger shot being fired, relieving the tension we felt because it was not deadly- similarly like with the 'bird poo' that turned out to be glitter.
George looks in a car window to try and sort himself out, which is shown by an over the shoulder mid- close up, but then using quicker editing than the rest we see a young boy in the car holding a hang gun. This clearly represents how Ezra's life has been turned upside down as a boy who connotes innocence is so majorly linked with a weapon that connotes war and danger. We then see a plunger shot being fired, relieving the tension we felt because it was not deadly- similarly like with the 'bird poo' that turned out to be glitter.
When the guitar smashes there is a mid shot- highlighting the disaster but also offering more information by showing more of the scene than a close up would, showing the full damage. Here we also see who smashed the guitar, which is ironically a police car who are supposed to help not hinder; however the siren lights are flashing, suggesting they have someone else to save who is more important than the main character. First, however, the guitar is caused to drop by a dog, which are usually represented as cute and cuddly but in this case it helped cause sadness for George, perhaps suggesting that things aren't always what they seem, or that mistakes happen?
Throughout the music video there is a mid shot of George whilst walking, using elements of tracking, that constantly appears to give a continuity to the piece and also to give the video meaning to the song, because he is singing.
There is then a long shot of him walking under a rain cloud looking sad, which is then juxtaposed by other's around him who are relaxed and happy in the sun. This could be suggesting to the audience that without his guitar he feels as if he has lost a part of him, or that just because you are happy others around you may be sad. He then slams the guitar case on the floor, which is a diegetic sound showing his annoyance; this contrasts with the constant non-diegetic music.
This then goes from a mid shot to a close up of him under the rain cloud, highlighting his unhappiness and anger towards how his journey is going.
The close up of the rugby player turning towards us makes the audience feel involved as we have direct eye contact, this then transitions into an extreme long shot of him running towards us, thus charging towards Ezra, to emphasise the kind of impact that they are going to have on him and highlighting to the audience how Ezra feels. This clip lasts 8 seconds, which is one of the longer clips in the video, before focusing on it for another 6 seconds- this informs the audience on how many people are running towards him, and also because the producer's decide to linger on this clip it builds tension.
Then it cuts to the opposite view, the audience are now behind Ezra, viewing the action through a mid shot, which makes them feel detached from the video whilst the action is taking place. After 5 seconds it cuts to a mid shot of Ezra's reaction now, placing the audience behind the rugby players, again representing the feeling of safety. These cutting back and forth has elements of shot reverse shot, showing all the reactions and more of the scene. The lighting is still bright but the costumes are dull colours, for example George's shirt is a pale blue, perhaps representing how he is feeling tired of everything going wrong.
The three short shots of the rugby men piling on Ezra mimic the fast paced shots that an action film would usually contain, showing how quick everyone is moving and keeping the audience involved. The smooth zoom from a close up to a long shot quickly establishes the scene and situation that George has got himself in to with also showing the expressions on his face, highlighting the struggle he is going through.
The fact there is a woman in the car breaks stereotypes that only men are capable of bad deeds, which is then reiterated by the close up of her choosing to crash the car into him; this could be seen as controversial because she is committing a crime. The over the shoulder shot through the car window, from the perspective of someone in the car creates huge tension, however it's only on for 2 seconds so that it can cut to a long shot to show more of the action.
He has started to look scruffier, representing the impact that his journey is having on him, and how it's taking a turn for the worse.
The solo, repeating shot, of Ezra singing is now showing more happiness and emotion, contrasting all the problems that are occurring in the other half of the video.
The police car also occurs again, revealing the emergency it was heading to- a shoot out.
The camera then switches to a shot which has elements of tracking in it, because it moves forward, going nearer to the people with guns, also using elements of an over the shoulder shot giving to the audience a greater sense of the scene. Then by using shot reverse shot we cut to another moving clip of the police with guns then back to the original men with guns.
By using fast paced editing, it again mimics the action genre and helps build tension and makes the scene look more chaotic then it perhaps is; this consequently creates a bigger juxtaposition with the repeated clip of him singing.
Throughout this section there are mid shots of the perpetrators and the police, highlighting their facial expressions so the audience recognises how they are feeling, it also adds more tension because we are getting closer shots of their weaponry.
The editing then really speeds up with each shot lasting for around 2-3 seconds but some only single second shots, to portray the zenith of the action. Then after this the editing slows down and resumes it's normal pace, after the repeating shot of George singing happily. By using a slow pan as the first slow shot it allows the audience to see the contrast between our protagonist's unhappy, tired face with the perpetrator's shooting in the background- the scene still has that run down feel, with large dustbin bins being used as a 'safety barrier' for the fighters to hide behind. The slow shots include one's of people's faces, highlighting their concentration and determination to beat the others, the slowness of the editing also allows the audience to subconsciously reflect on the events and make their mind up about what is happening. The music the quietens and Ezra sings the last note, lengthening it slightly giving a silence about the scene. This then emphasises the diegetic sound of the gunshot and it's damage on the barrel; because the audience have been focusing more because of the slower shots it makes the gunfire sound even more dramatic. After a close-up of the first shot entering the barrel and the same gold glitter that represented 'bird poo' earlier on in the video drips out, there are then 2 more gunshots fired from the police, since we do not see them hit the (or another) barrel, we are to presume they hit the perpetrators. The producer's then choose to switch back to the barrel with it's glitter pouring out and stay here for two seconds, just long enough for the audience to realise what it is, and clearly it's significance in this run down town.
There is then an establishing shot of Ezra walking away that lasts the remaining 5 seconds of the video, truly letting the audience see the ruin and wreckage that the shoot out has caused, perhaps reflecting the amount of trouble our protagonist has found on his journey? Though the lighting is still bright, which is not typical of an action scene such as this, however there is smoke which is typical as it shows some damage has been caused.
This then goes from a mid shot to a close up of him under the rain cloud, highlighting his unhappiness and anger towards how his journey is going.
The close up of the rugby player turning towards us makes the audience feel involved as we have direct eye contact, this then transitions into an extreme long shot of him running towards us, thus charging towards Ezra, to emphasise the kind of impact that they are going to have on him and highlighting to the audience how Ezra feels. This clip lasts 8 seconds, which is one of the longer clips in the video, before focusing on it for another 6 seconds- this informs the audience on how many people are running towards him, and also because the producer's decide to linger on this clip it builds tension.
Then it cuts to the opposite view, the audience are now behind Ezra, viewing the action through a mid shot, which makes them feel detached from the video whilst the action is taking place. After 5 seconds it cuts to a mid shot of Ezra's reaction now, placing the audience behind the rugby players, again representing the feeling of safety. These cutting back and forth has elements of shot reverse shot, showing all the reactions and more of the scene. The lighting is still bright but the costumes are dull colours, for example George's shirt is a pale blue, perhaps representing how he is feeling tired of everything going wrong.
The three short shots of the rugby men piling on Ezra mimic the fast paced shots that an action film would usually contain, showing how quick everyone is moving and keeping the audience involved. The smooth zoom from a close up to a long shot quickly establishes the scene and situation that George has got himself in to with also showing the expressions on his face, highlighting the struggle he is going through.
The fact there is a woman in the car breaks stereotypes that only men are capable of bad deeds, which is then reiterated by the close up of her choosing to crash the car into him; this could be seen as controversial because she is committing a crime. The over the shoulder shot through the car window, from the perspective of someone in the car creates huge tension, however it's only on for 2 seconds so that it can cut to a long shot to show more of the action.
He has started to look scruffier, representing the impact that his journey is having on him, and how it's taking a turn for the worse.
The solo, repeating shot, of Ezra singing is now showing more happiness and emotion, contrasting all the problems that are occurring in the other half of the video.
The police car also occurs again, revealing the emergency it was heading to- a shoot out.
The camera then switches to a shot which has elements of tracking in it, because it moves forward, going nearer to the people with guns, also using elements of an over the shoulder shot giving to the audience a greater sense of the scene. Then by using shot reverse shot we cut to another moving clip of the police with guns then back to the original men with guns.
By using fast paced editing, it again mimics the action genre and helps build tension and makes the scene look more chaotic then it perhaps is; this consequently creates a bigger juxtaposition with the repeated clip of him singing.
Throughout this section there are mid shots of the perpetrators and the police, highlighting their facial expressions so the audience recognises how they are feeling, it also adds more tension because we are getting closer shots of their weaponry.
The editing then really speeds up with each shot lasting for around 2-3 seconds but some only single second shots, to portray the zenith of the action. Then after this the editing slows down and resumes it's normal pace, after the repeating shot of George singing happily. By using a slow pan as the first slow shot it allows the audience to see the contrast between our protagonist's unhappy, tired face with the perpetrator's shooting in the background- the scene still has that run down feel, with large dustbin bins being used as a 'safety barrier' for the fighters to hide behind. The slow shots include one's of people's faces, highlighting their concentration and determination to beat the others, the slowness of the editing also allows the audience to subconsciously reflect on the events and make their mind up about what is happening. The music the quietens and Ezra sings the last note, lengthening it slightly giving a silence about the scene. This then emphasises the diegetic sound of the gunshot and it's damage on the barrel; because the audience have been focusing more because of the slower shots it makes the gunfire sound even more dramatic. After a close-up of the first shot entering the barrel and the same gold glitter that represented 'bird poo' earlier on in the video drips out, there are then 2 more gunshots fired from the police, since we do not see them hit the (or another) barrel, we are to presume they hit the perpetrators. The producer's then choose to switch back to the barrel with it's glitter pouring out and stay here for two seconds, just long enough for the audience to realise what it is, and clearly it's significance in this run down town.
There is then an establishing shot of Ezra walking away that lasts the remaining 5 seconds of the video, truly letting the audience see the ruin and wreckage that the shoot out has caused, perhaps reflecting the amount of trouble our protagonist has found on his journey? Though the lighting is still bright, which is not typical of an action scene such as this, however there is smoke which is typical as it shows some damage has been caused.
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