Artist: Sia

Song: The Greatest

Narrative & Visuals:

This video is iconic due to its accurate representation and depiction of the 2016 June Orlando shootings. For example, there are 49 dancers - the same number of deaths in Orlando. The video ends with the group dancing together in one room covered in bullet holes in which they suddenly drop down appearing motionless when the track ends. This scene reconstructs the death of all 49 people as they were all trapped in one room and were all massacred suddenly and died together, roughly at the same time. Iconography includes rainbow tears which symbolises gay pride as the victims were all apart of the LGBTQ community. The camera zooms into a girl's mouth and zooms out onto blood red walls, implying that the massacre had taken place. A shoe is used as a phone to represent the many cases of victims running to the bathroom to make their final phone calls and texts to say a final goodbye to their loved ones. Her expression is completely and utterly distraught, this represents and symbolises just a fraction of the fear and trauma the victims experienced just shortly before their deaths.

 

Conventions:

This song features ballad singer Sia and R&B rapper Kendrick Lamar. Automatically, this is an unlikely duo. It is typical for Sia to have a storyline for her videos, however dedicating a video to a massacre is unique which causes the video to seem unconventional. Not featuring neither Kendrick or Sia in the video is conventional as Sia hasn't been in one of her videos. Featuring dancer Maddie Ziegler who has starred in five of Sia's latest videos, is typical and common for a Sia video. The ballad is uplifting and it's purpose is meant to create a confident atmosphere for others to embrace and celebrate. This juxtaposes the purpose the video serves as it commemorates an event which saw 49 people be slaughtered just for exercising their right to be themselves and be happy. The tempo of the song is also a juxtaposition for the meaning of the video as the video is meant to create a sad response as the event is a traumatic tragedy that doesn't fit with uplifting music.