Sia Chandelier Research 1

Camera/Editing/Mise en scene

The music video I looked at was Chandelier by Sia. It starts off in a flat look a like which is dark and isolated and gives a negative vibe. The abandoned place is empty until the camera swiftly turns around and a long shot of a child (dancer) is used, she has nude colour clothes on which represents how she is invisible to everybody. A very close shot of the dancers feet is took, she has no shoes or socks on; this implies the lack of comfort that she is missing reflects her life, a sad , lonely and definitely not how a children should be treated. As the music video goes on, the pace of the dancer seems to speed up This builds up tension and dramatises the atmosphere. The fast pace of the dancer also represents how her life is full of chaos and to deal with this she moves swiftly through life. Near the end of the music video, a long shot of the child is used and she looks almost like a doll. This makes the viewer think that she is being controlled by someone and doesn't have a personality.

Narrative

In this music video, I think there is a storyline. The audience get the impression that the child lives alone and has been abandoned by her parents because there is no one in sight. The ideology that children are suffering quietly is created as the child is lonely and isolated but nobody knows of her existence and what she is facing being alone. The star in the music video dances erratically, this shows that she is not ordinary and this is due to not being brought up and going through the process of socialisation. This video almost reaches out to parents to inform them how much children need support. The dancer also rubs her belly. This shows how she hasn't been fed and looked after. The story is basically about how children think they can manage on their own and look after themselves but in the real world it is almost impossible.

Conventional/Unconventional

I think this music video is unconventional because throughout the whole video there is just one person. This creates the ideology that everybody is independent which I believe is a good thing as confidence should be built up. In addition, the child dances very unusual, this is a positive for the music video as it intrigues the audience because it is so different to normal music videos. Also, the setting is desolated which makes it conventional as it leaves the audience in wonder.

What works/doesn't

I think the best thing about this music video is the setting, it creates a mysterious vibe as no one knows where it is actually located. This build sup tension and some audiences like to answer questions that have been left. I think the worst thing about the music video is that it can come across as confusing, the dancer just runs around the flat in a strange manner which makes the audience not understand the story line.