Sia Elastic Heart Research 5

Camera/Editing/Mise en scene

This music video starts off with a long shot of an indoor cage with the dancer (Maddie) and a man called Shia. This shot allows the audience to see their environment which they are trapped in. the background is just four simple, white walls they looked to be a bit old. The white walls represent the innocence they are lacking in their life as they cannot get to it. The bars of the cage look rusted which suggests that they have been there quite a long time. Maddie has white short hair which symbolises her purity and age as she is young. Both are wearing nude colour clothes which gives the audience the impression that they have been restricted from their human rights. The camera zooms into Shia and a close up shot is used, this lets the audience see how scared he is because he is breathing heavily and has an anxious facial expression. The same shots are used for Maddie after this and she looks the complete opposite, confident and comfortable; this implies that their is a conflict between the two. Maddie swiftly runs at him and starts dances erratically and a medium close shot is took of Shia and he presses against his heart as he backs away. This portrays that he is worried about the child and her actions. A medium shot is used of Maddie spinning around Shia, this shows how in this relationship that has been formed she is in control. A long shot is then portrayed of Shia climbing to the top of the cage and Maddie then begins to dance a lot more calmly; this implies to the audience that she doesn't want any harm she just has a guard which protects her. There is an interesting shot of Maddie holding onto Shias shoulder; this shows to the audience how she does care for him. At the end of the music video, there is a close shot of Shia trapped in the cage, we can see Maddie trying to pull him through but he looks although that he has given up.

Narrative

There is a very distinct story to this music video which not all will understand. Maddie is a representation of how children have freedom and Shia is a representation how adulthood and their difficulties they face. Maddie runs around quickly and dances erratically, throughout this she is not judged and in fact Shia seems to be scared of her. The dance moves that Maddie portrays are unusual and crazy, this symbolises how she can live her life freely and does what she likes because she is a child. The audience get the impression that younger people are more useful because of the freedom they can gain compared to being an adult and being trapped. Shia cannot get out of the cage but Maddie can, this shows how adulthood is trying to be contained whereas childhood are allowed to roam around freely without no rules. The cage represents society and society controls what adults can do because of their age. They are restricted from certain things and their behaviour is affected as Shia shows an anxious feeling throughout the video as he doesn't want to go against society. I think this story is quite difficult to understand as it can seem confusing to the audience.

Conventional/unconventional

I think this music video is unconventional as the narrative as a meaning behind the actions that are portrayed. A representation is presented that society doesn't allow people to live the life they want to, their freedom is restricted and this is shown through Shia. This music video is unique because the messages sent across are complex so not everybody will understand. However, it can be argued that it is  conventional because of the similarities of the background, it is condensed to one room which doesn't make the music video anything special. Also, the genre of this music video is ballad and this can be seen through the pace and movements of Maddie when she she is dancing.

What works/doesn't

I think the best thing in this music video is the camera angles when showing Maddie and Shia in conflict; when Maddie is on top of Shia a close shot is used of Shia and its angry, confused facial expressions are exposed to the audience. I also think the narrative to the story is very interesting, the representation of society is portrayed which is rare to find in popular music videos. However, I think the worst thing about this music video is the confusion to the story, the audience can be made to believe that Maddie and Shia have some certain bond but in fact it it representing the freedom and lack of freedom.