Closer - The Chainsmokers ft Halsey (Music Video Research 1)

Artist: The Chainsmokers ft Halsey.

Track: Closer.

Genre: Pop.

Visual Style/Mise-en-scene:

The music video begins with a long shot of a car driving down a coastal road which focus on the location as well as showing the journey the actors are about to go on. There are lots of medium close ups (MCUs) of the couple sitting on a couch looking at photos as well as some over the shoulder shots which place the focus on the woman face. As well as this, there is a series of extreme close ups (ECUs) of the womans face and body which again place focus on the woman. Most of the video is filmed from someone else's perspective and the camera shots vary, some being from a birds eye view, however, some of the video is shot from the perspective of the man and what he sees. The pace of the music video and editing is generally slower than the pace of the music however the pace of the lyrics that are overlaid over the action is the same as the pace of the lyrics sang by the group.

Narrative:

The story behind the video begins with a couple driving down a costal road which signifies that the actors are about to go on a journey. The next shot is of a couple sitting on a couch looking at photos. These photos trigger flashbacks which is what the rest of the video focuses on. Each shot of the music video shows a different activity that the couple have done over their relationship. We are shown shots of the beach, walking/hiking, cliff diving and climbing. These shots show us different stages in their relationship.

Conventional/Unconventional:

During the course of the music video, we do not see the group that sing the song, it is purely based on shots of actors. As well as this, we do not see any lip syncing which is a convention that is included in most videos which helps to make the video more unique. Also, the music video isn't a literal interpretation of the lyrics as the lyrics talk about moving and stealing whereas the video shows fun activities. Despite this, one of the lyrics does correspond with the video. The lyric 'we ain't never getting older' is represented by the music video as the couple are living in the moment and having fun while being young. 

What works/What doesn't:

What works in this music video is the fact that it is shot in a beautiful, beach location that intrigues people and, because of the breathtaking views shown, makes the audience want to watch it again. Also, each scene in the video showed a different activity which worked well because it kept the audience interested and stopped them from getting bored as there was a constant change and not much repetition.