Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars; by Ben

This isn't really my main music genre so I'm not completely clued up on what they are trying to construct through the "indie" genre; so you might have to bear with me with my reading of the video. However, at least it'll highlight the conventions and possible readings of people outside of the niche and target audience the band aimed for. Also, I have attached the YouTube video to the post so u can see for yourself what aspects I'm talking about in my analysis...

The video uses a series of close-ups at the beginning of the main singer's face and body to construct the "meat" of the video and show his facial expressions. This also establishes the reading of it being a personal encounter and constructs the ideological discourse that the lead vocalist has possibly had an experience and emotion of a similar nature that he can relate with during his life. The speed of the shots link into the pace of the track and, as a result, what happens within the video tie in with the tempo of the track at different points. At the beginning of the track it is very slow in tempo, gradually getting into the track. This is seen in the shots as they are slow and focus longer on aspects of the singers body; e.g. hands, eyes, face etc. Then when it goes into a faster pace within the track with the drums and guitar setting the speed, it begins to rain heavily in the video. The action within the video is synchronous to the track itself and at this part of the track, both the rain and faster tempo in the track, signifies the most dramatic time of the track.

At one stage of the video there is a reflection of a bird (possibly a hawk) in his eye, using CGI, which shows he is completely alone in a deserted place. This reinforces that he is completely alone and could provide the ideological discourse that he feels completely lost and alone without the girl he is singing about and wants her back because he still loves her. This is anchored by the lyrics "forget what were told, before we get too old" because it is as if he is saying for her not to worry about what has happened and to forget it so they can go back to the way they were together. The music video uses fairly dark colours which establishes the mood and emotion of the song and how it is sad and emotional which you can clearly see on his facial expressions. This is particularly seen in the raining section of the video as he becomes almost distressed as if the realism of her not coming back to him has hit him, this is anchored by the faster tempo created at this time of the track. Then at the end of the rain the track goes back to being calmer and more feeling sorry for himself than distressed during the rain. Yet the rain seems to rejuvenate him and he ends the song standing up as if he is now strong and almost a new man. Although, he still comes across as being hurt and almost damaged because of the possible unrequited love he has for the girl and this is reinforced in the last lyric of the song, ""would you lie with me and just forget the world?"

With the mise-en-scene of the video there is almost a natural theme within the video constructed through the nature within it and the singer's clothes. He is wearing the complete basics, ie. jeans a a t-shirt, and so you can see his hands and feet become dirty and muddy where he is gripping the ground. This could be read as him trying to hold on to the girl and her love and so doesn't care about the elements and weather as long as he gets her back. The fact he stays lying down while the elements change all around him could be interpreted that he doesn't even acknowledge the time as he is in too deep thoughts about the girl and what happened between them which forced them to grow apart or their relationship to be harmed. This link with nature within the video is anchored by the lyrics as he is singing about a garden bursting into life; which is like the progression of love and how if she trusts him and loves him back then he will spring to life and become whole again.

You only get to see one member of the band, the lead vocalist, and this could show that possibly he is the main band member and the most important to the band themselves. However, it is more likely that he is used as the sole person within the music video because it provides a more powerful outlook on the video. This is because the audience will be attracted to just him and so his non-verbal language and facial expressions will establish his emotions and easily portray them to the audience rather than the audience's viewing being detracted by other members of the band and what they are doing. The video doesn't really add to the band's meta-narrative as it doesn't necessarily provide the audience with any real insight into their persona construction. However, it does show that they are emotional and therefore only human rather than a brand or commodified. Because of this, you could interpret the video as the band saying that they won't fall into the category of bands who will create tracks that are overly happy and a brand; but instead singing tracks of pure emotion and with meaning behind them. Therefore, the music video is very much an illustration because the seriousness and emotion the track possesses within the lyrics and tempo are constructed and established within the music video and so represented within it; reinforced by the fact that it is a performance video rather than a narrative. However, there is a type of mini-storyline involved because of how he grows and ends up standing; yet this still links in with the track and its' lyrics. This motion of him growing reinforces this ideological discourse of the band being strong and inter-twined with their emotions and the passion they put into their music. It could be interpreted as how the band have grown over time and that they may have had a troubled start but now they are at the very top of the music industry through hard-work and passion. The video also provides the ideological discourse of love over-powering the human body and that you can almost physically feel the love and, in the video's situation, the pain and anguish that it can put you through. This is very much reinforced in the non-verbal language within the video because the use of close-ups on body parts tensing and moving with each passionate lyric as if he is part of the track and the love he is talking about. For example, the close-ups on his hands gripping into the ground and clenching his fist reinforces the ideology that he is over-ridden by the love and he physically feels every suffering lyric within the song before being released at the end when he is able to stand freely and is shown as being stronger; therefore providing the ideological discourse that love has the ability to weaken you yet after the suffering the end outcome is of strength and power.

Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars


(appendix 1b)