James Blunt Analysis and Review

In this music video it shows the artist in a wood or forest at night time. I think it attracts the ausience and particulary his fans because he is the only person to be shot in the whole video which makes the audience feel connected to him as if he was communicating to them. Although the genre is pop, there are features of indie pop featured in the music such as the traditional acoustic guitar and bass playing. The video itself is seen to be quite fierce and aggressive by the use of the fire surrounding him. The song lyrics suggest that there are 3 men who are seen to be faultless (hence the name, wisemen) then something happens which turns their life upside down and changes it drastically. This is reflected in the video by the calm atmosphere at the beginning and then when the artist shows himself setting fire to a passport the mood and atmosphere changes, showing shots of fire which gradually become more frequent as the video progresses. Synchronised editing is used throughout the video as the artist lip syncs the lyrics while his sightline is directed at the camera. This is shown at 1.19 until 1.22 in the video. The affect of using this is that it draws the audience in makes them feel as if the artist is communicating to the individual person watching the video. The video starts peacefully by the artist driving a car in daylight which reflects the calm music which starts the song. Camera movement techniques such as panning and tilts are used to shoot the artist. Techniques like these are used to vary the shots of the artist as there is only 1 person in the video. Tracking is also used to capture the artist as he is walking forward. The most frequent angle to shoot the artist is mid close ups and close ups. This is done to capture the artists face expression and put empahasis on the lip synching. Also theses shots might have been used because there are not any other band members performing so there wouldn't be a lot of need to use extreame long shots other tahn to establish the setting and location. The artist is represented as a young man who is perhaps showing negative representations by his actions of setting the passport on fire. This is generally seen as irresponsible and an act of agression whereas his expression and body language does not connect with this action. I think it has a possitive effect on young people as the lyrics tell the story of 3 men and how their actions drastically changed them. This could be a moral for young people and how their actions could affect them.