Written by: Alex Ebert
Genre: Indie folk
Structure: Narrative
Director: Michal Byra
The plot of the narrative depending how you interpret the video focuses on an elderly male protagonist at the end of his life in the hospital where he meets a young female who takes him out of the hospital to enjoy one last day. The music video may also be interpreted as the man's death being reunited with his first love or wife when they first met each other. Towards the end of the video, the elderly man turns into a young boy reflecting how he feels young and free again or how he is at peace with his first love. The video ends with the young boy and young girl laying under a tree.
The opening tracking shot of the female nurse walking into the old mans hospital room, conflicts with the usual connotations of a nurse who are often regarded as warm, friendly and cheerful whereas in the music video the nurse is seen blowing chewing gum, wearing flip flops and black painted nails and appearing unfriendly. This possibly reflects how the nurse does not feel as though her job is satisfying and is potentially not happy with her life.
Throughout the music video, straight cut edits are used besides the scenes with the nurse to reinforce the realism of the narrative but also shows a non-linear plot with the structure of the narrative as the audience is made to view different scenes in no particular order. For example, the elderly man and young girl are on the bus together, this follows by the young girl stealing an apple from a market stall and then they are back on the bus. This may have been used to show the time that the elderly man felt most happiest or could literally mean the elderly man and young girl have spent the day in lots of locations to experience the day fully. The edits within the music video are also quite slow and match the mood of the track with the occasional edit to the beat. Also several close ups of the elderly man are used in slow motion to portray how the man is experiencing the freedom that he did not have in the hospital. It could also signify how the man is having the best time of his life and does not want the day to end or that he is treasuring lost time. The use of lighting also reinforces this as within the hospital scenes, the dark cold colours such as blue and green give connotations of misery and could signify death. This contrasts with the scenes outside as warm colours such as browns and yellows have been used to connote warmth, happiness and freedom. Also the colouring has an old photograph style colouring which could suggest the man is reminiscing the past.
The elderly males blue pyjamas in the hospital have connotations of a calming atmosphere and peace which could portray how at the end of his life the man wants to feel comfortable before he dies. It may also represent how the man is content with his life or could simply be used to create verisimilitude to show typical hospital clothing. By using a close up of the mans wrinkled hand with the plaster attached it shows his vulnerability within the hospital and how he feels frail. The pale pink dress that the young girl is wearing gives connotations of innocence and reflects how the girl is still young. This however conflicts with her role as a young girl as it actually shows her taking the elderly man around as though he is a young child reinstating how he is vulnerable and needs protecting.
The use of the tracking shots when the young girl and elderly man are 'flying aeroplanes' contrasts with the idea of elderly people not really being very active and conveys how the man has returned to a child-like state. Also the use of the white bird feathers gives connotations of innocence and playfulness by using them it reinforces how the man may be remembering his childhood when he used to play aeroplanes. The close up of the elderly mans face conveys the emotion of him feeling sad and allows the audience to sympathise with him also reinforcing the lyrics of the song. By using a moving camera whilst the elderly man and girl are on the bus it conveys the mans weariness and fear of the unknown. By having dark shadows on his face it suggests that he is 'in the dark' as to where the young girl is taking him but also how he should react to the sudden change of location.
Throughout the video, the non-digetic sound of the music is played to the narrative, however the narrative is silent except for the beginning of the music video when the audience hears the diegetic sound of the nurses shoes. This creates a calming atmosphere to the music video and allows the audience to reflect on the lyrics of the song but also watch the narrative and allows the watcher to come up with their own conclusions.
The use of the tracking shots when the young girl and elderly man are 'flying aeroplanes' contrasts with the idea of elderly people not really being very active and conveys how the man has returned to a child-like state. Also the use of the white bird feathers gives connotations of innocence and playfulness by using them it reinforces how the man may be remembering his childhood when he used to play aeroplanes. The close up of the elderly mans face conveys the emotion of him feeling sad and allows the audience to sympathise with him also reinforcing the lyrics of the song. By using a moving camera whilst the elderly man and girl are on the bus it conveys the mans weariness and fear of the unknown. By having dark shadows on his face it suggests that he is 'in the dark' as to where the young girl is taking him but also how he should react to the sudden change of location.
Throughout the video, the non-digetic sound of the music is played to the narrative, however the narrative is silent except for the beginning of the music video when the audience hears the diegetic sound of the nurses shoes. This creates a calming atmosphere to the music video and allows the audience to reflect on the lyrics of the song but also watch the narrative and allows the watcher to come up with their own conclusions.
In total
close up shots
8 pan shots
17 tracking shots
medium close up shots
long shots
8 two shots
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