Genre Video Analysis

The Script - Breakeven

The third single from the band's self-titled album, the pop rock song was an immediate success reaching high positions in the charts. The video opens with Danny, the lead singer driving his car while a woman's voice is sampled saying "what would I do without you?" and the irony is revealed as we find out that she was his ex-girlfriend. He speaks of his despair, and broken-heartedness in a dark room, lit by a flickering light while the footage is grayscaled and making him seem colder. Lyrics such as "I'm falling to pieces" and "what am I supposed to do?" emphasises his loneliness, challenging the idea that men are supposed to be masculine and fearless. The variation between past and present is clearly identified as flashbacks are in full colour and brighter, as he reminisces, such as his recollection of intimate memories.

This is very effective because the edited colouration is used as if she was the colour to his life and now she's left, his days are saturated and has a grey tint. To avoid confusion, while he is grayscaled in the dark room, he looks at a full colour video footage of his love and this also has references to voyerism, a notion of looking as she is unaware that he is watching her. Once the chorus kicks in, cuts of the whole band's performance footage is shown as this is a prominent feature in rock music videos. The video is performance based with a slight narrative, as the flashbacks and memories tell their own story, showing the audience how close they used to be and showing the result of the breakup on his part. But as this is an alternative rock video, there are no attempts of strong political messages nor does it challenge conventions, because the video is a solely acting as a marketing tool for the band, as a commercial product and the performance shows the band's true musical talent. Their other videos are also similar, simple narrative and performance based, and the audience will choose to watch this video, solely on their views about whether or not they like the track, rather than the video as it's not too much to grasp allowing the viewer to enjoy the song without thinking too much. Showing this emotional side of the star, as well as the performance footage can be appealing to the audience, as they can see he can be quite down-to-earth and gentlemanly, rather than a party animal or socialite. The locations for this video shoot are also not too extravagant; a bedroom, a city street, seafront, small stage which helps the audience appreciate the music and the band.

Lifehouse - Broken

The third single from the alternative rock band's album "Who We Are" was released in September 2008, with high digital download numbers on iTunes. The video starts with a shot of a clock and radio, and makes it evident to the viewer that the band are in a still car, so the visuals are closely linked to the lyrics "the broken clock is a comfort, it helps me sleep tonight" showing the band member in the back seat sleeping. The car is in traffic in a tunnel and many people have gotten out of their cars, walking into the distance, and the four members get out of the car to walk the opposite direction. This is a clear reference to Natalie Imbruglia's video That Day, as throughout her video there are also people walking into the opposite direction as her, as if she was fighting the crowd, not being a follower. The main singer, Jason leads the group through, he barges past the swarms of people, and even when a girl shouts "what's your problem?" to him, he is seemingly deaf as he is entirely focussed ahead. While he was in the tunnel, there was a blue and green tint to the video to emphasise the coldness but coming out of the tunnel, he looks up at the sunlight and the lighting is bright with a better contrast of colours, and could be symbolising new life.

As he continues walking, the establishing shot shows ambulances and fire engines and he finds a car accident wreckage, one of the victims being himself. Upon seeing his dead body, he desperately runs back into the tunnel, pushing past the people looking at him strangely, now walking in the same direction as him. The tinted screen is back, and this time it highlights his urgency and sets the mood. Jason then wakes up from his trance, and we find out he may have had a premonition. The song seems to have different uplifting stories, depending on how the audience wants to view it, shaping and forming different narratives so therefore the video shouldn't have too much of a influence on the viewer. Lyrics such as "in your name, i find meaning" and "in the pain, there is healing" have lead me to believe the song can have religious overtones, referring to Jesus as the band have made religious songs in the past. Costumes used are very casual, and similar to the Script's intentional plan of catering to a broader audience.

*Screen prints from VEVO and Youtube.