‘Adele – Hello’ Analysis

By Morgan Redman

Barthes’ Enigma Code • The enigma code states that the audience are not fully aware of what is happening

until the final scene, or moments, when all the loose ends are tied up.

• Enigma codes in the media text ‘Hello’ are:

• What happened in the relationship to cause the characters to separate. • Will the two characters reunite.• Is the isolated house physical or a metaphor for the emotions felt after the break-

up.• Who is Adele supposedly speaking to on the phone at all times.

Barthes’ Semantic Code• The semantic code refers to connotation within the story that gives additional

information more than the basic denotation.

• Sematic codes in the media text ‘Hello’ are:

• The dead ladybirds on the window-seal at the beginning.• The ticking clock before the music begins.• The dust sheets being removed.• The opening of the door to another room.• The pathetic fallacy of the rain in certain flashbacks.• The overgrown telephone box.• The bars on the staircase which Adele sits behind.• The pathetic fallacy of the strong wind.• The pond/ lake which Adele stands on one side of.• The isolated house in the countryside.

Todorov’s Narrative Theory• Todorov’s narrative theory is a structure that can be applied to most media texts.

Equilibrium

Disruption of

Equilibrium

Recognition of

Disruption

Solving of Damage

New Equilibrium

Todorov’s Narrative Theory• Equilibrium: The two characters as a happy couple which is shown in flashbacks.

• Disruption of the Equilibrium: Whatever caused the couple to break-up.

• Recognition of the Disruption: When Adele drives out to the isolated house due to her sadness over the break-up.

• Repairing of the Damage: When Adele attempts to phone her ex to solve the bad-blood between them.

• New Equilibrium: A new equilibrium is not explicitly depicted in the music video but it could be assumed that the new equilibrium is the couple reuniting, which is unlikely, or the couple moving on in separate direction unaffected by the attempt to repair the damage via the phone call.

Visual and Lyrical Connotations

• The dead ladybirds on the window-seal infer the death of the relationship at 0.05.• The sound of the ticking clock at 1.08 which highlights the silence of isolation and

builds tension until the music begins. It also links to the later lyrics of “time’s supposed to heal” and “It’s no secret that the both of us are running out of time”.

• The sudden visual eye-contact from Adele as the first piano chord is played at 1.16 makes the song more personal and as though it could have been written or sung for audiences who have experienced similar situations.

• The opening of the door at 1.53 show how Adele is willing to open the door to love and emotions again after being alone for so long.

Visual and Lyrical Connotations Continued…

• The rain at 2.18 is an example of pathetic fallacy which shows how Adele feels sad looking back at the memories of a happier time.

• The overgrown telephone box at 3.18 symbolises the lack of communication between the characters and how the relationship had been left to ruin.

Visual and Lyrical Connotations Continued…

• The image of Adele behind the bars of a staircase at 4.42 implicitly suggests that she feels trapped in a prison perhaps of isolations and loneliness after the break up.

• At 4.46 Adele is outside in a strong wind which is again an example of pathetic fallacy and this could suggest that the emotions being felt at that point are chaotic and like a tornado.

Visual and Lyrical Connotations Continued…

• At 5.11 Adele is standing outside on one side of a pond/ lake whilst singing “Hello from the other side”. This is a physical representation of a void between the two characters and could also suggest that the emotions being felt are similar to drowning in sadness.

• At 5.49 Adele opens the curtains at a window to look outside which is an example of a cyclical structure as it occurs at the beginning of the song too. It is not obvious whether the section is a flashback or if the isolated house was just a metaphor for the emotions as the window is of a different building.

Questions and Answers• The footage starts with a window shot and pull focus to the view of a car as it

shows the new direction taken from one of love to one of isolation and loneliness.• The removal of the dust covers could symbolise a return to something that has been

left untouched for a long time. For instance the room has been left alone and now returned to as though it is a new beginning; the dust, however, could symbolise that the idea of starting again is smothered in the past memories of being in a relationship and even after removing the dust sheets she is surrounded by the memories in the air.

• The connotation of ‘hello from the other side’ would usually imply death but in the context of the music video it infers that a void has opened between the two people who now feel isolated by each others actions. It could mean the sides of right and wrong or love and loneliness which Adele now feels she belongs to. It could also depict the saying that they have ‘gone their separate ways’.

• The conversation on the phone is important to the narrative as it gives context to the use of “hello” and “I must have called a thousand times”. It also provides backstory about the break up of a couple through the ironic use of ‘breaking up’ meaning the telephone service is disrupted to show the isolation of the location but also more implicitly the feeling of isolation felt by Adele.

• The footage is in sepia, a black and white filter, to depict nostalgia like old photographs exemplifying how the memories of love feel so distant and untouchable as they are simply stuck in a ‘photograph’ which is a captured moment of the past.

• The relationship of the main characters are a couple who have broken up.