TEXTUAL ANALYSIS- THE FRAY ‘HOW TO SAVE YOUR LIFE’

Karis, Lucy and Eleanor

How to save a life by The Fray

‘’Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend, somewhere along in the bitterness’’

‘’And I would have stayed up with you all night, had I known how to save a life’’

An alternative rock record released in 2005 under Epic Records by American pop rock band, The Fray

Writers – Isaac Slade, Joe KingProducers – Mike Flynn, Aaron Johnson

The original music video was released in 2006 and premiered on VH1, an American cable television network

The recurring themes for the video consisted of light and the stopping of time

The video was released on the bands VEVO channel; TheFrayVEVO and has achieved 106.3 million views

to date

The videos thumbnail is as the image shown to the left, it shows a close up shot of a girl staring directly into the cameras . This creates a connection and instant intimacy with the potential viewers of the video and those looking by chance

The notion of voyeurism looking and theof the human body … Andrew Goodwin

The video is composed through the use of intimate close-up shots of various characters and musicians.

Some of the characters first initially shot are shown later in the video, this time holding some kind of emotional development. Forexample, a young girl is initially shown looking shocked, saddened and disturbed. She is then featured in a later close up shot smiling with a seemingly different mood. The use of these double featured characters creates a storyline for the video itself. This adds depth to the video and creates intrigue and speculation amongst the viewers regarding the meaning of the song itself. This shows the characters have been on a journey and draws links between them. This can also tie a link between the start and end of the song. The song has a shift in the emotions it produces and presents a contrast. This links the music to the video

“And you’ll begin to wonder why you came”

Deeper meaningful shots were also used in the video. One of the first features an extreme close up focused on an eye. Another shot focuses on a hand blocking the intimacy felt through a close up shot. These relate the video to real life and represent the problems faced in everyday life e.g. anxiety and privacy

The notion of voyeurism looking and theof the human body … Andrew Goodwin

A number of shots are interlinked through the editing technique of jump cuts. The initial high angled shot showing the group as a whole. The next shot shows the group from a longer distance in the background of a shot. The handwritten word LISTEN is shown in the foreground on a white relatively transparent background. This shows a clear effort to make the watcher aware of the sudden change in the shot. This is shown through the change in angle, shot distance and the additional affects layered over the image. This creates a link between the music and the video. Changes in the keys, pitches etc. of the song are shown by an abrupt change in shot. This is also to strengthen the storyline of the video. The first action results in the audience being made aware of this group of children. The next shot creates a sense of intrigue and mystery & suggests the word listen is significant to these children. The next shot shows a close up of the children from the original high angle. Around 10 children are featured in this close up as oppose to the previous whole group. This creates more of a connection between the children and the watcher as they are learning more about them as the video progresses and their storyline intensifies and grows throughout the duration of the video, resulting in them becoming more and more interested to watch the video progress

“As he begins to raise his

voiceYou lower yours and grant him

one last choice…

Drive until you lose the

roador break with the

ones you've

followed”

The relationship between the music and the visuals… Andrew Goodwin

Step one, you say we need to talkHe walks, you say sit down; it's just a talk

He smiles politely back at youYou stare politely right on through

These images are all featured during the reciting of these lyrics

A relationship between the music and visuals is originally formed when the word ‘talk’ sung in the ]quoted lyrics and the visual with the word ‘LISTEN’imprinted in a black handwriting style font coincide. The word ‘LISTEN’ emphasises the action the Fray are singing about and gives us an insight into this interaction. It gives us a view from a character involved, as we view the word as one said/shouted from one character to another in a dialect scene. This creates a storyline and a sense of intrigue for the viewers to follow the rest of the video. The hand written aspect also gives a personal touch. This is an example of how a relationship between the music and the visuals can enhance the both of them and pull viewers in through an emotive feel and a reaction which creates intrigue for the watcher and provides them a connection to the music video, this in hand producing a connection between the viewer and the song

The relationship between the music and the visuals… Andrew GoodwinEmotions are the bonding tie between the music and the visuals in the Fray’s music

video. Various emotions are displayed visually and textually throughout the

video to present different depths

These images all show emotions throughout the video. Various numbers are featured at the beginning of these emotions

The first textual scene in the video features the word ‘one’ in the foreground with the band performing live in the background. As the video progresses, more emotions are featured. These emotions are all featured after a number, for example, the text ’22. CRY’ is

shown in the foreground of a scene. The technique used which increases the number as every emotion is portrayed creates a storyline and gives the video direction. Two consecutive scenes portray two separate emotions. The first scene writes ‘22. CRY’ and the second scene writes ‘23. ACCEPT’. This links the two emotions together, drawing speculation as to what has led one emotion on to the other. These emotions are stereotypically associated with grief or a breakup; the sad stage and the acceptance stage. This adds depth to the video and gives the reader an indication as to what the music itself is about through what the visuals portray, creating a relationship between the two.

Technical aspects…Camera work, mise enscene, editing… Andrew GoodwinEDITING

The editing in this video combines simplicity with abstract fantasy. The minimal shots of the band performing are contrasted with the shots combined with high-tech edits, for example, a vivid blue edit has been applied to the butterfly on the right. This creates a contrast throughout the whole video, enhancing the song itself through the shock and intensity the video gives. This idea of hyper-reality suggests the song itself could have these extravagant elements to it which increases the listeners focus on the lyrics. This, in hand could increase a listener’s connection with and opinion of the song. There is a lack of continuity editing through the video, this is only apparent when the shot shows the band progressing with the live performance section. There is a lot of cutaway and jump cutting techniques used which creates a manic and unsettling feeling due to the fact nothing is simple or straight forward. This, draws the watcher in and increases their desire to watch the video

textual effects through out the video. As seen in the extracts above, various words,

specifically those emotive, are featured on top of shots. These have also been used

in the video to present a characters internal thoughts and emotions out loud. This provides a personal level of

emotive skill and can create a connection for the watcher with the character

There is a focus on

Technical aspects…Camera work, mise enscene, editing… Andrew GoodwinCAMERA

WORK

A lot of close-up/extreme close-up shots are used. This enhances the personal feel

the song itself has and establishes an intimate connection with any characters

These images all show various characters throughout the video in intense shots. These mix of close-up and extreme close-up shots show

create attention amongst the viewers. The video appears to be more complex due to the fact there are a large number

of different characters all with, seemingly different stories. These shots could also be penned as reaction shots

as specifically the one showing the young girl crying, they show some form of portrayed emotion as a reaction to a

certain situation. These camera techniques play on a watchers

emotions/feelings

“Lay down a list of what is wrong, the things you’ve told him all along and pray to god he hears you”

There was a lot of extreme-close up focus on various objects throughout the video. A blue butterfly was amongst these subjects. These extreme close-up camera shots have been used to show the significance these subjects have in relation to the video and the various character’s stories throughout the video. This is an example of how various camera techniques can tell us the hierarchy of various subjects within the video

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‘How to save a life’The album byThe Fray… Analysis

The main subject of this front cover shows a warm-toned decorated tree edited to the shape of a lightbulb. All significant parts of the lightbulb are there, including the base, which shows the lightbulb is more prominent in the image than the use of the decorated tree. A lightbulb is stereotypical of the phrase ‘bright idea’, that the ‘bright idea’ phrase relates to the music the Fray have produced for this album. This creates interest for album itself through the visuals of the album cover. This particular cover focuses on fantasy as oppose to reality, which creates intrigue amongst the buyers of the album due to the fact nothing literal is given away.

The back of the album is mainly taken up by a photo of the band. The main common convention

(featuring the track list) has been used on this album. Other

conventions e.g. the barcode, credits etc. have also been used. This slightly contrasts the front

cover of the album as the non-reality theme distracts away

from the stereotypical album cover. The back cover has been

designed simplistic and minimal

Album covers

ONE REPUBLIC- ‘SECRETS’

Voyeurism and notions of looking

Throughout the video there is a lot of use of notions of looking. The main singer seems to be watching her and following the female character in the video. However she seems unaware of this as if she hasn’t noticed him. It may symbolise that he is her conscience or simply a man who is interested in her but she doesn’t notice him.

The way that the main character is female and the singer is watching her throughout the video is use of voyeurism. Even though the women isn’t particularly sexualised in an obvious way, it still counts as voyeurism because of the idea that the main focus is on the women and the man is constantly watching her, which suggests he may find her attractive. Also the female character used is portrayed as an everyday women who wears minimal makeup and ordinary clothes. Despite this the female character is still an attractive women who is naturally pretty therefore this is a use of the male gaze which will attract the male audience of the music genre.

Relationship between lyrics and visuals

The LyricsAn interpretation from the lyrics is that the male singer is talking about being tired of not living his life to the full and therefore he's bored with the life he has got. So he claims that from now onwards he is going to live his life how he wants and stay true to himself, regardless of what anyone may say or think of him. He’s going to give all his ‘secrets away’ as he needs some more excitement in his life and he doesn’t want to carry on being the quiet man who gets forgotten about.An alternative meaning to the song could be that the man is tired of his life and everything has caught up with him. For example all the lies he’s told, all the heartbreak, secrets, all the pain caused to himself and others has caught up with him and he’s realised he just wants to move on and let it all go so as a result he wants to let all of his secrets go in order for him to move on and for him to be true to himself and stop being fake. These two interpretations are similar and tie in together well.The VideoThe meaning of the video has a similar meaning to the lyrics, however it is from a women's perspective. She seems to be tired of waiting on this one man as she is seen to be waiting for at a bar. She seems sick of trying to make things work and continuously getting hurt or rejected, for example the man she is waiting for hasn’t turned up yet. As a consequence she decides she wants to give up on this love interest and move on with her life and let that man go, even if it hurts him. When the women walks away from the bar the first time she presumably walks towards her house and she is seen to turn back and walk to the bar again because she is indecisive and doesn’t feel like she wants to leave the man for definite. However when the women returns to the bar and sees the man did finally go to meet her she has a moment of realisation and decides that she is sick of this man and wants to move on so she cant be hurt by him anymore. When the lead singer of the band whispers in her ear, it gives the idea of what she is thinking as she is being persuaded my a voice that she needs to let all her ‘secrets go’ and move onwards as there are more exciting opportunities that she could experience in her future. The man persuading her to move on could have a deeper meaning and suggest that there are also lots of other potential love interests she could have instead of wasting her time with this one man who seems to be hurting her.

Music Genre conventions

The music genre of One Republic is alternative rock / indie. Other bands which are similar to One Republic is The Script, The Fray, Scouting for Girls. One of the genre conventions all of these bands usually have is to feature the band performing live in the video. This is shown in the music video ‘Secrets’ by One Republic. A reason for this may be to make the audience familiar with the band members and as a result feel more connected to the band themselves. However another reason for this is because it might create more sales / views of the album and video because it is using star appeal in order to persuade more people to watch the video. For example, the audience would want to watch the video because it features the band which are considered as celebrities.Indie / alternative rock bands usually feature the characters in their videos as casual normal people. The main singers are usually dressed quite casually, this is the case in the video ‘Secrets’, also the main female character in this video was represented as a normal women. This was because she was also wearing casual clothes and she was wearing minimal makeup. The use of the band wearing casual clothes may be to suggest to the audience that the band members are normal people, not just celebrities. This is a clever way of making the audience connect more with the band and gain more approval of the band.

The clothes that the characters are wearing are all dark clothes, this fits in with the washed out, dark theme that the video gives off. This is a common convention associated with the indie / alternative rock genre. This may be because bands like One Republic write songs which have quite a depressing or sad mood. This makes the video compliment the feel of the song. Therefore that is the reason why there is a dark theme to the video ‘Secrets’.

Close ups and focus on star appeal

IntertextualityThe grainy filter that appears throughout the video gives the effect of an old new York film. This is the only intertextuality that features in the video. This fits in with the theme because the video is set in a city similar to New York.

There are lots of close ups featured in the video, particularly on the main singer. This is done because he is the most recognised member of the group. This is focus on the star appeal because it features the band in the video and because they are famous the video includes lots of close up on the main singer. Is may be done in order for the audience to feel connected with the artist and therefore promote more sales and interest in the band. Also focus on star appeal is a clever way of making the music video more popular as the audience might be more persuaded to watch the video if a famous person is featured in the video.

Technical aspectsMise-en-sceneThe lighting in the music video is very dull as the colours consist of dark colours such as grey and black. Despite this the video is set in daylight, however the theme of the video is dark and it seems as if there is a dull filter throughout the whole of the music video which makes the light colours look dull. This darker theme suggests that the music video is a sad and depressing mood as there is a lack of vibrant colours and everything appears to be washed out. Also the female character in the video is wearing a coat which could imply that the video is set in the winter months. This also adds to the mood of the video as the winter months can be associated with things dying out. This could resemble the women’s relationship with the man in the video as it appears that they aren’t happy anymore.

The women is casual and this suggests that the video is set on an ordinary day. She is wearing casual clothes and minimal makeup. The male character in the video is also casual. However the main singer doesn’t fit into the everyday theme as he is slightly more formal. This is may be to highlight to the audience who the main singer of the band is. Towards the start of the music video, the women is waiting for someone in a bar. For a while she is folding up a napkin and orders a drink. This suggests to the audience that she is bored as she is getting distracted by a napkin while she is waiting for someone to turn up. The person she is waiting for is obviously late and the female character seems to be getting tired of waiting and loosing patience as she seems to grow bored of it.

The location of the video is set in a busy city, like New York. This may be because the video is conveying how busy life can be and that life does go on without stopping for anyone. This may suggest how the women feels, she appears to be tired of waiting around of this one man and at the end of the video she decides to move on. This may be because she doesn’t want to be wasting time on this man anymore. Meanwhile, the video consistently cuts to a live performance of the band. This seems to be set in a studio but it is hard to work out because it is quite dark. There is a spotlight on the band and the main singer, this may be to highlight that they are the band and how is the main singer out of the band.

Technical aspects

Camera WorkIn the opening scene of the music video, there is an establishing shot. This shows the women in the distance crossing the road in a busy city. This is setting the scene and telling the audience that the women is heading somewhere. The video then cuts to the band how are performing the song and there are various close ups of the singers face and the rest of the band. This may be introducing the band to the audience and their roles in the band. There are a range of medium shots of the female character at the bar and its purpose is to make the audience aware that the women is waiting for someone at the bar. This is followed by close up’s of her drinks and she pushes it slightly. The close up of the drinks suggest to the audience that she has being waiting a while for someone as she has already had two drinks. Also the close up of he moving her drink on the table suggests that she isn’t relaxed and getting frustrated with waiting.

There are lots of medium close ups of the women waiting at the bar. This is to convey the women’s mood across to the audience. Her facial expression is unhappy as she isn’t smiling and seems to look frustrated as she is fidgeting around and appears to be waiting for ages. Next in the music video is a few long shots of the women walking back through the city, this is suggesting that she got tired of waiting and decided to walk home. Another establishing shot is shown as the women presumably gets back outside her house, however she stands in the street and regrets walking away from the bar so she turns around and walks back the way she came.

The close up of the women when she arrives back at the bar emphasises he moment of realisation. She closes her eyes while he main singer sings to her ear and it suggests that she's exhausted of being presumably messed around by the male character who is now waiting for her at the bar. The women closing her eyes might also be suggesting she is preparing herself to walk away from the man she can see at the bar. After this shot there is a medium close up of her shoes skipping down the steps, away from the man she was going to meet. The mood changes and the women appears much more happier in an instant as if she’s let go of what was making her miserable. The last shot in the video is a medium close up of a pigeon flying away. This may resemble the idea of the women finally moving on in her life, she is able to metaphorically fly away and set herself free.

Technical aspectsSoundAt the start of the video there is an opening scene of the busy city and there is use of ambient sound in this short shot before the music starts. The sounds of a busy city can be heard, such as moving traffic. This is done to help set the scene and location of the video. It addresses to the audience that the video is set in a large city. The whole of the song to the female character would be non-diegetic because she cant hear the music. The music compliments well with the video as it tells the audience what sort of mood the song is and gives an insight into what is happening in the video.

The rhythm of the song is slow at the beginning before the first chorus. At the start there is only the main singer singing and the violinist playing. This may be to portray the feelings of the female character as she appears to be unhappy and alone at the start of the video. Then when the first chorus plays the drums also start playing which picks up the beat. This is continues throughout the video, which may convey the sense of urgency ad annoyance the women seems to have because her date didn’t turn up. Also the irregular beat at the start may be used to confuse the audience, which would make them more intrigued into the video and as a consequence may make them re watch the video which is the overall desired affect. It may get people talking about the video too, which wold attract more audience for the band. When the main singer shown on the video, synchronous sound is used as he is miming to the words so therefore the lyrics to the song is in sync with the visuals.

Editing techniquesThe video uses continuity editing which presents the video in a chronical logical order, this emphasizes the real time movement of the narrative and this makes the video seem more realistic. There is a lot of use of the cross cutting technique between the scene where the main female character is to the scene of where the band is performing. This helps illustrate a link between the music and the storyline of the video. There is use of eye line match when you see the main singer watching the female character, this emphasises the male gaze effect and that the singer wants to get through to the female character in the video. Finally there are a lot of short takes, this helps speed up the action in the video and therefore makes the mood more dramatic and exciting for the audience so they aren’t left feeling bored.

Relationship between music and visuals

At the start of the music video the music is quite slow pace and as if there is something big to come. These two screenshots are in seconds apart in the music video. The first screenshot is from when the music is quite slow pace and then all of a sudden the music pace changes when the chorus comes on. The pace is much faster and up beat. This change in the music rhythm is related to the music video because when the pace is slow at the beginning the main singer is sat down and when the lyrics change to the more upbeat chorus the main singer stands up dramatically in time with the chorus.

After the first chorus, the song seems to pick up and has a consistently fast pace throughout the video. However, for the majority of the time, the visuals don’t match the music. This is because the visuals of the women are very slow compared to the music playing in the background. The visuals are conveying a depressing and sad mood, whereas the music is more upbeat. The music isn’t upbeat in the party sense, but upbeat and motivating. Towards the end of the video the music and visuals complement each other well. This is because after the women walks away from her presumably love interest she seems a lot more free an happier. Her body language suggests this as she seems to be striding away with certainty and happy with herself that she walked away and is moving onwards.

Despite the visuals of the women not matching the music all the way throughout the video, the visuals of the band performing do match the music consistently. The band seem very passionate about the song and therefore this is shown in their performance.

The artists name is based at the top of the advert and it is the largest font that features on the advert. This is done to make sure that it is the first thing which the audience will see when they look at the advert. Also the artists name stands out more because the font is in white colour which stands out against the dark background. This is a clever way of creating the advert as the audience will easily recognise the band because the name is eye catching on the advert.

The advert includes the name of the album, this also attracts the audience as they might recognise the album name. This also sets the theme for the poster, and the album itself, which is ‘dreamy’.

The dark background of the poster represents a nights sky. This complements the name of the album which is ‘dreaming out loud’. The nights sky has been chosen because it is the time when someone would typically experience a dream. Also the dark colours used fit in with the genre of the band, which is alternative rock / indie. These genres usually advertise albums and tours in darker colours. Examples of other bands which might use a darker colour scheme are The Script, The Fray, etc.

The tree is the main image featured on the advert. It stands out against the dark background as it gives off a glowing effect because it is silhouetted white. This adds to the dreamy theme because it symbolises the nature of a dream, as the image of the tree is quite random and because of the aluminous colours used.

The album release date is based near the hit singles. This has been done deliberately because the audience will recognise the hit singles and then they will notice the date which the album is released. This is a way of creating more sales of the album. Also the text is in a bold white font which makes it stand out on the advert, making the most important parts, of the advert, eye-catching. Including the hit singles on the advert also gives the audience an insight into the songs on the album. This may persuade them to buy the album when it is released and it might create the audience to get more excited for the album release date.

The album’s website is featured on the advert because it allows the audience to visit the website if they need to find out any extra information about the band or album.

The band’s record label is featured so that the audience are aware who is the ownership of the album and band.

Advert

Digipak

The front cover of the digipak gives off a sense of style to the band. This is because the album cover is quite a simple design, however not ordinary. The design on the front gives the idea of paint being splashed across the cover. This may imply that the band is careless and creative as artists. It also may indicate to the audience that the songs featured in this album are lively and wild like the vibrant front cover. The colours used are bright and vibrant colours which are designed to stand out on the black background of the cover and therefore make an eye-catching effect so that the audience won’t miss the album. The name of the album ‘Waking up’ compliments the theme of the cover as the colours aren’t boring and may create the sense of a lively theme. The band members aren’t featured on the cover, this infers that the indie music genre don’t include the images of the band members on the front cover. However this could just be because of the fact that the artist is very popular and as a result don’t need an image of the band on the front in order to sell the album.

The simple paint theme is consistent throughout the digipack, however the colour scheme changes to white, blue and yellow. All these colours are happy colours, which may indicate that the tracks featured on this album are cheerful and not depressing. The paint theme could symbolise fun and creativity, which may further suggest something about the band themselves.

The back of the digipak has a background colour of white, this is a complete contrast to the front of the digipak as the background on the front is black. This is quite random and therefore may suggest that the tracks on this album are random and differ from track to track. This is further suggested from the names of the tracks featured on the back. For example one song cis called ‘Made For You’ which may infer it is a song about love. However the second song is called All The Right Moves’ which may be a lively song that someone may dance to. Therefore the tracks are unique and differ from one another suggesting that this album has a random set of songs featured on it.