10. Textual Analysis of Rolling In The Deep By Adele

The video for Rolling in the Deep by Adele was directed by Sam Brown and premiered on Channel 4 on 3^rd December 2010. This video shows Adele as the singer who is lip syncing, a ‘faceless’ dancer and a ‘faceless’ drummer. By faceless, I mean that you never see their faces close up like you do Adele. She sits alone in a large room that has some scattered furniture, peeling wallpaper and a crumpled sheet of paper taped to the wall behind her. This makes the room look abandoned and deserted while Adele is dressed in a classy dress and nice hair style.

A lot of the mis en scene focusses on destruction and decrepitude in terms of both locations and props. A more obvious example of this is shots of a town build from paper which, as the video progresses, is set on fire by sparks and burns to ashes. Also worth mentioning is the staircase location with a hanging board that has a pile of smashed crockery at the bottom and has a continuous stream of plates and cups being thrown at it. Apart from this running theme, the director has decided to put a large focus on the video’s lighting, making it interesting and dynamic in more static and stationary shots where the subject doesn’t more or do anything eye catching. Most of the lighting looks simple and just convenient however, the use of fluorescents in the dancer’s room makes the white powder stand out and makes a very contrasting colour palate to the shots in the room with Adele which uses warmer lighting and the room is a warm colour too. This contrast makes the video more interesting to watch and will hold the attention of watchers as the shots won’t all run together.

By using visual aids, they bring focus to the beat of the song. They do this with a light above the drum kit that flashes every time the drummer plays the strongest beat and they also use a floor covered with glasses of water that ripple when they are hit by sound waves at every beat.

To make the shots of Adele sitting in a chair singing more dynamic, the camera is always panning and the edit displays various shot angles too. This technique of always having the camera panning and/or zooming makes the video flow better and the shot more animated.

The beat of the song is a strong focal point for the video and as well as the previous methods I have mentioned, the director also has the shots edited to the beat, meaning that the edit becomes quicker at the climax of the song. The fast edit really builds up the song and grips the audience. The shots have also been chosen to contrast each other by cutting between different locations with their contrasting lighting and shots that are in real time and ones that are in slow motion, like the dancer.

8. Permission Post

I posted on the Facebook Page of Island Records UK asking for permission to use the track. My post is circled in red.

7. Things To Consider- Lip Syncing

I feel it is important to have lip syncing in the music video as it is a form of performance. Sam Sparro is white, however he has a tone of voice that means people often confuse him for being black. I plan to have a black boy called Niya Clements-Hickson lip sync for me. I think he will be able to sing along while he is being filmed, ensuring his performance is more authentic because his mouth and throat will move like a singers. It is also important that he is in time with the song lyrics.

7. Things to Consider- Lighting

As a member of the tech crew at the theatre, I have access to the stage space and lighting rigs. This is what I plan to use for my video. I want mood lighting, warm colours instead of 'natural light' or cold colourss. I will use Fresnels with perhaps yellow gels to cast a general light but they will be on a relatively low level. That will be used as general lighting, however for other shots, I may use a profile with a gobo to create interesting images. LEDs will be useful as well as they can be set to any colour. Light flashes will be in time with the beat of the music, illuminating the dancers briefly. The lighting is something I can play around with but I want it to create an intimate atmosphere. At some point, I think it could be good to have a back-light, again in a warm colour, perhaps a floor-flood and depending on the light produced,maybe  yellow gel again. I also have access to parcans should that be something I prefer to the others.

6.My Chosen Track

I have decided to do Black and Gold by Sam Sparro.



The music video version of the song is shorter, it has a shorter intro and outro, however I am going to use the above version which is on the CDs to allow myself to incorporate more dance and a bit of a story to the video.

This song is in the dance-pop genre and therefore it is very important to have dance invloved in the video. Dance-pop tends to be pop music with a heavy beat for dancing to in clubs etc. It is usually upbeat and 'groovy' and contains the following identifying traits:

• Uptempo, upbeat music intended for clubs, with a danceable or dance-centered nature.
• Catchy songs with an easy, pop-based structure
• A strong emphasis on beats and grooves
• Prominent hooks
• Simple lyrics
• Polished productions