What is the purpose and function of the video in representing the artist?
Paolo Giovanni Nutini (born 9th January 1987) is a Scottish/Italian singer, songwriter and musician from Paisley. Paolo Nutini’s debut album “These Streets” was released by Atlantic Records in the United Kingdom in July 2006. “Coming Up Easy”, is the second single from the Scottish/Italian song writer, taken from his second album “Sunny Side Up”. It was released on the 10th August 2009 as a CD single, 7” single and download single. and is the second track on Nutinis album “Sunny Side Up”, co-written by Nutini and Matt Benbrook. It was produced by Ethan Jones. The song itself talks about Paolo’s struggle against marijuana and how it affects his life. He states that it’s about habits and break-up, but wanted to keep it positive. Throughout the video, the marijuana itself however has been represented in a strange way to help the viewers understand Paolo’s conflicts against it a little easier. In this case, he as used a human sized rabbit as a metaphorical representation of the drug. Paolo has also stated that the song can also be viewed from other perspectives of life, including relationships, compromising, having to deal with someone else’s emotions...etc. The video itself shares a mixture of both narrative and performance based features.
There are many ways in which Paolo’s image is represented and promoted throughout the video. One of the ways this is shown is through the camerawork used. At the beginning of the video, we are introduced to Paolo Nutini. This is shown through a medium tracking shot of him as he approaches the front of the house. In this shot, we are able to analyse Paolo’s clothing; in this case, a green polo shirt, beige chinos and dark brown loafers. These can be seen as casual clothing, showing that Paolo is not trying to create his own image; however it exploiting his love for singing and creating music; all of which have been exploited through various wide and medium shots of Paolo – A Convention used commonly in hip-hop music videos. This shot is shortly followed by a close-up of Paolo as he calls to the upstairs window. This shot allows the viewers to observe Paolo’s facial features so that they are able to identify the star behind the music video. Also; relating back to Goodwin’s theory, the close-ups may also be used to reinforce Paolo’s image to his target audience. We are also able to see the tattoo around his forearm. This is shown to be a Texan tattoo, consisting of three Texan stars. This is shown simply to provide the viewers with a little insight into Paolo’s personal appearance and unique image. 20 seconds into the video and we are then introduced to Paolo performing to the camera. During this shot he is seen to be sitting on a park bench alone, shown through a close-up and medium shot. This shot is used to justify to the audience who the star of the video is.
We are first introduced to the metaphorical character 45 seconds into the video. Before this takes place, the viewers are left with numerous clues as to who the character may be. A pan shot of the characters mantle piece reveal numerous framed images of rabbits; all but one, which shows Paolo standing beside what seems to be a full grown, human sized rabbit. This rabbit however is shown to have normal human characteristics, shown through a close-up of the rabbit grabbing his keys and jacket before leaving the house. Once they meet, a two shot is used as they are walking down the high-street. This shot allows the viewers to establish their relationship with each other; in this case they are laughing along-side each other, suggesting they are good friends. The slow motion effect also provides the viewers with time to establish the setting – a small town in Scotland. As they enter the pub, they are welcomed gracefully and begin their drinking session together. This is shown through numerous close-ups of them both interacting and having a good time with the other people in the bar. During this particular time, the lyrics begin to explain Paolo’s true feelings towards the “rabbit”. Lyrics such as; “I love you, but you see I resent you all the same...all my other friends they’ll just say your pulling me down”. This speaks clearly to the viewers in relation to Paolo’s feeling towards marijuana. He feels that even though he loves it, deep down he knows he want to break free from the habit and listen to what his other friends are saying. Other lyrics such as; “Because now my best friend, my partner in crime... I’m afraid we’re going to have to go our separate ways”. This suggests that Paolo wants to separate from his addiction and the only way he feels he can do this is by walking away. During this part of the song, the video shows a medium shot of the rabbit dancing alone in a tunnel. This exploits rather selfish behaviour in relation to the lyrics at this particular point, suggesting that the “rabbit” is refusing to listen. Also, the walls on the inside of the tunnel have been painted red, white and green (Italian Flag). This is shown extremely vividly however has been used to show Paolo’s Italian heritage in that it is a huge part of Paolo’s life. The way in which the “rabbit” is shown alongside the flag dancing can almost be seen as a mockery in that the “rabbit” – marijuana, is more important to him and that it has become an obsession. This effect is used numerous times throughout the video.
Towards the end of the video, the rabbit is shown to be getting more and more out of control. Having drunk more alcohol, the rabbit is slowly becoming more and more animal like, and soon loses control. This is shown through a medium shot of him and numerous girls arguing inside the pub. As the alcohol takes its toll, Paolo is forced to physically remove him from the pub – showing that Paolo is now becoming the more responsible person by taking control of the situation. At this point, the editing becomes a lot faster in terms of its pace and the volume of the music begins to increase – relationship between the music and visuals. The “rabbits” actions throughout this particular point once again are shown to be similar to the characteristics of a human, or in this case a young man on a night out. By constantly interchanging through cross-cutting between Paolo performing and the story allows the viewers to fully understand Paolo’s feelings and emotions towards the song. This is seen clearly through his body language and facial expressions.
Overall, I believe that this song has not only been written to explain Paolo’s conflict against his addiction to marijuana, but to represent him-self and what he can become when the addiction takes over. Although the rabbit may be seen as a metaphorical interpretation of marijuana, I do also believe that this character can also be seen as him-self (Paolo) in a different perspective; a perspective where he is in such a state of un-controllability that he does not accept himself as a human – being, instead he sees himself as an animal.
Daniel Lisle
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