There are many ways in which music videos use typical conventions and codes to represent their artists. In this essay, I will be analyzing the video "You Found Me", performed by The Fray. The fray are a piano-rock group from Denver, Colorado. The band first formed in 2002 and achieved success with the release of their debut album, You Found Me in 2003. You Found Me is the first single released by The Fray, taken from their second album, named "The Fray". The song was ranked #13 on the hot 100 songs of 2009 list, and #36 on billboards best adult pop songs of the decade list, making it one of the bands biggest hits. In an interview with the lead singer and pianist Isaac Slade, he expressed the meaning behind the lyrics of the song. He describes the song as being about the disappointment, the heartache and let down that comes with life. Its about belief, hope and faith. The video for You Found Me is shot in Chicago. The video was inspired by Wim Wenders film "Wings Of Desire". The video itself depicts various scenes of the band members in different roles - Playing on a steel bridge, alongside unknown people, on top of sky scrapers and at a car accident at which the band over see those involved.
The video opens with a helicopter shot of the city at night. I feel that this particular shot as a certain level of depth to the video, establishing a large setting to the viewers. Also, evening city lights create a sense of appeal to the video, keeping the viewers enticed to watch on. We are then introduced to the lead singer of the group. This is shown through a combination of a focus pull and close-up shot of his face in what appears to be the back of a moving vehicle. This shot allows the audience to become familiar with the lead singer in terms of his facial appearance and features. This shot is followed by an extreme close-up shot of the singer playing the piano. This shot shows strong relevance to Andrew Goodwin's theory of the relationship between the music and visuals, showing the singer playing along to the melody of the song. This is then instantly followed by a slow pan of the band standing on a bridge, holding their instruments and seemingly waiting for something to happen. In this shot we are able to establish their clothing - smart/ casual, presenting their own style to the viewers. This is then shortly followed by numerous establishing shots of the city - including street shots, high angled city shots building up towards a shot of the lead singer standing on the edge of a building, looking down towards the street. This is shown through a medium long shot, positioning the singer to the left of the frame so that the camera is able to capture the surroundings as well as the singer in the shot. This again can be seen as a way for the audience to capture his sense of style in terms of his clothing - dark jacket, jean and shirt; however is not too clear due to the lack of lighting in the shot. This is then followed by a low birds eye view shot of a young boy looking up from the street towards the camera lens, establishing that he has seen the singer on the top of the building. As the music begins to intensify, we are then taken back to the bridge where the singer is playing on the piano. This is shown through a hand-held close up of his face as he sings. At this point, we are once again able to identify one of Goodwin's theories; music in sync with the visuals. In this case, the shots a cut in sync with the beat of the song, creating a comfortable flow of continuous editing. Numerous shots of the band are shown during the first verse of the track. This includes pans of them on the bridge, low canted angled shot of the singer on the piano and various shots of them standing on a building - shown through a wide shot, again allowing the viewers to capture the setting of the video. I personally feel that this is the first time the video is communicating the suggestion that they are "guardian angels", shown through their characteristics - looking down on everyone, standing behind bright light...etc. The bright light is used to emphasise their positions on the buildings, making it clearer for the audience to see them. As the chorus begins, we are taken to a crash scene beneath the bridge in the city. This is shown through a medium pan shot, capturing the seriousness of the situation as well as the people standing around her. In terms of the people seen in the shot, all four of the band members are shown to be surrounding her, however appearing emotionless alongside the other people in the shot. The characteristics of the other people lead to suggest that the other members of the band are un-seen in the shot, bringing a spirtual atmosphere to the video. A high angled close-up of the girls face is then shown, the singer with his hand on her shoulder, leading to suggest that he is there to guide her into the light. He then leaves her and the paramedics take her away - indicating that she is not dead, however seriously injured. Various hand-held medium shots of the surrounding crowd help evoke the emotional impact of the girls injury. As the chorus finishes, we are then taken to a shot inside a moving train. this is first indicated by the tracking shot of the train moving. This is then shortly followed by a pan shot of the singer, lead guitarist and bassist sitting on the train; each of them sitting beside a person. The way in which they are holding the persons shoulder creates the suggestion that they are "guarding"them, again promoting their roles as "guardian angels". The shots in this scene are fast paced, cross-cutting between scenes of the band playing and the narrative being told on the train - creating an even balance between both narrative and performance. As the second chorus begins, the band are shown to be standing together on top of one of the taller building in the city. This is shown through a medium shot, capturing each member of the band from the knee and above. The contrast between both the light behind them and the darkness of their clothing results in their presence to intensify. They are all shown to be looking down to the streets, again representing the characteristics of a higher power - guardians, leaders, angels...etc. As the song begins to mellow, we are taken to a scene in the early morning, with the band standing beside the train rails as the train leaves. This is shown through slow moving pan shot, with the focus pulling from the train to the band members. As the chorus begins to build, we are taken to the inside of the train again, showing all members of the band sitting beside a person on the train. This is shown through a medium shot, capturing all four members inside the frame. In this scene, everything begins to slow down and objects within the scene begin to float - shown through various close-up and medium shots of the people. This creates a sense of surrealism, in that the "guardians" presence is effecting the atmosphere - resulting in time to slow down and the effects of gravity to erase. This effect takes place in every scene that has been previously shown in the video, including; the ambulance scene, train scene and even the scene at the beginning where the young boy and his mother spot the singer standing on the building. These shots are all cut in sync with the music, again creating a comfortable flow for the viewers to watch the video. As the song comes to its end, we are left with a close - up shot of the injured girl opening her eye. This leaves the viewers to suggest that the reason for the change in the atmosphere was because the "guardians" were bringing the young girl back to life. Because this is an un-natural process, it resulted in an un-natural effect on the people surrounding them, suggesting that the young girl was important to them (the singer especially, as he was shown to be guiding her throughout the video). The video ends with the singer performing the last words of the song; "you've found me, you've found me". This is shown through a hand-held close-up of the singer, slowly moving the camera past him and into the blurred distance; the focus pulling from him to the background.
Overall, I feel that the band have successfully expressed their feelings towards their views on the depression that comes with life. They have focused highly on the impact that injury and the threat of death has on the victim and how it can also effect the people who love and care for them. Throughout the video, the band have positioned themselves within various situations where they can become infinite, watching over people and becoming guardians of the city - a metaphorical representation of "god". I feel that the purpose of this video was to show how they would change one of the many disasters if they had the power to do so, and what effect this would have of the people around them.
The video has also, to some degree, promoted their fashion sense, providing the viewers with a taste of their style in terms of clothing and hair.
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