The Fray-Over My Head

Over My Head is The Fray’s debut single for there debut album How to Save a Life in 2005. It was this song that started the bands long and successful career. The song was written by the lead singer Isaac Slade’s and is about his relationship with his brother as it is thought that they had not speaking and at odds with each other. The music video was directed by Elliott Lester and was filmed on July 24, 2005 at East High School and Fox theatre in Boulder, Colorado. The video shows the band to be children, who attract the attention of other children by playing various instruments. Micah Slade, the youngest brother of Isaac Slade plays the part of Isaac in the video.

The visuals in the video link to the lyrics of the song as the song is about the relationship between brothers and follows the youngest one find new friends but wants to fixes things with his brother. And through some the song the young brother is singing the lyrics at various points. Everything that is said in the song has an impact on what happens in the video with it linking to he lyrics. There is a band performance as well as a story; the same emotions are shown on the lead singers face as the young brother as the song involves Isaac.

At the start of the song the shots are quiet long staying with the tempo of the music and pick up during the chorus. Throughout the video the focus is on the young brother and the Isaac the lead singer. There are no close-ups of the rest of the band only of there instruments. The shots are relatively simple as to follow the story however at the start the guitarists are shown plucking their instruments into the amps. The clothes of that are typical of a band of there genre, jeans and shirt and the young brother is wearing a school uniform that has been customize which is typical for boys of that age. The video is not really to promote but to tell a story of Isaac life. When the young brother is walking through the corridor on the walls and lockers are the lyrics to the song this shows this is what the young boy is thinking about. The misi en scene is kept simple like having naturalistic lighting and the set quite dull; this is to tell the story without there being distractions. At the end of the song when the young boy is in a old looking school hall the camera spins round and the hall changes to a actual band performance that has been shown throughout before changing back to a school hall.

This video is similar to most other bands is this genre having a band performance and a story in the video and linking the visuals with the lyrics. Also much like other bands they song is about something that’s happen in their life.
Overall the video for Over My Head is not used to promote the band but to tell a story. It is common for a band of this genre to do this and have both a story and a band performance in there video. The visuals like other bands link to the lyrics. The camera shots and editing have been kept simple helping people to understand the audience. The camera shots that are used are on either the lead singer or the young boy as it is the lead singer involved in the story.