How To Save A Life is the fray’s biggest hit so far in their career, it is the main track from their debut album, How To Save A Life. It followed the song over my head. It stay as number one for up too 15 weeks in some charts and was the first of their songs to have great success in many countries such as America, Australia and Sweden. How To Save A Life is the same as all their other songs as being in the same genre, which is rock. The song was written by Isaac Slade who came up with the song after an experience he had working with troubled teens. There has been a few versions of the music video this one is the latest made in 2006. It was directed by Mark Pellington who is known for his work on the “Jeremy” music videos among others. The video features kids at the age of around 12-18. They appear to of loosed a loved one and are grieving and seem very suicidal. The whole video is in a white room with words appearing of dark meaning like “Death”. The band plays in the same room as all the kids.
The relationship between lyrics and visuals is illustrated. This is evident throughout the film as all the kids are showing the same emotions that are coming from the lyrics. It is also shown through the words that appear that seem to be what the kids are thinking of. Most shots are concentrated on the kids and not band with various shots used like close ups to show tears.
The tempo of the shots stays the same as the pace of the music. Some shots are blurry to match the kid’s confused state of mind this is also shown with a short time of really quick cuts from one shot too another.
The image of the fray is not promoted in this video it is more of a video with a message in it and to show the meaning of the song. This is common in this genre to not always promote as bands in the rock genre are normally about the music. The mise-en-scene helps to show the story and the emotions of the kids. Some of the kid’s pictures up of people, which are the people, they have loosed. A chair is used a one point showing a girl that is shrunken jumping of the chair, this also shows her state of mind and how she feels without her loved one.
Towards the end of the video the kids begin to smile and the shots show them comforting each other and kissing the photos of there loved ones this matches the songs ending as the beats more up. Throughout the band show the same emotions as the kids who promotes them as nice guys that generally care about issues in the real world. This video involves not much in the editing or the camera shots but the actor’s emotions and the mise-en-scene.
In conclusion the video for How To Save A Life does not promote the band for sales but shows the band to be nice guys that care about issues in the real world, and there aim of there video is to get a message across. They have done this through the mise-en-scene and the emotions of the actors. This video is successful in what The Fray wanted to achieve in both interesting to watch and the message they get through.
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This is ok Luke but I would disagree that Rock videos don't promote the band - I think they do but this is perhaps an example where the band are promoted indirectly - i.e. it isn't promoting the visual image of the band but focuses instead on constructing a sense that they are a serious band concerned with issues/themes of great importance.
ReplyDeleteAlso, don't forget all that we've done on Goodwin.