M83- Midnight City (Case Studies)

Synopsis:

The music video starts through a character that walks into what looks like an institution for children with special abilities. Here, they seem to be tested in a very dull and isolated environment, and as the video progresses, we immediately realize that the children are not happy with being there, but rather forced. As the mysterious character walk into the room and is successfully places at a table, we learn that he is a little boy by what looks like the age of 10. His presence however seems to disturb the rest of the children and shortly the entire room looks at him suspiciously. The viewer also gets the impression that the boy has the attributes of the leader, mainly because he makes himself remarked without effort. After this introductory scene, the background changed and we are introduced to what looks like their dorm room. Although night, everyone seems to be awake aside of the new boy. The rest are also suggestively staring at him which results in him waking up.  United, they also seem to control a very high amount of power which ultimately gives them the chance to escape the institute by breaking the door.  As they escape, we are following them through the woods until they encounter a building that looks like a warehouse. In this particular place, they also seem to test their powers, as well as getting to know one another. Suddenly, we are following the boy that leads them on the roof. As he watches the sunset, the other children seem to follow him. The video ultimately ends with them staying close to each other until the sunset is over. In this scene, the video focuses on their eyes and the viewer observes how they seem to acquire a very unusual colour.

The reason why I picked this music video is mainly because it does not follow the conventional style in which the artist has to be present. Throughout the entire video we only see the children and their story, which makes it extremely narrative and linear. What is also extremely interesting is that the ending does not finish the story, but rather gives an unfinished feel, which engages with the viewer’s imagination and encourages them to imagine the ending themselves. The main theme of the video seems to be the supernatural as well as abused children. The reason why I think this is because the children seem to be exploited for what they are. We get this especially at the beginning of the video, when we see the children being supervised by adults. We also get this impression when the children are breaking the door; here we see that they are locked, which prevents them from escaping. As the children do not seem to be attached by any place or objects, they can be mostly perceived as solitary beings. However, their union does appear important to complete their escapade.

In terms of editing, the music video starts with a pan, a tilt, a high angle as well as various zoom in shots in order to introduce the characters. These effects are heavily used in the first seconds of the video in order to give an overview of the main characters. As they escape from the institute, a canted angle is used which gives the viewer an insight of how the place looks like. As the camera follows the children running away, a worms eye view occurs which shows the passing of time. The forest scene ends with a tilt in which one of the children causes tricks the adults that were looking after them. As they escape from the forest, an establishing scene introduces the place where they run away to, in this case, the warehouse. Again, an establishing shot and worms eye view occurs in order to get the viewer used to the new scene- the inside of the warehouse. Here, a series of special effects are used, in order to show the telekinetic powers of the children. As a result, various objects are flying and getting smashed, which shows the frustration of the kids. They are mostly filmed from an over the shoulder view which shows how one of the children are manipulating the objects. The producer also uses a tilt, which allows the viewer to see the every aspect of their powers. We ultimately see the leader going on the roof, with a high angle looking down at him. A medium close up follows, this showing his emotions through the details of his face. The rest of the children follow him and together they are watching the sunset. Again, special effects are used to make their eye colour more noticeable and lit, which ultimately gives them a special aura.

Overall, the video is mainly directed to teenagers and adults. Although it engages with the subject of child abuse, this is rather subtly hinted and not entirely the main theme of video. The supernatural powers are also frequently used in films directed to children or pre-teenagers, this ultimately giving the music video a wider range of audience. The music is also extremely visual and as no cursing words are used, it makes the record very good for most types of audiences. The video also encourages me to use more challenging effects in order to make the music video interesting to watch.