3 Music Video Analysis's

3 Music Video Analysis's

'Adventure of a Lifetime' (Coldplay)

The music video starts with natural noises (birds chirping etc) as we are introduced to the setting of the music video via mise en scene; we are given a long shot/high angle shot of a jungle. This could also leave the audience curious about why Coldplay has chosen a jungle to shoot the music video. There are also warm colours (yellow and orange) which connote happiness and peace, which is one of the atmospheres the song is trying to create. We then cut to 4 chimps/apes (each one representing a member of the band). The camera is slightly obscured by leaves and other foliage in the jungle; this creates a sense of documentary, as though we are looking in on the life of a regular ape. One of the apes (the one representing Chris Martin) discovers a strange item which is playing the song; the music video then springs to life. The apes seem to enjoy listening to the music, and they dance to it and sing along to it.  The apes then find several instruments in a clearing (a guitar and a drum set) and begin to play them; the apes then go on to play the instruments which their human counterparts play in the band (one of the guitarists even adopts his trademark hat). Eventually, lots of apes join the original four in dancing and singing along to the song. 

The title of the song and the music video itself is meant to signify Darwin's idea of Evolution; in this case, humans have enjoyed music even when they were apes, and the tradition has been carried on since the first discovery of music (when humans were apes). The use of bright, vibrant colours match the upbeat feel of the song, with the apes dancing, smiling and singing too. We can also tell that the apes signify the members of the Coldplay band since their faces are similar to that of their ape counterpart and the apes play the instruments that their human counterparts play in real life (one of the guitarists is seen wearing his trademark hat later on in the video too).

'God's Plan' (Drake)

The music video opens with text which says 'The budget for this video was $996,631.90', before then saying that Drake and his label 'Gave it all away'. Throughout the music video, Drake surprises unsuspecting members of public with donations (be it groceries, scholarships, cars or stacks of cash). The music video sets a tone of optimism at the very start, as an older man reminisces about how he knew Denzel Washington and Wesley Snipes in his youth. He goes on to note that though he doesn’t make a living comparable to them, he enjoys similar levels of good health. At the end of the monologue, the man notes, 'It’s a good life, it’s a good life'; he doesn’t need all the money in the world to feel happy. This attitude embodies the sentiment Drake expresses throughout the video. Drake gives away a million dollars because he doesn’t need it to enjoy a good life. Despite this generosity, Drake admits that he still suffers no shortage of haters: 'It’s a lot of bad things / That they wishin’ / … On me' However, he refuses to let this spite perturb him, as he indicates through his goofy dance moves and beaming smile. However, Drake also received criticism for his music video, with people saying that he was showing off his wealth to those who are less fortunate than him, although the morale/message the music video and song was trying to get across was that you don't need money to be happy, and you shouldn't be selfish with your money and help others in need.

'Happier' (Marshmello)

Marshmello's song 'Happier' is about a a couple who are unhappy together, and the male in the couple wants to make his significant other happier, but realises they might have to breakup to achieve this. The music video has similar ideologies, but instead is about a girl and her dog. In terms of the lyrics ("I want you to be happier"), we are in the dogs point of view since the dog wants to make the girl happier after she is sad due to events happening in her life (children at her birthday party ruining her birthday party, being picked last in the football team, people making fun of her braces etc). The girl and her dog go through life together for a while, before the dog has to be put down do to old age/illness (it is unspecified); this links to the lyrics since to be happier, the girl must let go of the dog (like the man must let go of his relationship in the lyrics) in order to truly be happier. '20 years later', the girl has a daughter and is running her birthday party in the same place she had her birthday party earlier in the music video. The girl's daughter gets a dog (like she does at the start), and it seems as though the story of the girl will continue through her daughter.

Whenever the girl or her daughter gets given a dog, they glow yellow, which connotes happiness and joy; they are obviously very happy that they got a dog, and they showcase this through the yellow glow and the beaming smile on their faces. There is even more use of the colour yellow throughout the music video, with the girl wearing yellow and all the dog's toys, drinking bowl, bed (etc) are yellow, which connotes the fact that the dog is the one radiating happiness to this girl.