AH Music Video Deconstruction

This music video by Coldplay for "The Scientist" has some typical conventions for its genre alternative rock. However, the video is also quite unique in the fact that it is played in reverse throughout.

Institution and Audience

Coldplay are one of the most successful bands in the world and are very mainstream and part of a record label. This would mean that their music videos will gain a large amount of air-time on the main music channels due to their popularity. As a result people would consume this music video more ambiently whilst watching music channels such as MTV. However, since this particular song is now a few years old, it is going to receive less ambient viewing since the music channels will want to stay up to date with the latest music. This means that there may be more focused viewing of the video with more people purposefully searching for it online, via YouTube.

As for the institutional context of the video, Coldplay's record label is EMI who are a major record label. They would probably have some say in the style of video Coldplay make to ensure they stick to their style and don't stray to far from the star image that has been created for the band.

Genre and Narrative
 Using Goodwin's theory, when listening to this song the synaesthetic effect it gives is one of an emotional mood which is amplified by the video because it is about a car crash where someone has died which is clearly emotional and hence, reflected in the song. In addition the lyrics clearly play a part in the visuals of the music video. The line "I'm going back to the start" is clear evidence of why the video is playing backwards. The music video also shows Barthes theory of 'grain of voice' which sees the singing voice as personal to the singer and therefore the audience is able to see that the song is telling a story about the singer and it is happening in the video. This is further expressed by the breaking of the fourth wall which clearly shows the singer as the storyteller. Goodwin would describe this video as illustrating the meaning of the lyrics with some amplification as the video is quite artistic in the way it is in reverse.

Representation

During the video, Dyer's theory of paradoxical contradiction is shown as the lead singer is seen to be both present, as he breaks the fourth wall at the beginning of the video, but also absent, as shown towards the end when there is no breaking of the fourth wall or lip-syncing. The star persona of the band is further constructed by mise-en-scene with costume being important. During the video, the lead singer pulls on a leather jacket which, from our cultural code, we would associate with being "cool". The video also develops the band's meta-narrative because it tells a story of losing someone close to you in an accident which could potentially be your fault. This creates a sense of sympathy towards the band and adds specifically to their meta-narrative.

Only a few different social groups are represented in the video, including men, women, young black men and white youths. Firstly, the most prevalent social group is men who are represented in the video by the lead singer, Chris Martin. The representation of him during the video is that he is from an urban background as shown by the location for the majority of the video. In addition, there are numerous camera shots from a lower angle than eye-level which gives indication that he is of importance and dominant within the video. Lastly, until he pulls on a leather jacket, his costume has connotations of being normal with plain white and black clothes, however the leather jacket has more connotations of being more masculine and trendy. Secondly, white youths are given quite a typical representation as a boy if seen hanging around in an urban setting casually riding on a BMX. This is a very typical view of white youths from urban areas and suggests they have nothing better to do than hang around.

There is some ideological discourse in the video with some dominant values and beliefs being both reinforced and challenged. First of all, the end where the lead singer is shown driving the car and the woman as the passenger is an example of dominant values in our society being reinforced because in our society men are often driving instead of women. The artist may have done this for a couple of reasons, such as to show that he is the more dominant person in the video and holds more importance than the women. Another reason may be that it simply fits the storyline of the video as it could be seen that it is his fault for her dying when he crashes the car. Furthermore, the stereotypical representations of youths are being reinforced with one shown riding around in an urban area on BMX and some young black men playing basketball. These are very stereotypical and are being reinforced by the artist maybe because with the video being played backwards, it gives a different outlook on the stereotypical things that these groups are doing, such as playing basketball. Lastly, one dominant belief that is challenged is the type of person who comes from an urban area. The lead singer is walking around an inner-city area, but from his costume, non-verbal language and the audiences cultural understanding of urban areas, the typical people from urban areas is being challenged. The artist may have done this to show that he is different to the stereotypical people and you don't have to be a specific type of person to be from an urban area.