Alicia Keys and Jack White ‘Another Way to Die’

Music Video Analysis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suXkdsftsVU

Background ● The song was written by Jack

White and performed by him featuring Alicia Keys. It’s

purpose is to advertise the 22nd James Bond film ‘Quantum of Solace’ as the song is the theme music to that film.

● It was recorded in 2007 and released in October 2008, with the music video released on YouTube in September 2008.

● It is an alternate rock song.

Type of Music Video● It is very much a performance video set in two

locations. A desert and a CGI wavey-line type of place that is difficult to describe. There seems to be no narrative to the video, it is just the two singers performing the song in both locations.

Genre Characteristics● It doesn’t really behave like a rock

video. The costumes are a dinner, posh dress and tuxedo which instantly suggest a pop song because they have that happy exciting feel which is common of a pop song. The lighting is also really dark and mysterious, too dark for alternate rock, which makes it look more like an “emo” heavy rock song than an alternate rock song. Also the gold waving lines look posh which again isn’t common of an alternate rock video. Most alternate rock videos also have a narrative.

Relationship between the visuals and the lyrics.

● The visuals have absolutely nothing in common with the lyrics. The line that shows this best is ‘It’s just another way to die’ and the video doesn’t show any methods of death or anyone dying or any other connotation of that line. The video may contain a gun barrel and Daniel Craig holding a gun, but these aren’t pointed at anyone or at anything that could do any damage thus meaning there is nothing in common between the visuals and the lyrics.

The Gun barrel sequence

Relationship between the visuals and music

● The video is slower paced than the fast paced music, creating a calm and relaxing effect, however at some points where there is a guitar beat (like at 03:25) the video jumps a bit and does a quick zoom in and a quick zoom out to try and artificially create a fast paced effect without having to be edited quickly.

Shot Types

● There are a range of shot types, most of them are two-shot so that both artists can be seen performing on screen, like when she is at the piano and he is at the guitar. However, there are some mid-shots and individual close ups to help suggest important lines for each performer or maybe show what line is their favourite or just to make the line seem stronger to the audience. This happens a lot during the waving line CGI sequences.

Voyeurism

● There is no voyeurism in the video. This makes the performers look respectable and more trust worthy as they are not using sex to sell their images. This helps make them appear more talented as they do not require sex to sell their music.

Intertextuality● There is a lot of Intertextuality with

the Bond films in the music video. He is wearing a James Bond style outfit from the DVD cover of ‘Casino Royale’ and she is wearing a stereotypical Bond Girl dress. The location is the same desert from the film ‘Quantum of Solace’ and at the end, Daniel Craig as Bond is in the video holding the machine gun, the same shot from the ‘Quantum of Solace’ trailer. There is also a gun barrel sequence which is the famous opening to the Bond films. All this helps to better advertise the Bond film the song was created for.