Music Video Analysis – ‘Shining Road’ by Cranes

I have chosen to analyse the music video for ‘Shining Road’ by Cranes, since it is another song by the same band and has an interesting video. The music video, however, doesn’t qualify to be a narrative music video, as the lyrics don’t share a relationship with the action on screen. It is therefore more of a performance video, that blends conceptual elements, with Alison Shaw lip syncing to the music throughout the video.

Media theorist Andrew Goodwin suggested that when you analyse a music video, there are five main aspects you must consider. These are:

1. Thought Beats – ‘Seeing the Sound’

2. Narrative and Performance

3. Star Image 4. Relation of Visuals to the Song

5. Technical Aspects

Initial Analysis

It is mainly a performance video that takes place in Mexico, but it also contains some conceptual elements that have no relevance to the lyrics. For example, there is lots of shimmering heatwaves, bright scenery, villages & animals, and Spanish playing cards that the band are shown playing together. There are also many shots that show the vast Mexican landscape and its mountainous/sandy terrain.

These visuals share no relationship to the lyrics whatsoever. For example, one of the song’s main lyrics are ‘Hit the bright lights, hit the road, to the city lights this time.’ This would suggest that the video would take place in a busy city at night time, yet instead the whole video takes place in Mexico.

There are also local villagers in the video, who appear to be performing some kind of ritual, most likely celebrating ‘Dia de los Muertos’ (Day of the Dead), a Mexican tradition to honour deceased loves ones. This is furthered with the shots of Hispanic ornaments such as the red skeleton depicted below. Again, this shows how the visuals lack a relationship with the song’s lyrics, and subsequently take on a more conceptual structure.

The performance aspect of the video combined with the aforementioned conceptual elements (such as the ritual and the villagers burning a wooden structure) helps to keep the audience engaged, adding to the video’s coherent repeatability.

In terms of technical aspects, the video is filmed in a 4:3 aspect ratio and has a grainy texture to it, giving it a raw and old-fashioned look. This is reflective of the time period in which it was released (1994) and therefore has a typical ‘early nineties’ aesthetic to it. The costume/clothing shown in the video reinforces this as they are wearing typical nineties clothing such as denim shorts and jeans, coloured t-shirts, and the lead singer (Alison Shaw) wears multiple dresses throughout the video.

The speedy rhythm of the video also matches the upbeat feel of the song; fast-paced cuts are used in quick succession which helps to keep the audience engaged throughout. The camera angles and movements in the video often juxtapose each other; an example of this would be when a close up shot of Alison Shaw lip syncing is used against a long shot of the Mexican desert.

Mise-en-scene is also used to match the warm, ambient feel of the song. This is shown through the location (desert, villages), props (musical instruments, cards, etc.), and natural lighting. The texture of the video is often very bright and grainy which helps to give the audience an impression of the dry, Mexican landscape in which the video is set.

It is very easy for the audience to identify Alison Shaw’s distinctive voice in the song, since it is so childlike and high-pitched. There are many close-up shots of her face when she lip syncs, and many medium shots that showcase individual members of the band playing musical instruments, reinforcing the performance aspect of the video. Therefore, the band’s ‘star image’ is often used throughout the video.

Other technical aspects include long shots of the sandy Mexican terrain juxtaposed against close up shots of Alison Shaw lip syncing. This unpredictability helps to keep the video more visually-engaging for the audience.

Applying Goodwin’s Theory

Thought Beats – ‘Seeing the Sound’

According to Goodwin, one of the most important things to consider when analysing a music video is the artist’s mode of address. He states that songs can be seen as stories and the artist (the storyteller) makes the music video a two way communication device – the artist telling the story, and us listening. This is shown throughout the music video by Alison Shaw lip-syncing directly at us in many shots.

By breaking the fourth wall, this music video becomes mainly performance-based, since she is acknowledging the fact that there is an audience to the song as we are watching her and the band perform.

The fact that many of the lyrics are in first person (“Is it all because of you? Every time I look at you”), entices the audience to engage/communicate with the reasons behind the song, which reinforces the notion of the music video being a two way communication device.

Narrative and Performance

Another key focal point is narrative and performance. Goodwin argues that songs fail to give us the complete narrative, we only get a gist of the song’s story. Music videos should have coherent repeatability. The artist acts as both narrator and participant which helps to increase the authenticity of the video. This analytical point can be applied to my chosen music video in a number of ways.

For example, the song gives us a gist that the lead singer (Alison Shaw) is explaining her past failings/difficulties with relationships to the audience, in a story like structure. Every line before the main instrumental sections are part of the story that she is telling the audience, regarding her difficulties with relationships in the past.

This is emphasised by Shaw lip-syncing directly to the audience, breaking the fourth wall, which gives the audience the opportunity to understand the roles of narrator and participant which helps believability. This is furthered with the personal lyrics such as “Just don’t worry I’ll be fine” and “Is it all because of you?”

The Star Image

The star image in this video is shown to be Alison Shaw. She is the main character of the video, shown by her lip syncing and the multiple close up shots of her face.

It is also easy for the audience to identify Alison Shaw’s distinctive voice, since it is so childlike and high-pitched, unlike any other singer.

There are many medium shots showing band members playing musical instruments, reinforcing the performance aspect of the video but also implying that they are simply a supporting act/band - Alison Shaw is portrayed to be at the forefront of the band.

Therefore, the ‘star image’ is successfully demonstrated in the music video.

Relation of Visuals to the Song

In terms of visuals actually representing the song itself, there is a very limited amount of this. There are however illustrative examples of musical instruments, such as the guitar and drums being physically played in the video at the same time they are heard in the song. But apart from that, the visuals are mainly used for performance purposes and to display conceptual elements that share no relationship to the song’s lyrics.

For example, the bright scenery, wild animals, and Spanish decorum shown in the video are completely irrelevant to the lyrics, which challenges Goodwin’s theory.

Furthermore, one of the song’s lyrical sentences are ‘Hit the bright lights, hit the road, to the city lights this time.’ This would imply that the visuals would display a vibrant night-time city like New York, but instead the whole video takes place in the mountainous Mexican landscape.

Technical Aspects

The technical aspects of this video are quite reflective of the heavy, warm tone of the song. For example, during the initial verse about her past relationship difficulties, the camera work is slow and the shots last the duration of a lyric.

However, once the main instrumental sections are introduced, the cuts are far quicker and the pace of camera is fast – exemplified by quick zooms of the sandy landscape. This is done to maintain the pace of the song and keep the video engaging for the audience.

The camera often uses many close up shots of Alison Shaw which makes the audience feel more connected to her, which helps reinforce the idea that this song is deeply personal to her.

Conclusion

In conclusion, analysing this video has given me an insight into the way that conceptual elements can be manipulated and successfully used alongside another main type of music video, which, in the case of this particular music video, was performance.

From this analysis, I have decided that I will include a few conceptual elements in my video, since it will give me the opportunity to incorporate a variety of visually-engaging imagery. However, I do want my lyrics to share some relationship with the visuals so my video won’t be purely conceptual.

Furthermore, as the lyrics to my song are very minimalistic and unconventional, there will be no performance at all. Instead, I want the main focus for my music video to be on the narrative that I have created, and the conceptual elements that will be interspersed alongside it, which, if done effectively, could give my video a really distinctive look.