Panic Cord – Gabrielle Aplin

Annabel Street

• Gabrielle Aplin is a 22 year old, English, singer-songwriter. ‘Panic Cord’ is her third single released from her debut album ‘English Rain’ in 2013.

• The video is very conventional for a folk pop/singer-songwriter track.

• The first shot we see is the artist from behind (a shot which I first thought was unconventional for music videos, however I have often noticed it in this genre when deconstructing videos). This shot distances her from the audience as she has her back turned on us and is not making direct contact.

• The high key lighting of the shot, along with the plants and the use of white clothing, bedding and shutters, gives a calm and innocent tone to the video. The colour white also has connotations of virginity and perfection suggesting the peaceful nature of the artist. These themes automatically make the audience feel relaxed.

• This two shot shows the artist with a man, who has just given her a flower and suggests the theme of the song is romance. Both characters are smiling, implying, as we don’t hear any lyrics at this point, that the song will be positive.

• The use of the colour white again (flowers) carries on the impression of innocence and purity.

• Conventionally, close up shots are used when the artist is lip-syncing. However, she doesn’t look at the camera to create direct ‘mode of address’ giving a sense of realism – we are looking in on her life, not being spoken to.

• It is clear that she is singing about someone else - we assume the boy we saw previously.

• In one case, an extreme close up is used on her mouth, cutting off her eyes. This further distances us from her.

• We then see the artist open up a box and start pulling out different objects. This matches the lyrics ‘you kept all the things’ and ‘we’re just a box of souvenirs’. This shows Goodwin’s theory of visuals which reflect lyrics in music videos.

• Throughout the video we see flashbacks of the girl and boy taking part in different activities that include the objects from the box.

• It is clear that there are good memories and bad memories. In some of the clips she looks bored while he looks happy. This goes with the lyrics ‘maybe you were happy, I was bored’, again showing Goodwin’s theory.

• At the end of the video it is clear that they have broken up as she walks away. As she is leaving, we hear the lyrics ‘Maybe I’m the one to blame’ suggesting she knows she had done wrong and it’s her fault they broke up.

• The camera follows her instead of the boy, and as she has more screen time, we feel more sympathetic towards her rather than blaming her for the situation.