Troye Sivan -

Analysis

Conventional?

• Artist appears in video.

• Lip-syncing.

• Editing matches pace of song.

• Costume changes.

• Theme of love appears in the video.

• Range of locations.

• Flashing lights reflect lyrics.

Meaning?

• The song was written by Troye Sivan, which he says was written for someone who was close to him during a tough time.

• This song could be referring to the person as a ‘pill’ because he feels they are like a drug to him, or it could also be implying how he no longer sees them and needs to ease the pain.

• The song is also about how society is materialistic but things cant make you entirely happy - people do.

• Sivan states that it’s about loneliness and the different ways people cope with things happening in their lives.

What does it give to the audience?

• The song’s meaning is defined differently by everyone, as they may not know what the artist’s meaning behind the lyrics.

• Because of this, everyone will feel differently about it and therefore it will create different emotions.

• ‘My happy little pill, take me away’-this could be perceived as someone being a good thing in their life and causing them happiness, could be taken as someone having a negative impact on them and needing to get away from them and could negatively be interpreted as suicide.

Language.

• Bright colours are used a lot in this video to signify happiness, but then this is contrasted with the use of dull scenes with a washed out effect. I think this is used to give the viewer two different ideas and perspectives of the song, giving them the choice of how they want to interpret it.

• There is 2 stories happening in this video; one of 2 people that are in love, and another of a boy who is playing football. I think this is to make it realistic to different people and appeal to a variety of audiences.

• The artist says ‘my happy little pill’ to show people how everyone’s happiness is different and people all have different feelings as he says ‘my’.

Institution.

• The record label that Sivan is signed to is Universal Records.

• Universal also have conglomerates, such as ‘Island Records’, ‘Def Jam Records’ and ‘Republic Records’.

• This institution is one of the ‘Big 3’ major record labels, therefore having access to large budgets on sets for music videos. I don’t think this applies to Sivan as he is a new and upcoming artist so they need to see if he will be successful to then put more money into what he does.

Ideology.

• Troye Sivan released the EP (which this song is on) through EMI Records Australia, but has signed a record deal with Universal Music.

• Universal have a range of genres on their label, as they have artists such as Taio Cruz (Mercury, Island and Republic Records), Nicki Minaj (Republic and Cash Money Records, and Young Money Entertainment), Florence & The Machine (Iamsound, Island, Republic, Universal Republic and Moshi MoshiRecords), Five Finger Death Punch (EMI and Spinefarm Records) and David Guetta (Capitol Music Group, Positiva, Virgin, Capitol, Perfecto and Big Beat Records, EMI, Parlophone and Astralwerks).

• Because of the range of artists and genres on their label, the dance-pop music of Troye Sivan fits in well.

• Universal Music are part of the ‘Big 3’ major record labels (Sony, Universal and Warner), so therefore the ideology of the label will be different to that of smaller independent labels.

• Universal’s ideologies are to make money, to promote their artists to get them more known (which can ultimately bring in more profit for the institution) and to create ‘stars’, conforming to Richard Dyer’s ‘star theory’.

• Because Troye Sivan is on this particular label, the ideologies of the artist will be similar to that of the institution. He will be trying to make money as this is something he is trying to have as a career, which is also what the institution is wanting him to do. But I also think that Sivan isn’t focused entirely on the money side of the industry, as he has written this song himself, so this shows how he is also in it for the music.

Audience.

• The audience for this song could be anyone of any age, depending on the understanding of the lyrics of the song.

• Because of this, it will attract a wide audience ranging from young teenagers to adults.

• I think this is a good way that the artist can receive recognition within the music industry, which in return will bring the institution a lot of money.

• As he is predominantly online, his music is accessible on things like YouTube and iTunes, which is a quick and easy way his fans can access his music.

• Because most of Troye Sivan’s fans know him from his YouTube channel, this means that a lot of them will be young teenagers, due to his content.

• This then means that he can use his channel to promote his music, and he also has a merchandise store that sells products relating to his first album ‘TRXYE’.

Representation.

• In this video, I think Sivan has tried to mainly focus on the actors in the video to reflect the lyrics rather than trying to demonstrate it using himself, although he does lip-sync in parts to show that he is the artist.

• In the video, he uses a lot of imagery and metaphors for illustrating the meaning of the song; for example using cinematography and an owl.

• An example of how he uses cinematography to project a metaphor is in the scene where Sivan seems to be falling. This reflects the song because it is showing how he isn’t in control of his feelings, as though his ‘happy little pill’ is controlling his emotions.

Mise-en-scene.(everything that appears before the camera)

• The video starts off with a bed, which gives the impression that the video will be in a home, and won’t be too extravagant.

• The video has lots of costume changes, and this simply makes the video look nice and appeals to people because it makes the video a lot more interesting.

• The lighting for parts of the video is a very bright red colour on the artist’s face, which I think makes the video look fun, vibrant and exciting.

• Another use of colour in the video is when the man and woman actors are in the pool and the purple lighting flashes. I think this looks really effective because it is in time with the beat of the song and also creates an exciting mood.

• In one of the shots, medals are shown to be hanging, which is used to illustrate how someone in the video is going to be sporty.

• In the shots with the coloured lighting, the artist is seen in the middle of the screen. This ensures the viewer focuses on him in these parts and really try to understand what he is trying to say.

• When the artist is not lip-synching, it is clear that he tries to connect with the audience as he often looks directly at the camera, involving them in what he is saying.

• After listening to the lyrics of the song and understanding how they can be understood in different ways, I was unsure of why an owl had been used. After researching, I found that the owl spirit animal is the announcer of death, and is also symbolic of a transition in life; change. I think that this fits in perfectly with the song as it refers to drugs, which could be the death symbolisation, but could also reflect the view of the song as a new beginning.

• For this music video, I counted 16 different locations used (although a lot of them are similar), which creates interest for the viewer and makes the video more enjoyable.

• They link together because this makes the narrative make sense as it makes the video flow.

• In this video, the artist has 3 different outfits, and I think this is due to the small budget the artist will have had due to it being his first official music video, although he has changed it which shows his effort for making the video look good.

Cinematography.(the movement and use of the camera)

• The first shot that is seen is an establishing shot of a bedroom, and this tells the audience that the video will be quite simple. The video then uses a medium close-up of the artist’s head looking out of a window, possibly signifying loss or isolation. Medium shots are then used to show the artist lip-syncing and to also show an owl, which I think represents someone losing a friend or loved one. The video uses a lot of long shots, medium close-ups and establishing shots throughout. The long shots are used in the video to show the actors in the video in their different scenarios and to portray different stories. Medium close-ups are used in the video to mainly show the artist lip-syncing but also to illustrate the multiple outfit changes in the video. The other people in the video don’t lip-sync as this would cause confusion for the viewers and wouldn’t make sense as it would make everyone in the video seem to be the artist.

Editing.(putting everything together)

• One editing technique that is used well in the video is the ‘ghost’ effect. I think this works really well with this song as it relates to the lyrics and it is also in time with the beat of the song. This makes the video enjoyable to watch and keeps the viewer intrigued because it looks interesting. This is used again to show the outfit changed in the video. I think this is effective because it flows with the song and therefore you don’t see it as bluntly as if it was a straight cut.

• At the beginning of the video the first setting is shown, and then a cut is used to show the artist’s name ‘Troye Sivan’, and then another cut is used for another setting and then cuts to the title of the song. This makes Sivan’s name more memorable, and this is essential for him, as he was initially more well-known for his YouTube channel so this will allow him to break away from only being known for this.

• Slow motion is used in this song near the end of the video.

• This scene features an owl setting off to fly, which I think is used in the video as symbolism.

• I think this is used in the video to reference drugs, as sometimes they can alter a person’s reactions or their thoughts in a negative way, and can slow the person’s mind down. I think this is used to illustrate the person Sivan is speaking about, and how they affect him in a huge way.

• Edits are also used in the video to separate the artist from the narrative, as there is 2 different stories happening.

Sound.(what you hear)

• Sound is used at the beginning of the song to follow up to the artist starting to sing, and I like how this is used because it gets louder and helps build up the narrative and sets the song up.

• The artist only lip-syncs in the parts that the camera is on him and when the background and lighting are colourful.

• If he lip-synched for the full video, it would be boring and no one would want to watch it because it would look the same all the way through.

• There are no sound breaks in this video for the narrative to take place, because the narrative happens alongside the lyrics.

Tessa Perkin’s Stereotyping Theory.

• In this video, this theory is seen with one of the actors in the video.

• The boy is seen to be playing football, which is stereotypically a male thing to do, although in the society we live in now, anyone can play it no matter their age or sex.

• This comes under one of the five assumptions Tessa states in her theory; that the stereotype is not always negative. This is because, although people assume football to be male-orientated, it isn’t a stereotype used to be unkind.