Adele – “Rolling in the Deep” Analysis

The music video to “Rolling in the Deep” lasts approximately 3:49. The song belongs to the pop, soul and blue-eyed genres but the star image herself is somewhat of a subversion of typical ‘pop’ culture given that pop stars are generally connoted with slim and slender, happy-looking people who have the tendency to dance and sing and party constantly. On the other hand, Adele is curvier and more serious and it is this immediate countertype that makes the video appealing and alluring to its audience. The music video can be considered to be a hybrid of both narrative and performance, although the narrative appears to be somewhat obscure. It contains the lead singer, Adele, in a large and empty house, sitting inside an empty room, alone. In other scenes as the music video progresses, Adele is captured to be throwing plates at a white screen, expressing her inner, angry emotions. Much of the video contains shots of the house, with props such as a floor’s worth of glasses of water to represent the abnormality of the situation. The lack of people performing in the video also adds to the authenticity of the performance, given that it is mostly about Adele’s character, or possibly even exposing her own inner turmoil which adds authenticity and credibility. It enables her audience to be able to relate to her raw and human emotions.

In the first sequences of the music video, the camera moves in closer to Adele as she is sitting with her profile side to the audience. This in itself is an unusual element, as pop singers tend to face the camera at eye level height when performing. It is almost for the benefit of the audience, as though they are drawing themselves closer to her to find out what her story is about. Much of the music video includes dynamic camera movements; these appear almost legato and swift-like, which may be a convention of Adele’s blue-soul music. It appears almost mysterious and dream-like, too. I am fond of the way the editors have therefore made these transitions somewhat swift and elegant as it creates a dramatic notion. Other dynamics are created through the vibrations of water in the

glasses. They suggest that something is approaching; boiling over, creating tension within the narrative. And this is reflected by the constant drum beat which further creates the energy within the music video. The water is also a symbol of her inner turmoil, and the calm equilibrium within her breaking apart. The fact that the glasses are not completely full is reminiscent of the phrase: ‘glass half empty or glass half full’. In my opinion, this is linked to destiny and fate being in your own hands, depending on the mind set you carry with you. Her glasses being half full suggest that she may have hope and potential to return back to her balanced life, but with the water molecules vibrating almost uncontrollably, they may reflect the difficulty and lack of control she has.

As aforementioned, the notable editing technique here is the montage. Especially during the climax of the music video, the scenes tend to collate energetically and dynamically as a whole. Sequences of scenes from the bridge of the song until the end are transitioned within the montage very quickly, fleetingly. This connects with the beginning of the song where it is free-flowing, until this part of the music video, near the end, where there is simply a montage of scenes, including the sword dancer; the plates breaking; the model city being rained on; Adele singing; the drummer drumming. This compilation of events are almost mirroring the chaos that could possibly be taking place in Adele’s mind and the fact that she is striving for liberation within herself. This inner turmoil is seeping out quickly and uncontrollably away from her grasp. The variety of activities taking place is also mentionable. For instance, the prop model city could reinforce the lyrics of the song ‘We could have had it all’, as though her and the other body to make the ‘we’ could have taken the world. The strength of her love that he once shared could have overcome anything small or great, such as this city. The fact that it is simply a model suggests that this was only a dream in the making, and that reality destroyed this possibility. The drummer that constantly drums in the background on the lower floor of the house also mirrors the beat within the song, the constant drum rhythm. This is suggestive of the constant trauma and crisis that Adele may face. Equally, the drum is there to hold the piece altogether and not fall out of place; she needs this to create her masterpiece, and to return to equilibrium (in relation to Todorov’s narrative theory). The fact that Adele is constantly captured to be singing despite all of this chaos suggests her strength and ability to shine through her hurting.

Another editing technique that I thought was very meaningful within this music video was the slow motion. Once example of this is the sword dancer. The movement of the dancer is only ever captured with a still camera in a wide shot to take in the set in which he dances in. The dancer may be reflective of Adele’s character, in the sense that someone as talented and crafted as Adele is hidden away within four, dull, empty walls. The dancer reflects this idea of Adele through its beauty and dream-like movements. The emotions of sadness and hurt expressed through lyric is captured through this beautiful combination of song and dance, and aesthetically, it makes the music video even more captivating for the audience. At the same time, one could suggest that the lyrics that you hear being performed are asynchronous to that of the dancer. This sequence is somewhat incongruous.

Similarly, the breaking of the plates is also captured through the slow motion effect. This allows the audience to acknowledge the gradual breakdown that Adele is covertly going through. The fact that the plates, objects that are usually so wholesome and complete are now broken into pieces before your eyes. This reflects how incomplete and insecure Adele is portrayed to be through lyric and video. The act of breaking the plates further shows the anger that she is expressing; this very raw and instinctive state of human existence is slowed down in pace to capture the authenticity of the performance.

In terms of lighting and colour, much of the music video is captured in low level lighting or natural lighting, simply. The dark colours, particularly that of the room that Adele sits in throughout the music video is reflective of the conflict that she faces in her life. The darkness shows her despair and heart break that she experiences through something that could have been but did not work out for her – which can be suggested through the lyrics. Interestingly, there are neon lights used when the plates are breaking, and where the dancer is performing. The juxtaposition between the grand, unused house and the neon lights reflect the binary opposite of old-fashioned custom vs. modern technology. The lights seem almost incongruous within this setting, something that is almost unwelcome. Nevertheless, I really like the way in which the music video is seen to be filmed within one main setting - the house, and all the scenes are captured within certain parts of the house. This is an element that I will consider in my own production.

Further, the sound that we hear are also non-diegetic as Adele is clearly lip syncing to a track. The track would therefore have been included in post-production for clear and quality sound, as I am sure that the acoustics of the house would prevent the music video from

having high quality sound, other than if it was recorded and added in a studio. The sound, however, does appear synchronous as she mimes to the track, to make the audience believe that she is naturally performing with such fluidity and no mistakes or cuts. I believe that this makes for a professional finish as the performance is very natural and authentic. Other activities that we do see, such as the drumming, the dancing and the breaking of the glass are also swept away in the sound of music, so that the natural sound of these activities is muted. This is rather dramatic and captivating; as part of the audience, I am overall thoroughly captivated by both the narrative and the performance.