Far AwayNickleback

Andrew GoodwinAndrew Goodwin had 7 key ideas that he believed could be identified within a music video. He also believed that each one of these ideas could be found within most, if not all, music videos. For example, he stated that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics, for example a stage performance in a metal video or a dance performance in a boy/girl band music video. Throughout my music video analysis I intend on addressing the different ideas that Goodwin suggested existed within a music video.

Genre CharacteristicsFor my third analysis I have decided to choose a song that is similar to the genres that I have analyzed before, but not exactly the same genre, as to try and fully understand the concept behind creating a music video. I chose the song ‘Far Away’ by the band ‘Nickleback’. This song falls into the genre of acoustic-rock. Within these videos it is common for them to portray strong feelings through the use of lyrics and visuals. Nickleback do this very well within the video for ‘Far Away’ as it consists of a couple where the male has a dangerous job, which he gets called to do within the video. As he gets the call the woman becomes annoyed and very worried as this is clearly pointed out through her performance and a two shot of the characters in which she turns away from the man. Later within the video the idea of the woman feeling worried is reinforced as she switches the TV channel, which is followed by a close up on the TV to show she has changed it to the local news stations so that she can keep track of the fire that her partner has gone to try and extinguish. Finally the woman shows intense sorrow and depression near the end of the video – made clear through the use of a medium-close up and shallow focus - as she receives word that a tree has fallen upon her partner. This is then followed by an enormous amount of relief as she sees that her partner has made it home alive. This is effective as the audience that it is intended for could relate to the pain of nearly loosing someone that they love. Throughout the video, it is intercut with performance shots from the band. This is common in a song like this as the performance links with the rock section of the genre while the narrative links greatly to the acoustic genre.

Relationship between lyrics and visuals

Throughout the video there is a few moments in which the lyrics and visuals link together. One point of this is when Chad Kroger sings the line ‘If I don’t see you anymore’ and the female character watches the man leave, knowing that it may be the last time that she will get to see him. This is effective as it gets the audience thinking about what exactly the male has as a job that could be so dangerous that the woman may never see him again. Later in the song the Kroger sings the line ‘I forgive you’ which is quite contradictory to the scene playing out. The male character at this point is being left stranded in this dangerous place by the helicopter, which would be a difficult thing to forgive as this causes a tree to fall on him instead of him being safely on the helicopter. Leading onto my next point, Kroger sings ‘Keep breathing’ as the video uses a multi-take to make it seem as though the male character has been crushed by a falling tree.

Close-ups of the artist?Throughout the video there is a lot of close ups of the artist, mainly Chad Kroger. This is because he is the lead singer within in the band and the close-up shots follow the common conventions of a music video. Nearly every scene that has performance in it includes a close up of Chad Kroger. This has likely been done as he is the main face of the band ‘Nickleback’ therefore he is a major selling point for the band. Thus when the music video ahs been recorded the director has decided to include lots of close-up shots on Chad Kroger. As you can see in the images below, when the director has taken these close-up shots he has made use of the rule of thirds technique to frame Chad Kroger.

Notion to looking?Throughout the music video there is some notion to looking. It begins with the female character looking away from the male to try and avoid eye contact with him. This two shot helps to portray the feelings that the woman has at this moment in time so that the audience can clearly understand the narrative of the video without having to think about it too much, which could possibly lead the audience to be put off from the rest of the video. Secondly the male character is seen looking at the helicopter and shouting as it takes off leaving them behind. The mise-en-scene of this shot, most importantly the performance from the actor, heavily impacts upon the audience as they can clearly see that just from the facial expressions of the actor, he has lost hope and realizes the danger of the situation that he has managed to find himself stuck in. Finally, the female character looks across the fireman in one of the final shots of the video with depression as she notices that her partner is not among them. Her expression suddenly changes to the opposite as she sees her partner emerge from behind the other firemen. This is effective as it makes the audience feel relief and joy for this woman as she finds out that the man that she loves is still alive.

Is the video category illustration, amplification or contradictory?

Personally, I believe that the video falls into the category of amplification as it amplifies the feelings that the song is about within the music video. It also amplifies the lyrics through the use of visuals. The narrative is about a firefighter being called away from his partner to take care of a forest fire in which it is suggested that he dies, just to be revealed at the end that he did not in fact die. The song is about loving someone, it is clear that in the narrative the woman is in love with the man who is believed to have died. Throughout the video it shows this by shots of the woman appearing to be incredibly worried about the man as he has been called out to do such a dangerous job, followed by her becoming depressed and crying when she hears that he has not returned with his fellow firemen. Finally, it portrays the idea of love by her reaction of joy, relief and happiness at the end of the video when she notices the man walk out from behind the other firemen.