Below, I have evaluated the video for the song 'Wonderwall' by Oasis. I have analysed how the band have introduced the song to an audience and then how they have ended the song. I realised that with this particular video, the band have decided to start with the old fashioned record player being turned on which is playing the song and then finish with the record player then being turned off by the exact same actor. This is therefore a mirror of the beginning and the end of the video.
First Five Shot Analysis
This is the music video for Oasis’ song ‘Wonderwall’. The video begins with an establishing long shot of an empty run down room which seems to have been abandoned. Through using this shot, the audience are able to gain a feel for how the rest of the music video is going to be. From just looking at the empty dark room, I am able to come to the conclusion that the video is likely to have a very urban feel to it and be quite dull, dark and edgy. The shot lasts for around three seconds before we see somebody else entering into the scene. At this point, we still haven’t been introduced to the band, their name or anything that we may recognise them by. The whole of the video has been shot in black and white, which again emphasises on the edginess. Also, the first few shots have been edited to make it look like, as an audience, we are watching something happen through a CCTV camera until the song finally begins and the shots are widened.
This is the music video for Oasis’ song ‘Wonderwall’. The video begins with an establishing long shot of an empty run down room which seems to have been abandoned. Through using this shot, the audience are able to gain a feel for how the rest of the music video is going to be. From just looking at the empty dark room, I am able to come to the conclusion that the video is likely to have a very urban feel to it and be quite dull, dark and edgy. The shot lasts for around three seconds before we see somebody else entering into the scene. At this point, we still haven’t been introduced to the band, their name or anything that we may recognise them by. The whole of the video has been shot in black and white, which again emphasises on the edginess. Also, the first few shots have been edited to make it look like, as an audience, we are watching something happen through a CCTV camera until the song finally begins and the shots are widened.
As we go on into the second shot, we see somebody enter the room; however he is unidentifiable due to the medium long shot that has been used and the bright lighting which hides the facial identity. We see the actor walk into the shot, bend down and turn something inside of the box on and then walk straight back out. The duration of this scene lasts for around five seconds and at this point, the music still hasn’t begun.
An extreme close up of a dial is then shown for two seconds; we can hear the dial being turned slowly but still cannot hear the music. This denotes to the audience an indication that the song is about to start as we can finally hear something after 9 seconds of silence. Although the shot is in black and white, the dial is very clear due to bright lighting being used.
In the fourth shot, we finally understand what the dial is for as we are introduced to an old fashioned record player but none of the band members. This indicates to the audience that the band are old fashioned/retro and prefer to be unique by not using a more up to date CD player. The previous
shot then straight cuts into a high angle still image shot displaying the Oasis
record in the player and finally starting to play the music. Everything in the
shot is very dull and dark apart from the band name printed on the record in
white text. This instantly stands out to the audience and has been used so that
fans then identify what they are watching and can see that the song is about to
start. The shot lasts for two seconds.
A jump cut is again used to change from the still image of the record in the player to the record now spinning and the dial going round. This is where the music finally begins and we can start to see the video starting. Through using the record player, it makes me appreciate that I am watching an old classical music video rather than a more recent piece of music. You don’t really expect a more recent music video to be like this. The shot then fades back into the abandoned room where we see one of the band members in the middle of the room sitting on a chair singing and playing the guitar. Again, very unusual.
Final Five Shot Analysis
The ending of the music is exactly the same as the start apart from instead of the record being turned on and played, the record finishes and the same actor comes into the abandoned room and turns off the record player to show the audience that the music has now finished and that it is the end of the music video.
In the fifth final shot, a medium shot has been used to show the band members walking away from the camera, only leaving an unusual chair in sight. This has again been shown as if we were watching a CCTV camera as it is like we are watching one piece of footage inside of another piece. This has been very cleverly done.
The ending of the music is exactly the same as the start apart from instead of the record being turned on and played, the record finishes and the same actor comes into the abandoned room and turns off the record player to show the audience that the music has now finished and that it is the end of the music video.
In the fifth final shot, a medium shot has been used to show the band members walking away from the camera, only leaving an unusual chair in sight. This has again been shown as if we were watching a CCTV camera as it is like we are watching one piece of footage inside of another piece. This has been very cleverly done.
In the fourth final shot, we are introduced again to the unidentified man coming back in to turn the record player off as the music is now finishing. This has been filmed from a CCTV camera and has been done deliberately so that we cannot see the person so that we then have unanswered questions.
The shot then straight cuts into an extreme close up of the dial starting to stop which lasts for around two seconds before it cuts again to show the record slowly starting to stop and the dial being lifted to denote the end of the song.
Finally, the penultimate shot fades into the final shot which is where we see the actor who is shown numerous times throughout the video departing for the room after turning the record player off. It is very strange, as at no point we get to see who it actually is, which adds mystery to the video. This shot is 8 seconds long and again the lighting in the abandoned room is very bright.