Music Video Analysis #3

Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles

This music video is basic and simple. It stars Vanessa Carlton and starts with her unveiling a piano in a garage. Then the piano starts to move with her as though they are being pulled along. This could be classed as a 'Tracking Shot'. The background keeps changing from the road, a children's party with a bouncy castle, outside a house, on a mountainside, the middle of a busy city, by a market place, next to running horses, a city at night, below skyscrapers then back to her house where the piano becomes stationary once again. Once the song has ended she leaves the room.

The piano must be mounted on the back of a vehicle with the camera sat opposite. This is a clever technique to use as the singer and the piano move together. This also make the singer and piano are the main focus of this music video and most of the emphasis is on the singer. Natural light appears to be used as most of this video is set outside, so little or no artificial will have been used. 

The background changes so often that it can be quite distracting, although if an interesting background was not used then this video would be quite dull and boring. The changing scenes are the only other focus of this video.

I don't think that the music video represents the songs lyrics well. The song is about love and how far she would travel to be with the one she loves, although this is not represented in the video. The background changes frequently, showing different places around the world, which could be representing the '1000 miles' that she sings about.

The camera mostly uses long shots although halfway through the video switches to 'medium close up' then 'close ups' of the singers face and eyes.

The purpose of this music video is to promote both the song and the singer.