Textual Analysis

Lana Del Rey - Born To Die

Directed by: Yoann Lemoine              Genre: Alternative

The video begins with Lana Del Rey hugging her love interest infront of a waving american flag. This is an animated version of the single's cd cover. The plot of the narrative is the artist and her love interest leave on a car journey where we see at the end leads to a car accident and their relationship going through a series of ups and downs.

Camera

Visuals and music: This video uses a range of camera movements and shots to keep the audience engaged. It is a mixture of performance and narrative. One shot of the artist sitting in a grand chair in the cathedral, it starts off as a long shot then the camera zooms in, getting closer to the artist and therefore allowing the audience to see more of the artist and her style. A tilt is also used when she is sat in the chair singing, so the audience are looking down at her in this palace looking location. A point of view shot is used when the couple are in the car heading down a long road, this makes the audience feel like we are part of the journey also. The last scene in the music video starts as close up with the man holding the woman in his arms, with blood all over her. As the camera starts to zoom out, finishing as a long shot, we see fire in the background suggesting a car accident. The darkness of the location emphasises the fire and this destruction could also show the destruction of their relationship.

Visuals and lyrics: When the chorus starts, the camera the zooms out again, showing the location and surroundings more than the artist herself. This helps to show the theme of the song, as she is in a posh gothic cathedral and it is emphasisng her class. When the video switches from performance to narrative, many panning shots are used to show the two lovers in the story and again the grand location that they are in. A two shot is used showing the couple in the car, this shot shows the tense atmosphere between them as they appear to have just had an argument and so are keeping their distance. The camera shots used link heavily to the lyrics of the song, for example, when she says 'come take a walk on the wild side' the camera pans, giving the effect that she is walking.   

Form and structure: We can tell this is a music video due to the amount of performance going on in the video. The narrative in this song also isn't very clear until the end where we realise that she is singing of bad relationships coming to an end. Also the shots that are used such as the zooming in and out shows the artist and location, making it obvious that this is a music video.

Genre: This video conforms to the alternative genre as the videos do not usually contain dancers but focus on the narrative and performance of the singer. Lana Del Rey's aim as an artist was to 'haunt' people when they listen to her music, which she certainly does here, not bringing in any happiness or dancing etc.

Mise-en-scene

Visuals and music: The location of the music video shows greatly the style of the artist. She is sitting in a throne type chair with two tigers beside her to represent the power that she has. This could link to the narrative by suggesting that she is the powerful one in the relationship. Costume is very important in emphasisng the genre of music here, with her wearing indie but stylish clothing. Her love interest in a very handsome man, with tattoos and stretchers in his ears which is a very popular look at the moment amongst indie boys. The lighting is particularly noticable in the second verse, where black shadows cross over the screen quickly, showing the artist lying alone, and then again with her love interest. When the couple are lying on the bed together, she is wearing white, suggesting she is the innocent one during all the fights they are having. Her partner on the other hands, simply wears a pair of jeans which suggests his rebellion, especially as all of his tattoos are on show. The other colours seen when performing are solid colours such as royal blue and white, again suggesting her power and innocence. Her make up is also perfect, with blood red lips, inspired by vintage fashion.

Visuals and lyrics: The location also links to the lyrics for example when she says 'when the road gets rough' in the video it shows them driving down the road. 'I can see but once i was blind' during these lyrics the lighting goes from dark to light, suggesting that she has become enlightened to reality.

Form and structure: By looking at the mise-en-scene you can see this is a music video because of the setting and the style of the performers. The way that the performers interact with the camera, looking directly into it allows us to see it is a music video.

Genre: The location changes a few times during this video, but all places are what you would expect of an alternative music video, for example the cathedral or the long road. Also the clothing sticks to the style of the genre and allows the audience to see what type of music this will be, the block colours and the hat she wears whilst singing is very vintage and is not something you would expect to see from an R&B or pop artist.

Editing

Visuals and music: The average length of the shots in this video are about 4 seconds long. There are longer shots included when showing emphasis on certain aspects, for example when the couple have fallen out in the car, the shot is about 10 seconds long so the audience can see her facial expression and see that she is not happy. This music video has continuity, creating a sense of reality and authenticity, techniques such as eye line match and cross cutting have been used.

Visuals and lyrics: This video is edited with quite a slow pace due to the slowness of the song. It is important that the rhythm of the song matches the pace of the edit and the storyline. This gives varation.

Form and structure: We can recognise that this is a music video due to the rhythm of the song matching the pace of the edits. This controls the whole mood of the song, this particular song having a haunting effect on the audience, and the overall impression that the artist is trying to give.

Genre: The way in which this video has been edited shows the genre of music as it is quite slow showing it is an alternative track. If it was a dance song for example, the editing would be much more fast paced with probably shorter shot duration and more cuts. The pace of this video has been kept slow to match the song and genre.

I think this video is 50% performance and 50% narrative. This allows the audience to become familiar with the artist, but also have a different interpretation of the meaning on the song due to the narrative.