LO1: Demi Lovato - Skyscraper

Demi Lovato: skyscraper

Purpose & Form: 

The purpose of this is to entertain and inform about her story and make the people watching understand exactly what her story is. This is in the form of a music video for a song released by demi lovato. The music video’s purpose was to inspire people, with the powerful words within the song, as it goes through the experience she has been through inspiring other people in similar situations to what she has been.

Content & Meaning:

The content of the the song starts of really soft to give it a really emotional and it starts with it originally talking about the voices inside her head that told her she wasn't pretty enough or skinny enough like the rest of the society of girls thanks to how the media portray all these model women to be really skinny and airbrushed meaning that it lowers girls confidence. She was lead to believe she wasn't perfect enough that she actually started to self-harm and become anorexic and bulimic because of these voices within her head. This songs aim was to show she had the strength to rise above all these voices inside her head and be her own person, which she did going into rehab shortly after the song. The way her voice and lips are trembling and shaking within the video and song show she is or possibly may be on the verge of crying, which is also shown by the the close up of her face which shows her eyes tearing up and starting to show her pain through tears as she realized the song felt like a 'cry for help'. The volume from the start of the song is very soft and light to build up the impact of the pain throughout the song and lyrics. The first set of lyrics within the song are “Skies are Crying, I am watching, Catching tear drops in my hands, only silence as it's ending like we never had a chance. Do you have to make me feel like there's nothing left of me?” This line of lyrics is represented to the viewer by Demi singing right into the character so it feels as though she is looking you right in the eye, showing the pain she feels through her lyrics and tears in her eyes within the close up shot which is specifically focused on her eyes, this gives a big impact on the viewer. Especially with the last line of the introduction bit being 'do you have to make me feel like there's nothing left of me' as it touches the hearts of anyone with an insecurity themselves because they feel like this too, so they know exactly how she feels. The chorus of the song represents a lot within the song showing that she will rise above all the obstacles that are in contrast to the start of the song where is shows her at her weakest point going through all her fears to the point of which she gets stronger and trying to face these fears. T

Camera angles within the video relate and create anchorage in the music video. When the song states 'go on and try to tear me down' the camera appears to be looking up to her like you are trying to pull her down to your level which is often a phrase used against bullies trying to pull people down to their level of immaturity. This is also shown in the video when she says 'will be rising from the ground' she appears to be looking down on the camera creating anchorage. Another one that creates anchorage is when she sings 'like a skyscraper and she hold her arms up high standing tall, this shows the audience nothing will affect her and she's standing strong. As the song goes on to the chorus her voice gets louder and louder and even strong through the line ' go on and try to tear me down' shows this. The camera shot is shows is the low angle shot looking up to her which makes it look to the viewer that you are looking up to her, making it come across to the viewer that instead of looking down on her for all her flaws and bad things the media say, you should look up to her for being strong through all the media and bullies have said to be to put her down. Throughout the video you see a red heart and a glass like box which connotes the idea of the heart being protected by glass and can easily be broken, by the end of the video the glass shield is broken but the red heart is still standing strong and doesn't actually break, which connotes the idea of all the bad things people were saying about her may not have been true but the fact that her guard was broken showed that she was vulnerable.

The way she is completely dressed in white could connote innocence for the fact that she did nothing wrong to be treat how she was by the media and bullies, this also helps the idea of her being vulnerable. The colour white is also considered to be the colour of perfection and this could connote fact that she is in fact perfect in her own way and to stand up against all the bad things being said about her. the The light used in the video is shown to be the sun as the mise-en-scene of the music video is set on a desert where the light makes the singers face stand out, where the first shot is a long shot of the singer walking up to the camera beginning to focus on her eyes. The mise-en-scene of the sun being a light connotes the idea of natural light and her revealing who she really is.

 The music video for this song follows the narrative of the lyrics being sang at that moment in time, as all the way through the song you see Demi singing the song ans seeing her emotions and feelings towards the lyrics change throughout the song with the close up, extreme close up and wide shots used within the video. we have to interpret our own ideas from whats being shown to us but also the lyrics of the song. I think it shows that no matter how hard you get knocked down, you can get back up. The video shows her throughout so it implies the strength and ability you can have to hold on and get through whatever you set your mind to The music video is also conventional in the way it focuses directly on the artist of the song all the way through.

Camera angles within the video relate and create anchorage in the music video. When the song states 'go on and try to tear me down' the camera appears to be looking up to her like you are trying to pull her down to your level which is often a phrase used against bullies trying to pull people down to their level of immaturity. This is also shown in the video when she says 'will be rising from the ground' she appears to be looking down on the camera creating anchorage. Another one that creates anchorage is when she sings 'like a skyscraper and she hold her arms up high standing tall, this shows the audience nothing will affect her and she's standing strong.
  

Shot: Extreme Long shot
Edit/Effect: Cut to the next shot
This shot shows a trail along a really quiet desert, with just demi right in the middle. This is the first shot of the video which gives of the idea of lonely and the fact that is lightly could connote a new beginning.







Shot: Extreme long shot
Edit/Effect: Cut to the next shot, zoom in
This shows the demi walking straight towards the camera, connoting the idea of her facing some sort of problem, the fact that she is wearing white could connote she is having a new beginning, or some sort of innocence.

Shot: Close up
Edit/Effect: Cut to the next shot.
This shot is the first close  up of her face allowing you to see her emotions and feelings towards the lyrics.

Shot: Extreme Close up 

Editing:simple cut

This shot is a shot of just her eyes, showing that she is not afraid to face the problem straight in the face as she is looking directly into the camera.

Shot: Crane shot

Editing: simple cut

This shot is a shot of the singer to the left of the screen, however

as the camera lifts it makes her seem a little bit smaller in the space as the camera has gotten higher, to make her still seem vunerable, even though she is facing her fears.

Shot: extreme close up

Editing: simple cut to the next shot

This shows a shot of the singers mouth which she appears to be screaming the lyrics to the song which could connote power and strength against the things she is facing, I also notice the crosses in her earrings which could connote the fact that she has religious beliefs.

Shot: Crane shot  

Editing: simple cut to the next shot

This shows a crane shot which allows her to move around the space she is in as the camera moves which could connote freedom. 

Shot: Mid shot

Editing: simple cut

This shows her holding up a frame that looks broken frame which could have connotations of broken memories. 

Shot: Close up  

Editing: simple cut to the next shot

This shows a focus pull, and the main focus being her hands, it appears that demi is holding on to the lens of the camera for effect, which it does help as it really feels like she is showing she is conquering her fear. 

Shot: Low angle shot  

Editing: simple cut the the next shot

This shows that she is beginning to look into the camera, and is kind of like she is asking for help and beginning to face her fears of the problems in her life. 

Shot: Extreme long shot

Editing: simple cut to the next shot

This shows an extreme long shot of her walking towards the camera, this helps to add to the fact of a slow paced song as it’s not really fast paced its emotional and slow to help it connote the meaning and purpose of the song.  

Shot: High angle shot 

Editing: At the end of the high angle shot it slowly cuts to the next shot matching the slow pace.

This particular shot is used at the beginning of the music video which shows the figure of the artist walking through an isolated dessert, by using a high angle shot it makes the artist (Demi Lovato) appear very small, therefore creating a venerable representation of Demi. 

Genre: 

The genre of the song is  Pop ballad we know this because of the fact that she is only occupied by a piano as she sings some lyrics however further through the song she is accompanied by a heavy percussion and breathing backing vocals.

Audience: 

The target audience for this video is young girls, because she is trying to inspire them with the lyrics of the song saying the can overcome anything if they put their mind to it. It is also more targeted at girls as it is girl in the video, however it could be targeted at men because anyone could be inspired by her words/lyrics.