Maroon 5 - Misery

Throughout this video, the audience is fully engaged within the narrative through the different camera angles. The video is acted out like a film with the use of point of view shots and the audience is constantly put into the characters positions. However; they are also made aware of editing techniques which shows them the editing process and to not fully submerge them in the narrative like a film.The song is constantly in sync with the narrative pace. Every part of the song is portrayed through the narrative. The audience is made to presume that the song acts as the conscience of the singer as a way of conveying his feelings and attitudes to their weird relationship, which is the message. Therefore, the merging of the bands world and actors’ world is evident in the video as the singer and actor are together for the majority of the time. This is not a typical conventionof amusic video, but is frequently being used more often.

Throughout the video, the audience rarely sees the other members of the band, only the singer, as he is carrying the narrative. However, near the end of the video, we catch glimpses of the other members in the narrative. Therefore, we do not see the band showing their musicality which is not a typical convention of a music video.

There is the frequent use of phallic images. This can be seen when the actor grabs the fence behind the singer which is code for sexual and arousing movements that are not conveyed explicitly to the audience. This is conventional as it draws the audience into the narrative and causes titillation which can be seen in an array of music videos.

Close up shots are used lots of the time in this music video, mainly focusing on the singer and actor. The singer sings toward the camera to the audience as a way of portraying his feelings to what is happening. The shots are used to carry the narrative, such as when the singer puts his hand on the actor’s hand, it carries the plot to another scene. This is due to the importance of those people to effectively portray the narrative and carry the plot.

The use of low angle shot shows the extent of the danger that the woman does to the singer which shows how their relationship is nice to very aggressive and violent the next as if she is playing around with him.

Also, the use of a low angle shot when the singer is up close next to the woman's body while at a low angle. This places the audience into a close place within the characters as Vernallis says "Such shots confer authority upon performers and assert their sexual charisma, often crudely, by highlighting the erogenous areas/zones of performers". This is a conventional feature of a music video as it allows the audience to fully be a part of the narrative and video.



The frequent use of reaction shots of the singer allows the audience to capture the reaction of the singer throughout the video. The use of this shot allows the audience to see the reaction from the action that had just taken place. This allows the audience to know how the narrative will unfold throughout the video.

There is also the point of view shot from the singer’s view which puts the audience face to face with the singer. This is code to allow the audience to once again interact within the narrative and be drawn into it. We are also put in the point of view from the woman as she looks at the singer, which links to the idea that the video is acting out like a film, which is unconventional of a music video to keep on engaging the audience into the narrative.

There is also the use of low angle shots to see the vulnerability of the singer. This angle allows us to see that the singer is in a more vulnerable state while the actor is in a more dominant position over him. A perfect example of this is when the actor drowns the singer in the sink and we see this from a low angle view to see his vulnerability in the video. As Vernallis says "Low angle shots are used more extensively in music video, partly because they reproduce relations among the audience". This also puts us in the narrative constantly as we are there while the actions take place. This reminds the audience of what they are watching and are not submerged into the narrative too.

The 180 degree rule is constantly broken by the act or and singer throughout the video. This is not a typical convention of a music video as the actors or the artist, were not supposed to cross the boundary as it would confuse the audience of what was happening next which is shown in the shot below of how we see the front of the singer then we see him running away, as he has crossed the 180 degree line. However, the 180 degree rule is constantly broken throughout different music videos as it captures the narrative successfully.

With the focus of the narrative throughout the video, the audience is aware of the editing process through the way that match cuts are used to continue the direction of the plot. An example of this is when the singer runs toward the actor, the actor pushes him away and without the audience noticing too obviously, the direction of the plot has smoothly trailed on. This music video exhibits the rhythm of the music to the narrative as Vernallis says "quick cutting or editing on the beat". This is a typical convention of a music video to not get the audience too engaged into the narrative.

The editing process can also be seen through the editing of the explosions when the actor fires the grenade launcher for example which is obviously through an editing process. Therefore, this allows the audience to disengage from the narrative and focus on the song and characters instead. The editing process of a music video is very important as Vernallis says "Music video editing bears a far greater responsibility for many elements than does classic Hollywood film editing".

The mise en scene of the video is in realistic scenery that people visit everyday. This links to the aggressive relationship of the singer and actor to be “real” for other couples. The clothing that the singer and actor wear is mainly denim, tattoos, boots and leather, which makes them stand out from the rest ofthe people and to focus on them solely. This is also code for the free spirit and individuality which is trying to be portrayed throughout the video. The costume also juxtaposes the realistic mise en scene giving the impression that they are different and makes them stand out.

There is the frequent use of blurred out vision that is code for allowing focus on the singer and certain parts of the actors' body throughout the music video. This also allows momentum of the plot to stay continuous and to not become static.

There is the use of the jittery hand held camera after the singer is run over by the car. This portrays a disorientating feeling for the audience as if they are made to think how the singer feels and to also try to follow his movements at a first hand view. This is a typical convention of a music video as they like to engage their audience into the narrative and make them a part of it while not being too engaged.

There are also temporal leaps within the video as it jumps from the toilet scene, to the café scene to the street scene randomly, however, the song is still sung chronologically by the singer. This is to portray a climax of the video of the message trying to be portrayed to the audience. Therefore, this is a typical convention of a music video as the use of temporal leaps would not make any sense in a film but is always found in a music video.

At the end of the video, the singer is in the same position as he was at the beginning of the video, laying down. What is also noticeable is that at the beginning of the video, the music did not start until the actor came onto the scene. At the end, we can see the opposite, as the woman walks away, the song stops and diegetic music can be heard such as road works, which shows a circular narrative. This is a typical convention of a music video as the video ends how it began.