Analysing, Devlin ft. Yasmin - Runaway

The music video for Devlin's 'Runaway' featuring Yasmin is an illustrative as the hand gestures given by Devlin directly illustrate the lyrics being sung. 




In this clip there is a relationship between the lyrics and visuals, first off the lyrics 'visualing paradise, i woke up and rolled over' are accompanied by the artists hand gestures where he points to his head and then moves his hand in a rolling motion which illustrates the respective lyrics.  Hand gestures are also a generic convention of rap music and conveys them in a physical stimulus, the audience can then see the lyrics aswell as hear them.





In this clip there is a clear relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, where it says 'i gotta leave, i gotta go' we see a pair of walking legs to show a person 'leaving' or 'going'.  There is also the lyrics 'i gotta be free' which is accompanied with birds flying away and this is a symbolisation of the desire for freedom and want to be like the birds.





In this clip there is a relationship between the music and the visuals as we have a piece of music along with the people begining to run, which builds up to the chorus and gives the chorus more of an impact.  When we reach the chorus the music has a beat added to it and this impact of the music amplifies the meaning of the song.  Also in this clip there is an example of voyeurism where we see Yasmin looking at the camera during the chorus, in a seductive/attracive way, however it has a notion of innocence which when tied in to the context of the song makes sense as the song portrays her as a victim.  Also immediatly after, we see Devlin himself looking down the camera with a face of saddness and sensitivity as if he has the weight of the world on his shoulders which can be related to by both male and female members of the audience as a admiral quality.






In this clip, we see a triple-layered conveyance of the song's message; there is a relationship between the music and visuals, in that, as the beat stops and the music becomes soft, there are images of open spaces such as the 'pier' which infer freedom and peace (as well as the sun rising, always a cause for optimism).
As well as this, the lyrics and visuals have a relationship:  the line 'the unwinding of eternal rage' epitomises this, and adds to the message of peace inferred by the aforementioned shots.
Close-ups of the characters reinforce this, especially the black woman who looks as if she is about to cry as that line is sung - her own 'unwinding'. There are multiple close-ups in the clip of both the artists AND other characters which allow us to see the emotions and perspectives of numerous characters, thus amplifying the songs message.


The music video is an Amplification as it conveys story's emotions through the video but not the story itself. The lyrics and music communicate the story, so when the song is added to music video, it has twice the impact.

We have learnt from this video that adding effects to video to alter the colour (ie, saturation/contrast) can reinforce the mood of the song. For instance, in 'Runaway' the video looks more dingy and colourless: although colours are present, they are not vibrant or bright. This makes the mood of the song/video more evident. This is something we shall address in our own music video.
Again, shots of feet are used to emphasise movement.
One thing we'd like to try to emulate in our music video is the way the camera circles the performer in the performance shots. This is done at multiple closeness levels and is an original way of portraying the performance.