Textual Analysis #1 - Pink - Family Portrait

Conventions of form:
The familiar and predictable forms and techniques used by the media to communicate certain ideas or to convey a desired impression.
Conventions genre:
The common characteristics or conventions of any genre, including film, are sometimes calles codes. These include structural codes, which are such features as particular kinds of plot, character or setting. Stylistic codes include such features as particular lighting, shooting style, or music.

P!ink - Family Portrait
For one of my textual analysis', I have chosen Pink's 'Family Portrait', as it links very well with my style of music video that I am re creating - a love triangle. Pink demonstrates this very well in the following music video.



Cinematography:
In this video, there is a wide range of cinematography elements used throughout. Many high angle shots are used, particularly during the beginning. This may purely be because the lyrics used in this part of the song are not of the happiest; Pink is talking about how her mum is always crying and this is because of her dad; 'Mumma please stop crying, I can't stand the sound, your pain is painful and it's tearing me down'. The use of the high angel shots in this instance clearly highlight the fact that the female protagonist (Pink) is most definitely the submissive in this shot, along with the younger version of herself. Many close ups have also been used in this video, most notably when switching from the female protagonist and the female antagonist (young Pink), in this case because the audience wants to see two different emotions. The young Pink in this instance can be seen to be upset and worried, hence why she sings the lyrics 'mumma please stop crying, I can't stand the sound', whereas the present Pink seems to have given up on trying, hence why she sings 'I don't want love to destroy me like it has done my family'. Two shots are a regular cinematography element in this video, particularly when the protagonist and antagonist, confidently highlighting that there is the need for two characters so neither character feels lonely, which is a key idea in this song.

Mise-en-scene:
This music video, again, uses many aspects of mise-en-scene, the first being very limited dark colours, for example, the white tank top and plain blue jeans, white bed covers, white phone etc. The main reason behind this is because the artist would want the focus to definitely be on the lyrics, as the lyrics themselves has meaning; the video is, in this case, just to accompany the lyrics. Dull, dark lighting has also been used in most scenes in this video, particularly those where both the protagonist and antagonist are shot together. Most of the scenes with both in convey a more down, depressing mood, compared to the rest of the video where some natural lighting has been allowed to occur ( most notably in the first scene where Pink can be seen to be in bed - lighting from outside has been allowed to enter, likely because it represents Pink starting the same, original, tedious day - much like that of Gary Jules' Mad World. Casual clothes are a big thing in this music video; Pink wears jeans and plain tops all the way through and so does the younger version of her. This connotates the run down life that Pink is living; she doesn't want to dress up and doesn't feel like doing large amounts of makeup (minimal makeup is used in every shot). This then links with the location. The location of this performance is at a run down apartment, most likely in an American city. I find it relatively normal that the producer has chosen to film in what looks like a lonely abandoned apartment, seen as the key idea of the song is about loneliness, and how the protagonist has felt alone for a big chunk of her life.

Sound:
There aren't that many sound elements in this video, however non-diegetic sound is the main sound used. This is the most important sound element, and is used in almost 100% of all music videos. In this song, non-diegetic sound is used the whole way through the music video, as the song (which is the non-diegetic sound) is played throughout the whole video, and no other sounds can be heard at all. Towards the end of the video, the song quietly dissolves instead of automatically cutting out. This is an effective way of keeping the audience involved with the song until it finishes entirely, as the audience now have the chance to, instead of just focusing on the lyrics, focus on the emotion that each character feels, however this is mainly centred on the female protagonist. The main element in this performance is the fact that there is more than just the artist performing the song; the female antagonist is performing a good range of it too, and this would have been used for effect - the idea of a broken family, a child upset would mean more to an audience and affect them more than an adult upset etc.

Editing:
The order of the shots in this video are mainly chronological; they tell a story. This means that there is a big use of verisimilitude in this video, as the video is set with the sue of continuity editing; the story is in the right order and physically makes sense. Not only this, it is easy for us as the audience to understand - a big thing for industries to take into account, as, if a music video doesn't make sense, it is less attractive for the audience, which therefore means they are less likely to buy it. Basic editing skills have been used, however a very complex storyline has also been used. This could have been used for effect, as the audience, having to interpret a complex storyline, then do not have to also interpret why the editing effects have been used in that way etc.