Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One
This Sam Smith music video features a variety of locations such as a suburban home and some form of bar/club. This develops a visual contrast between the main male characters life with his wife and life outside of his home, where it could be suggested he is cheating on his wife. there isn't a significant colour to represent the message of the music video but a juxtaposition between high key lighting and low key lighting. The high key lighting surrounds Diana Agron's character displaying her vulnerability but ultimately, how she is the innocent wife being treated badly.
This contrasts with the low key lighting when her husband can be seen interacting with another woman, showing that what he is doing is wrong and his intentions are bad.
Certain iconography like the fire which Diana Agron's character starts is significant because it shows at the same time the music video cuts the scenes of the Husband cheating on his wife. The heat from the fire could be suggested to match the heat between the Husband and his mistress, giving reason for the love affair.
In the shot of the back of the Wife staring into the fire, the depth of field is small, allowing our attention to be placed on the female protagonist. This shot composition actually changes the way we see the female character because it empowers her. The fact we can see her burning her unfaithful Husband's clothing and the brightness coming from the flames show Diana Agron's character in a new light and change the character dynamics.
The long shot of the Wife character sitting in the middle of the floor connotes a sense of despair and loneliness about the character.
Her body language also demonstrates a feeling of pain and suffering, due to the knowledge of her unfaithful Husband. The editing in the music video is fairly slow paced due to the tempo of the song itself. The ballad requires a slow paced video to accompany and the shots are slowly transitioned throughout the piece. The editing does cut between scenes of the Wife and the Husband with his mistress.
The use of this is to show what each party is doing at the same time to highlight how distraught the Wife is. Accompanied with the lyrics "You say i'm crazy, because you don't think I know what you've done." the split between both characters shows the Husband doesn't realise his Wife knows about his affair, playing true to the lyrics.
The genre of Sam Smith's music is Soul. All of the music he produces is typically of this genre due to the real world problems it covers and the relatable references within his lyrics. The narrative featured in this music video is a Wife who is being cheated on by her Husband but he doesn't know she is aware of it. Due to the lyrics and the style of music Smith produces, the storyline could be expected in the video because it perfectly matches the lyrics. Some subverted aspects which feature in the narrative are the binging of alcohol by Diana Agron's character as she appears to be a old-fashioned, traditional woman. Also the fire which she starts is quite unexpected for the video and the character which Luke Monaghan created.
Todorov's theory can be applied to the structure of the video because the beginning shows an equilibrium where the Husband and Wife appear fine together. Then there is something to cause disruption, which in this case would be the Husband having an affair and his Wife knowing about it. There is definitely a recognition of the disruption because we see the Wife having a severe break down where she hysterically cries, drinks and starts a fire. The fire and the burning of her Husband's clothes could be the restoration of the disruption because she is deciding to get revenge and leave her Husband, however equilibrium is restored but not in the way the audience may have first thought, Diana Agron's character was 'imagining' the fire etc and actually decides to deal with her Husband's ways, creating a cyclical pattern to the video. With only 3 characters, it is difficult to apply Propp's character theory to Sam Smith's music video.
Capitol Records are the label that Smith is signed to but they didn't play much of a part in the creation of the I'm Not The Only One music video. It was directed by Luke Monaghan who specialises in the creation of artistic music videos. He has created beautifully shot music videos for Disclosure and A$AP Rocky. Capitol Records have a huge part to play in the brand image of Smith, due to some of their other clients being Mary Lambert, Emeli Sande and Elton John, some of the biggest soul singers in the world. Just like Def Jam specialise in the culture of Rap and Hip-Hop music, Capitol Records prime their performers to be soulful and "poppy" depending on the artist. The brand of Sam Smith displays a soulful singer-songwriter who has been dubbed "The Voice of 2014" and "the male version of Adele".
Representations that can be seen in the music video include the difference between men and women, the issues concerning infidelity and unfaithful relationships. Stereotypically the woman in the video is seen as vulnerable and submissive to the her Husband, allowing him to cheat on her with no confrontation of the matter. This is what gives the music video it's verisimilitude due to the video and the concept being very relatable. The male appears guiltless and due to the cyclical ending it suggests he frequently cheats on his wife.
The target audience would be the same audience who follow the rest of Sam Smith's music. Audience's who appreciate the moving works of Adele and similar soul artists. For the video itself, fans of Luke Monaghan and his other work directing music videos. Perhaps a female audience is more accurate to the specific target audience than a male audience because the perspective of the song and video is a female who is being cheated on. However the lyrics can apply from a male's point of view so whoever is being cheated on or who has been cheated on can relate to the piece. Due to the famous cast of the video, the two step flow is a prime marketing technique triggered by having Glee's Diana Agron and The Mindy Project's Chris Messina playing the two main roles. Both well known for their roles in the popular shows, it is much more likely the song and music video will be passed around by fans saying things like "Did you see Quinn from Glee in the new Sam Smith video?".
Sam Smith's soulful music is a good example of something I would like to create a music video for. I think a slower paced song with meaningful lyrics would be better to create a narrative piece to and allow for a lot of lip syncing and performance elements also. I have taken everything on board that I've learned from this video because it represents some of my original ideas that I had for my own piece.
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