Megi Cara

16.09.2010
Video Analysis

Video: Florence and the Machine – Rabbit Heart

I have chosen to analyse the music video produced to go with the song from Florence and the
Machine called “Rabbit Heart.” They are a new band who mainly specializes in Indie-Rock genres
of music which is the main reason I chose to do this as I enjoy listening to this genre of music,
therefore it is something which interests me.

Narrative
The overall narrative of the video is mainly involving a ritual that is performed by a religious sect
and all of the different emotions that they are feeling throughout it. The video starts by showing
emotions of happiness through the character movements as they are all dancing around the set
which usually symbolizes a celebration of some sort. However, as the video develops we start to
uncover the main characters (Florence) feelings towards what is about to happen, where she
will be sacrificed by being set off down a river. Here is when we start to notice feelings of
anxiety and worry about the rituals as the characters seem less happy and they are holding the
cot in which she is placed almost as you would at a funeral. This therefore shows that the story
develops from a happy place in a wood, into something a little darker where she is anxious
about what will happen. This is expressed through the close-ups shown of the faces and the
overall development of the set and how they move into the river as they are about to let her go
into the unknown.

Treatment
The treatment involves the beginning of the video where the group are having a
party/celebration of some sort as they are all dancing around a table, eating and drinking wine
together. It then develops into a gathering where the main character (Florence) is being lifted
into a cot and slowly lowered into the river where she is let go. They also light candles into the
river, as they perhaps would during a religious ritual performed.

Connection to song
There is a strong link between the video and the song itself, as they are both about a spiritual
ceremony happening and the emotions that go with it. The lyrics of the song are about making a
sacrifice of some sort as this is emphasized through the chorus. The video itself is also showing a
woman being lowered into a river in a cot type of object, therefore this may be a symbol of this.
Overall, I believe that the song and the video have a strong connection as they are both tied in
with the spiritual theme of the song and I believe it gets across what the artist wanted which is
to show another spaced out side of herself.

Mise en scene
There are a lot of different elements of the video that really come across strongly within it, such
as the lighting used all the way through. They have used natural light as it is filmed on a set near
woods on a sunny day, however they have made this even more intense with artificial lighting as
they have made the whole shoot a sort of haze. This really works, as it shows the life of the
party within the video and it makes all of the actions even more intense. It also contributes to
the almost heavenly theme on the video as the white light may suggest purity. The costumes
used by the cast have also been made to fit this genre, as they are mostly wearing white again a
symbol of heaven and peace which ties in with the song and the whole video. Furthermore, the
Megi Cara
16.09.2010
space around where the video is shot has been shot by a wide shot showing all of the scenery
which is again contributing to the light-hearted atmosphere of the video as it is showing a nice
setting of woods on a sunny afternoon. In addition the performance put on by the characters
shows them all dancing in sync with each other which shows that they have been well organized
into fitting with the light-hearted atmosphere of the celebration. However, in some parts of the
video they also seem to be performing rituals that may symbolize a specific religion.

Mise en shot
The video contains many close ups of the main characters, especially at the begging of the video
in order for the audience to be able to clearly establish the artist and the main character
throughout the video. As the video develops, there are more establishing shots of the scenery as
they allow the audience to really get a feel for the atmosphere surrounding the song and they
receive a lot of visual stimulus about the song itself. The establishing shot also allows us to see
the performance being put on by the characters which is important in bringing out the spiritual
side of the video which is important in relation to the song lyrics.

Historical, social and cultural context

The video is based around the idea that they are all involved in a ceremony of some sort, where
they are performing rituals. These are particularly in relation to the song, as the lyrics make
specific reference to sacrificing a person and also reference to a lamb and a knife. This is
particularly important in order to establish the culture and history that it originated from, as
animal sacrifice is common within many religions ranging from Islam to Judaism. This therefore
shows that there is a religious connection made there with the lyrics and the video itself, which
shows some spirituality appearing from the video. The effect that this has on the audience is
that they are being allowed to explore not only a new music video but deeper meaning within
that, which I believe attracts audiences even more as some feel they can connect with it.

How it informed the development of my own video

The main way that this has informed the development of my own music video, is through the
lighting which comes across heavily throughout the video. They have used natural light and even
more artificial lighting when filming as it is constantly in a haze fixture as the characters are
sometimes blurred out due to the intense lighting. Personally, I would like to re-create
something along the lines of this as I believe that it would be a challenge but it would allow me
to play around with the lighting and setting of the shoot. Also, the continuous close-up face
shots of the artist have allowed me to see that this is a great way of expressing emotion within
the video and when making a short piece like this all emotions have to really stand out in order
to make it interesting for the audience as they watch it unfold almost like a story.