Example "shot yourself in the foot again" video analysis

When looking closely into the video we can analyse it in sections. In the first section i am going to analyse the production aspects of the video such as composition, lighting, camera work, mise-en scene etc. I will then go into semiotics of the video and the meanings behind it.


This video doesn't actually feature the artist them selves however it does leave little reminders about who it's by; for example when she is wrapping the present it's actually 'examples' album which features the particular song. As the video doesn't feature the artist it is designed to tell more of a story, the video shows a young "lad" celebrating his birthday with his friends, forgetting that he had made plans with his female companion. The song is about making mistakes more than once which is portrayed in the video as the girl seems to have had enough and not giving anymore chances.


They have used various lighting techniques throughout. They used low key lighting on the scenes that show when the lad is out on the town with his friends, this not only shows us that it is set at night but also insinuates that Its the wrong thing to do as its dark using blacks, browns and navy blues. However it then skips to the scenes in the house where they have used high key lighting. The clean white backgrounds against the girls dark hair gives the scene contrast and draws your eye into what she's Doing and her emotions. The high key lighting shows the audience that the girls night would have been much better for the boy. It also suggests innocence which implies that it all the boys fault that he would of lost her.


The producer of the video uses various shot types. The close ups on certain objects Such as the girls underwear gives the audience sexual connotations , also the close up on the man lighting his cigarette at the start this gives the audience an idea of the males attitude but also may lead the stereotype of young male that smokes,drinks and that messes around. The establishing shots of both the street shows the urban street it then goes onto a wide shot which shows the Blackpool lights behind the actors suggesting a night out. They have also used jump cuts to a fast rhythm which is opposite to the rhythm of the song which shows contrast again similarly to the colours and lighting used. The fast pace also correlates to the kind of night the male was having, hectic and busy drinking it also shows the girls anger growing until it's too much. The use of ellipsis within the the scene shows the passing of time as he walks down the street.