blog post #6

Dashboard Confessional - Stolen

Dashboard Confessional’s “Stolen” video depicts a typical romance story, taking us through the stages of this romance while also taking us through stages of life.

The simplicity of childhood can be seen through the young boy’s climb on the rocks by the ocean. A seagull glides through the clear sky above; the endless ocean sparkles below. Dressed in a brick red sundress, a young brunette beauty silently watches, stemming the boy’s innocent curiosity. He climbs effortlessly upward, watching her disappear into a fairy-tale surrounding. White picket-fence surrounds the gingerbread-like castle she retreats into; pillars of limestone and tropical greenery line the walkways the young boy walks in search of the red sundress.

The skies are now dreary gray and fallen leaves rustle in the howling wind; an eerie shadow is cast over the scene and over the lovers. Naturally, life and love have become more complicated and now require more than their innocent childhood friendship. A distraught teenage boy watches as the girl he loves rides solemnly away into night.

Suddenly, the lovers are young adults faced with priorities, responsibilities and decisions. Stuck inside a room with high ceilings and screaming of wealth, the lovers experience a shock of heartbreak; a piercing ache that had lied dormant until now. The season is again changing; snow now drifts down upon troubled lovers.

As adults, the sun again shines on the two and as their love is affirmed at the very place it was ignited so long ago: they stand face-to-face with the waves crashing in the background, no other care in the world but the moment they are lost in. Looking back, they see the past they have shared and the obstacles overcome; they know that this is the culmination of all that has happened since that sunny day in their childhood when they first caught a glimpse of each other and of love. Their lives brought them here, together, as they always knew they would.

The video is set up so that we can see these lovers as they age; we see the changes that life brings as we grow up but also take hope in those things that never do change. In response to the video, I took a time-line kind of approach where each new season brought changes in the lives of the lovers. The writing matures as it goes on, as the characters in the video mature as they grow up. However, there always remained a constant: the two never lost the passion they shared.

blog post #5

Cross Country Running: Extreme

“Cross Country Running: Extreme” shows us the contrast between the bores of running track and the excitement of running cross country. The two sports are often grouped together, even seen as the same thing by those unfamiliar with them, but are really quite different. The fact that both sports involve running might just be the only similarity.

From the runner’s facial expressions, form, and lack of enthusiasm at the beginning of the video, we can easily gather that he is quite bored with the monotonous routine of running in circles on the track. The background music parallels this idea: slow and mellow, without much excitement. From the title of the video, we can already predict that the scene will not stay this way; there will likely be a shift in atmosphere and style.

Sure enough, there is a sudden and blunt change in the presentation of the video. We see the obvious flash across the screen: “this sucks!” As the music changes to a much more upbeat tune, the runner’s face lights up with the idea of going far beyond the constrictions of the track. We can infer that we will now see a more lively scene, and are proved correct when the runner begins jumping barriers and running enthusiastically through the woods.

The artist uses the drastic change in background to show the contrast between track and cross country. He uses elements such as lighting, music and setting differences to emphasis the point. The way the runner is presented is also vital to the success of this video: his body movements, facial expressions and motivation. Had the music stayed the same and the character not shown such change in enthusiasm, the clip would be ineffective. With the artist’s use of these elements, by the end of the video we can see the contrast between these two sports.

blog post #4

Barack Obama's "Plan for Change" Ad

Barack Obama’s “Plan for Change” advertisement gives us just a glimpse into Obama’s plans for change, yet we can see an eagerness for change that goes much further than the ideas actually mentioned. The brief ad may very well be seen as boring by some: it is a one-shot video, the scene never changes, there is only one character, no background music plays. All true statements, but for the purpose of the ad these additions are unneeded, and most likely would just be distractions.

The scene focuses directly on Obama, and nothing else throughout the entire video. He is subtly introduced in the beginning seconds with a simple subtitle across the bottom of the screen. The background of the scene is relaxed and simple as well, which puts all attention on Obama. There is no clutter going on around him, no music played in the background that might cause a distraction. This is because the ad wants our full attention on Obama and his words, and the way to accomplish that is to get rid of the fancy technical ideas that accompany many ads. We have no choice but to listen.

Obama discusses issues that are on almost all Americans’ minds. He begins with the economy, which many people place as their number one concern right now. This pulls us in from the beginning, makes us eager to hear what he has to say about this and other hot topics. He puts the focus on us as Americans rather than himself, which makes us want to keep listening. The advertisers are aware of these tactics to pull the audience in and hold our attention. Obama finished the ad with possibly the top concern of Americans: the war with Iraq. He probably concludes with this to keep us thinking, to leave us optimistic with hope for change. Just a few issues are mentioned, but after this brief introduction the advertisers are hopeful we will look deeper; in this case Obama’s Plan for Change. We are left with Obama’s enthusiasm for change in not just these spoken ways, but in many other aspects as well.