A.S - Music Video Analysis

Adele - Hometown Glory
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OikV0hy5mSQ

The single ‘Hometown Glory’ by Adele was originally released in 2007, but in 2008 it was re-released as the fourth single from her album ‘19’. Due to this, there were two music videos produced and released, and I have chosen to analyse the second version. The music video is taken from a live performance by Adele of the song, and was directed by Dugdale. Adele is of a similar genre to James Morrison as both are linked to the term ‘blue eyed soul’ and are both solo artists, although Adele has a much more soulful tone to her voice, and tends to write about heartbreak. This soulful genre is evident through the video, as Adele is on the stage alone, performing to the audience. There are pianists and musicians involved, but they are less visible, and so shows Adele in a spotlight, just simply performing her song, without a high budget music video. This use of a low-fi video shows that Adele is more concerned with putting across her music, so much so that they have used a live performance. The opening shot is a low angled mid-shot of the male piano player playing the introduction, and it then cuts to a long shot of Adele alone on stage with ‘Adele’ written above her in large letters. The video is a performance based video, with no narrative concepts at all. Adele is just singing the song, sometimes directly to the camera. This then leads to the idea that this video has primarily been produced as a means of advertising the artist, as she is the main focus.

At the beginning of the video we see a close up of the sign above Adele stating her name, this has been used as an introduction to the video as it was a live performance. All musicians present, such as the piano player and string players, are wearing black, whereas Adele is wearing a light grey tunic/dress which stands out vastly against the dark settings. This technique has been used so that the audience can familiarise themselves with the artist, as she stands out so much more than other people. Another visual technique used are meat shots of Adele, again so that we can focus on her and become accustomed to her look. The editing pace of this song is reasonably slow, as this is well suited to the song. The song has quite a low tempo, and so a fast paced video would grate against the song and make a confusing and unattractive video. Just before the first chorus is sung, the video is faded out to black, and then a jump cut to a MCU of Adele singing which catches our attention as it is a sudden emergence of colour and visuals. There are also many extreme close ups of Adele whilst she is singing, especially of her mouth. This is evident at 1 minute 38, and has been used as a more visually interesting shot and framing, so that the audience do not get bored of the simple performance video. A large amount of panning and zooms have been used throughout the video, partly so we can see the instruments used and also again as an interesting visual technique to catch our eye.

Throughout the video, Adele is represented as being a strong solo artist. When performing, she is seen to be holding the top of the microphone stand, whilst singing to the side of it. This is representing her as taking control of her career and going what she wants to do, as she is grasping the stand in a possessive way. She is also portrayed as being very earnest with her music, as she often breaks the ‘fourth wall’ by performing directly to the cameras, as if it is a personal performance to ourselves.

This video is aimed at a focused audience, as the song is quite relaxed and it is less likely to catch the eye of the ambient audience. This also applies to the music video, as there it is quite slow paced, with no vivid visuals such as bright lights or fast jump cuts. I don’t believe that this song would be shown frequently on music channels, as it is not mainstream pop, it has a more soulful sound, and therefore it could appeal to an older audience. I also believe that this video has been produced to showcase Adele as an artist and musician, as the emphasis is put on her performance rather than visual effects.