Analysing A Music Video - Rudimental - Not Giving In

This is a narrative based music video filmed in the Philippines. In this video you see two brothers living in a slum experiencing a bad child hood at home where the father beats their mother. The music video then helps to explain what path the brothers choose to go down, you see how one went down the wrong path of violence and crime. This brother ends up getting shot and dying. The other brother however would not give up on his dream of dancing and he uses this motivation to turn his life around for the better.  They video shows how, by making a choice to break away from the only life he knows - of violence and crime, he is able to become a successful dancer.  The powerful lyrics take the listener through the emotions of both brothers. All pictures are Jpeg images and are found on Youtube as well as the video.

Clothes. At the start of the video both brothers have dirty, old, worn, shorts and no top. This symbolises the poverty and the conditions they live in.  As the video progresses the dancing brother  is dressed in better, more expensive clothes - for example a Billabong jumper, whereas the other brother still has the old, worn out closes from earlier in the video. This shows me that the music video is narrative because, like the lyrics, it too tells the story of not giving in and becoming a stronger better person if you believe in yourself which is what one of the brothers is doing.  It illustrates how a person can succeed.

This video will attract both a teenage and a young adult audience. The song and video has been placed in a genre that appeals to this type of audience.  The lyrics and video have meaningful and powerful messages that are more associated with this the age group – a stage where teenage and young adults begin to decide what they want to do in life and that, choosing to become a better person also permits them to fulfill their dreams.  Having the story played out by twins who take make different choices also makes this video very powerful.

This is a good music video because it visualises the song and builds a story.

I like the way it was filmed and the different variety of camera shots, for example there was a pan so the audience can see what the location looks like. This pan was used to help connect the audience with what’s going on in both the video and lyrics of the song. There are then a variety of jump cuts and close ups of the two brothers bodies to show the audience their poverty and hardship.

There is also an extreme close-up with both brothers which shows the close bond toward each other; this is also continued when the brother gets shot. There is a close up on the dancing brother as he forms a move that puts him on his back.  The camera then zooms and spirals out to the other brother who has been shot and is led in the same position on the floor.  The camera continues zooming out and spiralling back to the dancing brother.  There is a short pause for affect before the dancing brother continues his dancing moves.  This initially gives the audience a clear signal of the connection between the two brothers which is evident at the beginning of the video, although by continuing to dance it also sends a clear message on the benefits of knowing right from wrong!