Video Analysis

Alex Clare – Too Close

The Video is quite abstract. In the video we pretty much only see the artist and two other unidentified characters kendo fighting.  The video is not related to the lyrics, only some parts of the song could be interpreted as illustrative amplifying, such as at the start of the song with the part where the artist mentions “I don’t want to hurt you”, we see both kendo fighters meeting.

The song doesn’t show any visual instruments. However the movement of the characters is in sync with the rhythm of the song. For example when the kendo fight scene begins both fighters are fighting in sync with the beat. Also during the video the artist is shaking his head to the beat of the song as well. WE also see camera movement that is in sync with the rhythm of the song such as changing the shot types during the beat or camera angles being changed.  The movement of the camera and the gestures such as the artist saying “which way is right, which way is wrong”, in the first turns his head according to the lyrics to different sides.  

No brands are represented or advertised in the video. However there are close ups of the artist, the kendo fighters identities are never shown, however there is an implication that one of them could be the artist, because there is a shot where the artist is shown with the camera facing his back, and then the scene fades with dark lighting and one of the kendo fighters reappears the same way in the scene as the artist did in exactly the same setting.

Voyeurism is shown during the video, as none of the characters including the artist look directly at us or notice us but we do see them. However there are parts on the video were we directly stare at the kendo fighters face however their faces are covered with masks.

The song genre is a mix between alternative rock, electronic and dubstep.  The lighting in the video is not entirely bright there are some dark parts to it, but throughout the video we do see some more bright lighting on the characters during the lip sync or one of the kendo fighters standing.