I particularly like the way this video plays the protagonists narrative in reverse, allowing us to see the effects before we witness what actually caused them. The director is able to convey what we discover to be a very traumatic event in a slow, trance like manner communicating the initial disbelief that you may actually feel if you were in that situation. I feel this also reflects the sad and sombre nature of the song perfectly. The first time we watch the video and follow Chris Martin’s journey “back to the start” is extremely compelling, as the viewer is almost discovering what happened as Chris replays it. This gives the video a unique quality as when you have watched it through once and found out about the car accident, the video will never again offer you the same sort of suspense initially felt when you didn’t know what had happened.
Once again, this can be seen as a mediated piece of art in the sense that its video documentation has been manipulated after the live filming. However, the video (a basic level) has only been played backwards, with a few special effects added. So in a way it could still be interpreted as showing a live set of events but instead focusing on the how the smallest of movements appear backwards.
Friday 19 October 2007
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4 comments:
but he must have learned to lipsynch backwards... so there is a direct effect on the singer's performance ... no?
There's an image thing with this as well: Chris Martin wakes up in the ghetto but he's rich enough to do be married to Gwyneth Paltrow and have a child called Apple and Coldplay were already huge success (from their album 'Parachutes') by the time this was released - Chris Martin desperately trying to appear like he's got his feet still on the ground?
Is the hidden message of this video that we should tolerate Chris Martin's bid for world domination because he is secretly tortured?
The odd thing about this video is that for some reason I expect it to be one continuous shot, and the cutting between backward sequences manages to surprise me every time I watch it.
Everything is not quite as it seems in this video, much like Coldplay's music. If you listen to the words, the song has a compelelty different feel from when you first heard it. I also like this video because it is one of a few based on a narrative.
The very fact the singer has taught himself to sing the song in reverse shows how the performer today will (literally) bend over backwards to improve the much valued music video.
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