Deconstruction of Promotional Music Video: How Deep Is Your Love

Calvin Harris

Calvin Harris is a Scottish record producer, DJ, singer and songwriter. He rose to international prominence with the release of his third studio album 18 Months in October 2012. Topping the UK charts, the album became his first to chart on the US Billboard 200 chart. All eight of the album's singles reached the top 10 in the UK. 

Harris released his fourth studio album Motion in November 2014. It debuted at number two in the UK and at number five in the US, and became Harris's second consecutive number one album on the US Dance/Electronic Albums chart. In October 2014, he became the first artist to place three songs simultaneously on the top 10 of Billboard's Dance/Electronic Songs chart. 

Harris has received ten Brit Award nominations—three for Best British Male, and four Grammy nominations, winning a Grammy for Best Music Video in 2013. Additionally, Harris topped Forbes' list of the world's highest-paid DJs for three consecutive years from 2013 to 2015. One of the most successful musicians in contemporary British popular culture, Harris appeared on Debrett's 2017 list of the most influential people in the United Kingdom. Harris runs his own record label, Fly Eye Records.

Calvin Harris in Wikipedia.  Retrieved 20th September 2017 from 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_Harris

Calvin Harris & Disciples - How Deep Is Your Love

Lyrics Analysis

Synopsis

The video is a 'concept' video that follows a female character on a journey through a ship who has just woken up in some form of experimental condition. As she explores her surroundings, she appears to be  all sorts of confused and unfamiliar with the environment. However, her confidence progresses with the video and she is shown in a variety of places from a tattoo parlour to a beach party. It becomes evident that she is enjoying herself through her dancing.

Setting

The opening shots introduces us to a female character lying in a mortuary which gives the audience the impression that she is no longer alive. The effect of which is offset by the use of cold colours and low-key lighting. The blue coloured effect signifies the coldness of the corpse and the low-key lighting could represent how there is no longer light visible to the character.

However, the character is shortly shown gaining consciousness and she begins exploring the environment which begins with being the back of a club. This location she enters into is not particularly inviting as it is dark and run down. It is possible that this setting is representative of her love life which is dark because she doesn't have a partner and run down as she is exhausted from searching for someone.

With the absence of a male character within the video, perhaps the protagonist has decided to spend her 'new life' exploring self-love rather than continuing to search for someone else. The idea of exploration is evoked through the character travelling to different environments and she begins with ending up on a private yacht where the ocean surrounding her refers to how 'deep' love can be.

Costume

In the video, the female character portrays a somewhat innocent figure, which is reflected in her attire. One of the first features of note is the pale yellow colour of her dress. This particular colour connotes joy and creativity which helps to signify the character's happiness  and optimism in exploring self-love. However, the colour yellow also connotes caution and awareness which may suggest the character is dangerous in some way and perhaps this is to do with her waking up in a mortuary.

Further into the video, this same dress turns transparent after it becomes in contact with water. The way the character comes out of the water confidently suggests this was done purposely to reveal her body in such way. Although this may be perceived as a form of seduction, it is arguable that this further encourages the idea of self-love and female empowerment.

It is notable that the character's bright and warm coloured clothing; in conjunction with the high-key lighting and warm colour-grading, this serves to highlight the radiant tone of the song.

Timeline of Key Shots, Camera Movements and Edits

0:00 - 0:06

The music video opens with a horizontal pan of a female body. This use of camera movement is often used to portray women in the media industry, Laura Mulvey coined the term as 'The Male Gaze', where the audience views characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male. The female character is often perceived as an object which is reinforced by the way the character is wrapped in cellophane. This is an effective opening shot as enigma is already created through the way the body is wrapped up, suggesting the character is no longer conscious.

0:16 - 0:27

The camera quickly transitions to several different shots ranging in sizes of close-up, medium close-up and medium shots. The use of a close-up shot clearly shows the character waking up which is contrasted by the following shot of the camera zooming out into a medium shot presenting the character in a mortuary. This creates a sense of confusion within the audience, provoking them to continue watching. The camera flashes between close-up shots of the character's facial features and medium shots of the ocean. The use of a flash transition could signify the character's recall of memory. Furthermore, a link can be drawn between the character in a mortuary and the shots of the ocean, implying she drowned. Perhaps this is a metaphor referring to the title of the song and how people can drown in the depth of love. A medium close-up shot is used to show a distorted coloured effect of the character. This could symbolise the way the character's distorted view on love.

0:35 - 0:44

The character is shown entering a dark hallway with florescent green lights guiding her into a club. The use of medium shots display the character's confusion as she looks at her surroundings and her hands. This suggests she is unsure with where she is and the way she looks at her hands gives the impression that she is unfamiliar to the freedom she has. It is possible that she is living a new life and her previous life was heavily involved with someone who didn't give her independence. The following shot shows the character with her hand out indicating she is trying to escape and perhaps this is her unconscious mind from the past.

0:46 - 0:52

A medium close-up shot is used to present the character walking past a bright window. This high-key lighting evokes an upbeat mood which relates to the upbeat song itself. More specifically, this lighting insinuates a heaven-like view of the character, suggesting she is above ordinary. This encourages the audience to proceed watching the video to discover what is so special about her.

1:17 - 1:20

Match on action is used to transition the character from the nightclub to a private yacht. This creates a sense of continuity - the action of the character putting her hands on her head carries through, creating a visual bridge. This effectively draws the viewer's attention away from the continuity issue of the character appearing in a different location. The way the character appears in a different place suggests the concept of the video involves the fantasy of travelling.

1:24 - 1:26

The camera zooms out into a long shot of the private yacht. It is undetermined how this was shot, however, a drone would have been used if this is a primary shot, otherwise the shot would have been generated during post production. Either of these options indicate that this is a particularly high budget music video. The way the jet skis circle the yacht could be an imagery representing how the character feels trapped by the idea of love. In addition, this may metaphorically imply that the sea is as 'deep' as love can be, therefore, insinuating that you can drown from becoming overwhelmed with the emotion. This relates to the beginning of the video where the character is introduced whilst waking up from the dead. Moreover, this links to Goodwin's theory of intertextual references.

1:56 - 2:05

The character is revealed coming out from underwater in the swimming pool through a medium shot. The slowed effect on the shot highlights this provocative action. This is followed by a medium close-up shot of a male character observing and bringing his attention to the female character. She is then shown taking off her dress through a long shot which shows the large number of people who's attention she has caught which is followed by a close-up shot continuing the action. The camera cuts to another female character and the use of a medium close-up shot also shows she is observing her actions. The protagonist is shown walking confidently through close-up shots. These timeline of shots coordinate with Mulvey's Male Gaze theory and Goodwin's theory of the frequent reference to the notion of looking and voyeuristic treatment to the female body

2:46 - 2:47

The camera cuts to a short close-up shot of the character's lips which has a strong reference to love. Although this shot could be portrayed with the purpose to seduce the audience, the green-blue colouring on the shot contrasts the colour of love. This implies that character no longer feels the love for someone else.

3:01 - 3:12

Several medium close-up shots are used to display that character's facial expressions. At first she appears to be confused by her surroundings and the fluorescent green lighting that reflects on her further suggests she is feeling a lack of love. In addition, the slow effect within these shots contrast the following shots with short shot duration. This could imply that love has a bizarre effect on time where sometimes it feels like it goes slowly and other times it goes quickly, insinuating good and bad times in a relationship. The shots with short duration transition to each other with flashes and a coloured effect is used as well as a superimposition effect to created a distorted look. These effects work together to represent the mind whilst being overwhelmed with the emotion of love.

3:32 - 3:37

Although short shot duration are typically used throughout music videos of the dance genre due to its upbeat rhythm, it is specifically used towards the end of the video to build up to the ending of the song. In this video, the camera cuts to various shots of the character in different locations and almost revisits the various places that have been shown throughout the video. 

3:41 - 3:48

Lastly, the camera cuts to various shots of the character dancing. This highlights the genre of the song being dance. Furthermore, this conforms with Goodwin's theory that music videos often tend to include a demonstration of typical genre characteristics which in this case is dancing. 

Analysis

Total time = 04:20

Close-up shot = 01:21

Medium close-up shot = 1:31

Medium shot = 0:51

Long shot = 0:37

A pie chart was constructed below by converting the duration of the different shots types into percentages. It can be concluded that close-up shots are used for more than half of the music video and medium close-up shots are used for just less than a quarter, followed by medium shots and long shots.

Focus Group

Members of the focus group had the following to say about the music video:

"The way the music video begins with the character in a confused state makes me want to continue watching the rest of the video to find out why this is. Also, the coloured effects throughout the video caught my attention and were very aesthetically pleasing. However, the concept of the video is not clear enough and in my opinion it is the only thing  the video is lacking."

"I think this music video is very well suited to its genre as the visuals cooperate with the song. I like the range of different locations shown as it represents where dance music is often played. Although this video could be better with a narrative to follow, I like the way the concept is open to different interpretations."

"I like the use of colours throughout the music video, specifically the shots with the coloured effects. Also, I like the shots set on the yacht as interesting shot sizes were used. The only downfall is the beginning of the video as it was confusing and almost irrelevant"

"The fast pace, use of colours and different locations of the music video all worked together well for the video to suit the song. I like the reference of the sea to the title of the music video, it's a great concept."

Lessons to be Learnt

• It is worth choosing several locations to create a sense of travelling to suit the genre

• Create a reference to Mulvey’s theory of ‘The Male Gaze’ and Goodwin’s theory of the way women are presented in music videos

• Flash transitions can be used to reflect a character’s recall of memory

• Use high-key lighting to evoke an upbeat mood

• Match on action is useful to transition to a different location as it creates a sense of continuity

• A distorted effect can be created through flashing transitions, different coloured effects and a superimposition effect

• Short shot duration creates an effective build up towards the ending of the song

• Dancing is a typical genre characteristic which is useful to incorporate to create a sense of joy to the music

• Close-up shots are used in the majority of the video with it being useful to display important detail to the viewers, for instance facial expression

• It is important with a concept video to ensure the concept is clear to the audience