EG2: Bastille - Pompeii

ACT: Bastille
TRACK: Pompeii
YEAR: 2013
DIRECTOR: Jesse John Jenkins
MAIN AUDIENCE: 15-24
LYRICS





Relationship between visuals and lyrics: 

ash covered eyes

There is quite a strong link in this video to the lyrics, the music video mainly focuses around a man who is running away from the eruption  in Pompeii ("Great clouds roll over the hills, bringing darkness from above")  he keeps seeing people with black eyes and he realises  that the ash from the volcano is chasing him. There is also a lot referring to eyes in the song which ties in with the visuals of the ash covered eyes.

Lip syncing

Performance, Narrative and/or concept:
There are no performance elements in the video, however throughout the strong narrative shown there is some lip syncing involved. This fits well with the lyrics as he comes across more emotional and narrative then connects with the lyrics more effectively. 

camera following

Looking/Mode of Address:
Throughout the video the main singer doesn't look directly into the camera lens, but the camera seems to be more following him on his journey. This helps with their being no performance footage as the camera isn't acknowledged.

other brief characters

Star Treatment:
The main character in the music video is the lead singer of the band, Daniel Smith. Any other characters are only breifly shown and aren't any other members of the band. The story revolves around the lead singer of the band and framing and shots are all based around him and his reaction to things he sees and comes across.


Pace:
Throughout the video the lead character is running away, so naturally the pace increases as he is seeing more people with 'ash' eyes that he is afraid of. At the end of the video the pace slows right down when he finished running away and the song is drawing to a close.

ash eyes

FX:
Special effects are mainly used in this video with the creation of the 'ash' eyes. As this is a key element to the narrative it is important that they look realistic and relatively spooky. 

Urban Setting

Locations + Mise-en-scene:
There are a few locations in this videos the main two sets were in LA and Palm Springs. There are multiple shots across the city and they chose to use a more run down urban and dark part of the city at the beginning of the video. This strongly contrasted with the end location on the mountain which is light and very open and  calm. The mise-en-scene such as the graffiti adds to the urban feel along with the run down buildings.

Rural Mountain Setting

Video: