Daniella JohnstonAdele – Someone Like You

‘Someone like you’ by Adele was released before Rolling in the Deep’ with her second 21 single seemingly taken from a more advanced stage of post-breakup grief than her first. ‘Someone’ dwells in a stage where Adele is still holding on to her feelings for her ex, trying to forget them but hoping that for a split second she might be able to rekindle them. She sings about her feelings that she has after the immediate ones of breaking up with somebody but past the feelings of bitterness. ‘Never mind’ is said many times in the song showing the song has been written from a place of near-acceptance, in which she has gotten over both her grief and anger about the breakup, but in a moment of weakness cant help but think of the possibility of them still loving each other. The song has clear themes of relationships. It would appeal to a target audience of soul and pop lovers, as these are the genres, but also to females who have experienced something similar in their own lives.

Representation of characters

Adele doesn’t conform to our stereotypical views on how a mainstream artists should look. This is because her image relates to all of her albums, which focus on themes of relationships, heartache and love. For that reason, the representation of her character fits perfectly with this song. She is wearing casual clothing. The main thing we notice is the black coat; this is worn for obvious reasons to keep warm as the grey tones of the video make it look like it is a colder season. The colour black connotes darkness and loneliness, relating to what she is singing about in the video. She almost looks as if she is dressed for a funeral. This highlights the death of her relationship. The coat almost completely covers her and throughout she has her hands in her pockets. Her face is also in shadow, as you can see in the image above we can only really see half of it. This shows that she is a hidden and private person. Perhaps she is hiding her true feelings and just trying to move on from the break up relating to the lyrics ‘never mind ill find someone like you’. Not much effort has been put into her image in this video implying that she no longer has anything to make an effort for. Lack of makeup reinforces her femininity and makes her look more natural, so we believe everything she is saying when she sings.

Genre type

PerformanceThroughout the video Adele is singing to the camera. This is typical of an artist of this genre. Due to the dull themes of the song, there is no dancing involved and due to her not being an artist of a genre like rock or indie, there are no live performances of playing of instruments.

Concept Feelings of loneliness and heartache are displayed throughout the video.

Narrative – this is the main genre type that can be associated with this video. It tells a story of what has happened in her life. We understand through the lyrics and her walking alone that she is lonely and has suffered from some sort of heartache in a relationship. However, this isn’t fully clear until the last shots in the video in which a male is walking away from her. This character represents the person she is singing about in

Daniella Johnstonthe song, and what he is doing represents what happened to her in reality. A male has broken up with her and no longer wants to be a part of her life, hence why the male in the video is walking away with his back to her and the camera. This part of the narrative is fundamental in order to understand that it mirrors what has happened in her relationship.

Iconography

Little iconography has actually been used in this video to keep it simple and sophisticated. It focuses more on the lyrics of the song. However, I did notice that throughout the video she is walking down a long road, which could be symbolic of her trying to move on and walk away from the past. The setting of this video is iconic of the themes of love in the video. Clear iconography includes the café at the end of the video, and the shots of the Eiffel tower, which we see numerous times. These help the audience realise that she is in Paris. The dark tones and colours used in the video also represent her feelings.

Technical and audio codes

Mise-en-scene

The images above show the mise en scene in the video. Upbeat songs usually tend to have more than one location in their videos, however, this is slow and miserable, hence the reason why there is only one setting in the entire video. We watch her walking through the city of Paris singing about her break up and past relationship. This ironic as it is known as the iconic ‘city of love’. The long shots of the narrow roads and Eiffel tower are iconic of the setting and allow the audience to quickly realise where the video is set. It relates to the narrative and concept of the song, especially because there are no other people around the streets and on the pavements. There are only two characters in the entire video, and one of them is only shown during a short clip at the end therefore Adele is the protagonist and only person we see frequently. This highlights her feelings of loneliness and isolation.

Camera

The image above is the first shot used in the video before we are even introduced to Adele. It is a long establishing shot showing a path in Paris. We can see a long empty walkway representing how the song will be focusing on how Adele is feeling lonely and empty. The length of it highlights that it will take her a long time to move on and get over the breakup.

Daniella Johnston

Close ups and extreme close ups are used a lot in this music video. They allow us to see her emotional facial expressions helping us to understand what she is singing about. There tends to be always shadow on her face, creating a sense of secretiveness and mystery, almost as if she is trying to hide from her pain and what has happened. This also adds to the dull colours and tones used in the video. On lots of occasions in these types of shots she is looking down, representing the way she is ‘feeling down’ and depressed. There is also direct mode of address on some of them, which allows the audience to establish a relationship with her, and empathise with her. She could also be looking directly at the camera hoping that the person she is singing about will see it and know how she is feeling. The lyrics support this as they are very direct and she never mentions a name of a person throughout the song. We only know the person she has broken up with as ‘someone’ but if he saw it he would know the song is about him. Extreme close ups are used on her eyes mainly, as shown above. This creates feelings of closeness with Adele; the audience can get to know her on a better level. Moreover, it shows her eyes and makeup in great detail. We can see the sadness in her eyes.

Lip-syncing is another term in relation to camera, which would have been important in the making of this video. The camera tracks her movements all the way through, following her as she walks through the paths in Paris to a café at the end. As she is singing to it, it important for her lips to be in sync with the song for it to look professional and convincing.

Medium shots allow us to see the setting whilst maintaining the focus of the video on Adele. They allow us to see how she is dressed, her facial expressions and her body language, so we can link them all in together to develop the concept and mood of the video. They are also used so a wider range of camerawork is included in the video making it look more interesting for the viewers.

Daniella JohnstonEditing

A monotone colour has been used through the entire video. Grey scale and black and white create moods, which can’t be done as effectively with colour. It sets a dull mood for the video relating to the themes in the song. It also helps the lyrics stand out and makes them more meaningful. Similar to the use somebody video, it creates feelings of loneliness and empathises how she is feeling ‘down or grey’. It helps develop the concept of the video making it clearer. It also represents how the video is almost a memory sequence as she sings about what has happened and at the end, we even see for ourselves what happened in her relationship. Using it throughout allows continuity editing and shows that the video is all set in the same place.

Fades are a popular form of editing in many real music videos. They make it look more professional and less boring in comparison to just straight cuts. These fades between Adele’s facial expressions and shots of Paris allow us to see how she is feeling whilst the setting is being established. Again, irony is created as her feelings of heartache are juxtaposed with the ‘city of love’.

A surverying pan is used twice in the video. It focuses on the location as the camera spins making the Eiffel tower visible. It starts on a close up of Adele singing, then turns and ends with a long shot showing her walking over a bridge in Paris, away from the camera. This is also used in the last scene of the video in a traditional French café,. As it shows the camera zooming out of Adeles face showing a male looking at her from behind, highlighting how they were together. As the camera spins we can then see clear images of the interior of the café, perhaps which is a place that holds many memories of them together. It then ends with the male looking back at Adele moments before he walks off and leaves her, as shown in the image above. The second image that you can see is where a focus pull is used. Adele is looking into the mirror, seeing the reflection of herself and the male character in the background. This is in focus. However, the shot blurrs at the end of the video, to represent her feelings and the fact he is fading away. She can no longer see him physically and literally reflecting how he is no longer a part of her life.

Neale’s ‘Mental Machinery’

The video adheres to the main genre conventions of soul and pop with the songs themes being miserable and centred on relationships and breaking up. However, the video does break away and challenges the conventions of a video of a mainstream artist, like Adele, as there is a lack of colour and excitement. This is important to convey her feelings over the audience and the technical codes; costume, representations and lyrics all work

Daniella Johnstontogether to put the concept across successfully to the audience.

Ideologies

Ideologies of this song focus on relationships ending and the feelings that people have once something like this has happened. Because Adele wrote the song based on events that have actually happened in her real life, the audience are positioned to share the same point of view with her and empathise with her. In terms of the uses and gratifications theory proposed by Blumler and Katz, some audiences may even be able to relate and see them reflected in the video allowing them to gain a sense of personal identity. They may also be able to use it to divert away from reality and every day routine and problems knowing that someone else is having a harder time than them or to building on their own personal relationships.