9 frame AnalysisHe is We – Happily Ever After

Shot 1 0:00-0:09

This is the shot used at the beginning of the music video, it shows you the main characters in the video, starting with a female then 2 males, this gives you a brief idea of what the song is about as usually with a video with a girl and a boy they talk about love and emotions. Her sad facial expression shows that it is a song about love and affection for someone along with the males faces also looking sad which gives an idea that this is going to be a sad slow song. From that you get the idea that the singer must be a girl as talking about love, emotion and feelings for someone is their strong point.

Shot 20:10

At this point we are introduced to the singer, Rachel Taylor, she begins to sing with a smile on her face which tells the beginning of the story that everything started off perfect. With it being set in the same setting as the beginning shot we get the impression that she is telling the story with them there which shows she must know them in some sort of way, therefore showing a close relationship with them so you get an idea of the background of the

characters in the story .

Shot 30:13

This shot shows the Rachel with her obvious singing partner, Trevor Kelly playing an acoustic guitar. This now shows the type of genre of music they usually play which is mainly acoustic with a few backing instruments such as a piano. Listeners can then decide if they are still keen on listening to the song depending on their type of music genre. The way she is sat facing him whilst singing shows they have a close relationship with each other which links with the name of the song, ‘Happily Ever After’ as the body language and scene around them shows that they are happy to be around each other and enjoy each others company so their friendship with each other has been close for a long time.

Shot 40:16

In this shot it is set in the same scene where Rachel and Trevor are telling the beginning of the story of a boy and girl which are resembled by the man and woman sat in the park having a picnic. This shot narrates the story well as going for a picnic in the park with someone is known as a classic idea for a date, which is what the song is about from what we know so far. Everything seems fine and the image is still linking with the song title as their facial

expressions look happy, body language makes them look close to each other and feel comfortable with each other by how they are laying down gazing at each others faces, looking like everything is going well and the ideal image of a first date is still shown. The bright colors of the picnic blanket and food along with how she has presented herself with a red dress, which is usually a color linked with passion and romance, shows a sense of happiness and a cheerful atmosphere.

Shot 50:48

This shot soon changes the viewers thought of the video so far as the womans face has changed from a smile of happiness to a frown of feeling guilt whilst the man has his hand on his head not looking too well. This is where the storyline soon changes and things are starting to go downhill for the couple. The scene now only has a limited range of bright colors to represent the date going downhill and emotions changing from happiness to guilt and anger. A shallow focus blurring out the man and background, showing the girls reaction makes you focus more on how her feeling of guilt is expressed.The red in her dress looks dull as if to say her hopes of a successful date are now dull and unlikely, which then makes you have second thoughts of the meaning of the song title and instead of thinking things will actually turn out Happily Ever After, it was used as sarcasm as if to say Happily Ever After doesn’t exist.

Shot 61:11

In this shot we are introduced to the same woman with a new man who are having a dinner date. The eye contact with each other shows they are interested in each other and what they have to say. The dim lighting with bright colors on the table gives a tense feeling of romance in the shot. The bright colors also represent a feeling of happiness and closeness without feeling like things are going too fast with colors of red to represent romance. With the shot being filmed on a late evening it is as if the story is being told on the same day, from morning till night. It also gives you an idea of what people usually link a date to, with a candle light dinner, nice outfits and close body language.

Shot 71:12

Again here you see Rachel and Trevor in the same setting of the dinner date telling the story of the new event. It looks like they are singing directly to the camera and to the couple having the dinner date. However from a viewers perspective we think that Rachel and Trevor are not seen by the couple and are just an imagination to those but viewable to us as they tell the story. The red lighting in the background, again resembling the theme of romance, tells you that they are singing about the couples feelings and affections towards each other so far whilst also showing a close relationship between the band members. With Trevor sat behind Rachel and the soft glow on his face, it looks like he is serenading her whilst she is expressing her thoughts and feelings on the couple.

Shot 82:02

In this scene the man has left the woman after a bad dinner date. This shot shows the woman with a face of guilt and sadness after what went wrong. With He Is We in the background it puts them in the story more so as they tell the story, they are getting a full sight on what is going on so as they tell the rest of the story we can understand why they are saying what they are. With them standing behind her, again it puts the thought across that they are both oblivious to the girl in the scene and like only us viewers can see them. With their faces also frowning it shows that they both also feel upset for her due to what has happened. It is also at this point in the song where the beat slows down and sets the mood to feeling sad instead of happy.

Shot 92:27

This scene shows the woman laid on the floor listening to music with the band laid behind her. The music is still building up at this point and the unhappy atmosphere is continued. Whilst the female still looks unhappy and is focusing on listening to music to put her mind off things, Rachel has a smile on her face as she sings, this could mean two different things. One theory could be that she is happy with the outcome of what has happened to thewoman, or she can see her luck is going to change in the future, and due to the build up

starting to come to an end and gain a faster pace that’s what the viewers are more likely to think just before the chorus comes back on which is talking about happily ever after. Again with the band members seeming oblivious to the woman, she has no idea what is coming in the future. With the woman listening to music and the band being there singing, it could also be that she is listening to He Is We playing this song and is taking in what they are saying in the lyrics.

Shot 102:33

This shot comes near the end of the music video, the cameras main focus is on the laptop screen, which shows the woman ordering a book called Dating for the Happily Ever After which links to the song title and the storyline. The fact that she is ordering the book makes us realise that she hasnt had much experience with dating in the past which could be why the two dates that were shown earlier became such a failure for her. It also gives us a more in-depth idea on what the girl is like, a typical woman who just wants to be happy, which is what the lyrics in the song are describing.

Shot 113:55

This is the shot used at the very end of the video and defines what the whole story was about. The brightly colored flowers and grass in the background along with sunlight represent that once again happy feeling. The way they are gazing into each others eyes shows they are interested in each other and gives the audience that whole fantasy feeling of fate. The smile on the woman's face now tells the audience that she may have found her happily ever after, which once again links back to the storyline and title of the video.