Snow Patrol - Run (2003)

The video to this song involves progressive events, represented by the lighting. The beginning is set during dusk, and the sky progressively darkens. The dark setting allows for the director to illustrate the lyrics ‘light up’ in the chorus, as the vocalist, who is the video’s main focus, holds a flare that lights up the setting. This is a feature of Goodwin’s Theory, as the on-screen events illustrates the lyrics. The constant darkness before the first chorus also amplifies the extra lighting once it arrives – this is a use of juxtaposition between light and dark.

Furthermore, the vocalist uses many facial expressions to convey his feelings that match the song. He looks upset and choked at ‘makes it so hard not to cry’. Here, the video matches the mood created by the song, and so adds to the meaning created by the music. Again, this is a feature of music videos identified by Goodwin.

The video is comprised of close-ups of the vocalist mixed in with long-shots of the setting and his movement. The close-ups show his emotions, ths creating meaning, whilst the long-shots allow the audience to see how remote his location is. This is effective, as people can empathise with a supposed need to be alone when feeling unhappy. It arguably also links in with the song title ‘Run’, as he has run from his problems. Furthermore, when the song becomes more uplifting other members of the band become present, showing he’s no longer alone and suggesting that he can see a silver lining.

The chorus is cohesively synchronous with the flares due to the link between ‘light up’ and the visuals. The flares are not seen during the verses, which represents a difference in mood and thoughts between verse and chorus. The throwing of the flare is in-synch with the increased pace of the music, and the motorbike is re-introduced here too. This is an example of the visuals being linked to the music. This is also seen at the end, as the song reaches its conclusion. The lit bike falls into the water in slow-motion, and slows as the song slows, stopping its movement when the song stops. This constant linkage between music and visuals controls the mood of the audience.

I chose to analyse this video because my song is also by Snow Patrol. I have drawn inspiration from this video, as the mood of my song is similar. As such, I will also have some focus on the vocalists, and attempt for his mood to match the mood created by the music and lyrics. There is no separate narrative in this video, but I still aim to include one in mine to help me create more explicit meaning in conjunction with the song.