Textual Analysis: Avicii - Wake Me Up

Mise en scene
Costume - Through this clip costume is used to give off many ideas and meanings to the audience. The first half of the clip, shows the two main female character walking down a town street, Here the female characters are wearing what can be considered s modern day clothing, fashion that is relevant to the release date of the video. However the characters that they walk past in the street are wearing plane old fashioned clothing, possibly clothing that was worn during the late 1800s in the Midwest of the United States. As the female are walking down the street these characters are gazing almost constantly at them, i think this part of the video is not suggesting that the females have gone back in time, but is suggesting meanings and ideas of how some people are different and don't fit into society. Later on in the clip though that older female character finds similar people to her which ends the video on a positive note.


Props - Props do not become reverent in the clip until the end. Many props are used at this point which are representing many things. firstly a prop that clearly stands out in the clip i a mobile device. The mobile is being used by the female chracter during the cosert scene, she seems to be taking photos with the device. I think the was added as a promotion stunt. As the mobile was the newest sony ericson xperia that was out at the time. The is a current trend that is being used in many music video today, as it provides money towards creating the video because it is advertisement. An image of this can be seen below.

Locations - In this track there are two main locations that are important to the video and suggest different emotions to the characters. The first locations is the first half of the clip. The two female characters are walking down a remote town in the dessert that seems old fashioned. In this location the character to not look comfortable and seem to not be welcome, this is because when they are walking down the street the inhabitants are stopping and staying at them. This clearly shows the actors are uncomfortable which makes the audience as well. images of the second locations can be seen below.

The second location however is much different. It starts off with the female lead arriving in what seems to be a city then heading to a concert. At this concert the artist Avicii is performing, at this location the mood is very different to the start as it is much more fast past and energetic. This can be seen to increase the mood of the female character. 

Lighting - For most of the clip the lighting many consists of ambient lighting. I think this is because in the particular setting, there is allot of natural sunlight due to these parts of the video being set in the dessert. This will be similar to my video, as most of the video will be filmed outside in the daylight.

The lighting does change however towards the end of the clip, this is because the video ends up at a dance concert. Here there are many DJ lights used which includes strobes of pink and similar colors. This is used because it is the typical lighting audience members will listen to the song in when at nightclubs and concerts. Similar lighting to this is used throughout many videos of this genre.

Camera techniques

Establishing shot  - This type of shot is use many times throughout this music video. It is used to establish a new location or to show the vast size of a location. The first use of this shot can be seen at the start of the clip. The use of an establishing shot is use throughout many forms of visual media, it is vital to address a specific location to the audience, so they understand what is going on. This can be seen below.

The image to the left shows the establishing shot at the beginning. The image to the right shows a screenshot later on in the clip, here the lead female character can be seen riding a horse through the same location. I think they used this because it is recognizable to the audience and adds theme to the type of location.

Representation of Artists

In this clip the artist does appear. However he appears as the artist performing and not involved in the acting. This is a common trait to see artists who are part of this genre to be performing. He appears at the concert scene in the video which seems to be an actual concert.

Target audience

I think the main target audience for this type of video will consist of females. i think this is because the main character in this video is female. it will also attract fans who follow the charts for instance, as it performed very well at its peak. In terms of age i think the video would be aimed at the ages between 16-20.