Bastille - Overjoyed analysis

This music video consists of a narrative driven story focused around one character, a young girl. We see her in the first shot, an extreme long shot using a hand held camera, as if someone is watching her. This focus on a character makes it clear that the video is narrative based rather than performance. The trademark Bastille triangle appears layered across the next medium shot of the girl. Just like in all other Bastille music videos, the sign appears at the beginning and the end of the song. It flashes, appearing very fast which alerts the audience and makes it obvious that this is a Bastille music video, not a film. The triangle symbol with no text implies that the band expect the audience to recognise them. It also allows the flashback in the music video to begin.

For this flashback we see a high angle shot of the girl in a child’s bedroom lying in the bed. She is surrounded by toys, making her seem innocent and childlike. This shot is followed by a close up of a book which is covered in wax and looks old and scratched. It doesn't match the room it is in making it stand out. The focus on this particular item implies that it is a key prop in the storyline. It also makes the music video enigmatic because the audience want to know what is in the book and why the girl has it. This shot is contrasted again with a close up of a necklace with a religious cross representing purity, faith and once again making the girl seem innocent. The mis en scene and acting is what creates the narrative and atmosphere in this music video. There is another close up of a doll in the bedroom. This focus on that particular prop makes it seem significant, creating an enigma code. The only reason we see a close up of it at the start is because we see a close up of it at the end with its eye missing. By the end of the video we understand that the girl is leaving part of her life behind which could be represented by this doll with a missing eye, which makes the initial close up significant.

 

Shortly after we see another close up of white petals laying on another book in her room. Just like the girl is wearing a pale pink nightdress, these light colours could be interpreted through Barthés narrative code to replicate her innocence and purity. All of these symbols of virtue and goodness at the start of the music video imply that something is going to change in the narrative. The main character is walking around outside barefoot with her eyes closed. It makes the audience question whether she is sleepwalking or perhaps in a trance. This dreamlike narrative matches the lyrics of “calling in the dead of the night.” This implies that the girl is being lead by someone, perhaps her old self. The lyrics also mention “words” which commonly are linked to books and her book in particular which the audience are still questioning. Andrew Goodwin emphasises the importance of relating the lyrics of a song to the visuals. He claims the images should illustrate the meaning of the lyrics and the genre and that is exactly what this music video does.

 

Some of the shots in the music video are not in focus which supports the idea that this video is dreamlike and illusionary. The main character is shown to be walking with the book all through the night and into the following day which is very unnatural and therefore gives the impression she is in a trance.

 One minute into the music video we see a close up of a lit cigarette followed shortly by a shot of a girl smoking. It contrasts with all the other previous shots and it is implied that this is the same girl but it isn’t clear. It makes the audience question who this girl is and why she is being shown, making them want to continue watching the music video. This interesting narrative draws the viewer in and making them connect with the song and gain an interest in the band. The shot of the girl smoking is reversed so the smoke seems to be re-entering her mouth. This suggests that the character wants the action reversed and perhaps regrets her past. We see a long shot of the girl walking down the street in her dream like state in her night dress but we see a fast edit of the same girl dressed in black walking in the same place. This is how we know that the girl smoking earlier is the same girl as the innocently pictured one and that she had been walking down that same street on a different occasion. This is the past she is referring to and we link it to the book because the book matches the mis en scene and costume of the girl. The book is black which matches the darkness of the night in which we see in the shots of the girl. We also see extreme close ups of her eye, showing that she is wearing dark eye makeup which also matches the colour of the book.

 

There isn’t much fast action in this music video as the girl only ever walks or is standing still. This matches the atmosphere created by the song. The shots also tend to be longer which always goes with the slower song as it enables the viewer to dwell on what is being shown and to create enigma codes. We see a long shot of the girl walking into darkness of the woods. This is a key convention because the darkness implies danger and negativity. Nearly halfway through the music video the music stops and we see a medium shot of the back of the girl in the daytime. It creates a dramatic pause and allows a jump of scene to daytime. She enters the wood and buries the book, as if she wants to hide it away. It creates the idea that she has had a negative past that she wants to leave behind which makes the audience intrigued to find out what that past was. Because the audience don’t know all the details about the book it makes the video very enigmatic and therefore interesting.

This music video is supposedly inspired by the American television series Twin Peaks. The main character is meant to represent Laura Palmer, a character in the American series which is actually the name of another Bastille song. This intertextuality is effective because it adds an interesting twist to the narrative which will engage a larger audience and therefore increase the video and the song’s popularity.

Overall this is an effective music video because although there is a clear narrative, the audience have to interpret the visuals and conventions themselves in order to understand the meaning. This could be subjective and vary from person to person which makes the video interesting and possible to watch numerous times without getting boring.