In the Video ‘ Day I died’ by just jack the songs lyrics are explained using a narrative based story revolving around the life of your every day man, played by the actor James Nesbitt. There is no performance at all from just jack the whole video tells the story of a man who is having the best day of his life, everything is going perfectly untill he is knocked over by a car, as he is crossing the road. Due to this there is no lip- syncing present in the video, however there are strong visual links which relate to the images on screen. For example when he says “ secretaries they’ve got a smile for me” the on screen image is of a woman who looks like a secretary smiling as the man played by James Nesbitt opens the office door for her. The notion of looking is also present in this music video as the camera is often positioned behind James’s character and we get to see what his character sees too. This is effective as it positions the audience alongside james and enables us to take part in his everyday life experience.
I think this video was made purely as an art form or in the short film style. The reasons behind this are becase Just Jack never once appears in the video, he is not trying to sell himself or be centre of attention. His main aim with this Music video is to tell a story, and the best way he thought possible to convey the meaning behind the lyrics was to hire an actor (James Nesbitt) to act out the story, as he brings more credibility to the video being an experienced actor.
In a way this video could be concidered postmodern as it does allow an aspect of social currency to go on after being watched for the first time. Because it is a quite deep and meaningful song and the video which acompanies it only streanghtens the song, with the inclusion of a well know actor for example. People will say “did you see that new video with James Nesbitt in it” as they recognise him from other rolls in tv programmes and enjoy his work.
There are many visual techniques present in this music video which seperate it from other music videos. The costume in this video is very important in this video. James Nesbitt's character straight from the beginning has a deep cut on the side of his head, which is dripping blood. His smart suit is also ripped and shredded on the sleeve. This is very noticeable from the start before any incodent has occured which could have caused the damage. This is very cleaver as it challenges the lyrics at throughout the song by giving them a darker undertone. For example one line is “ no one could love you more than i love you now” this line is directed at his wife whilst they are in the kitchen. On the one hand it is a lovely thing to say to his wife but this is made sad by his appearance because he looks like he's just been hit by a car. The mise- en-scene of the landscape is also in keeping with the song. The chorus reads “ the day i died was the best day of my life” so the surroundings must be in keeping with someone having the beast day of their life. So in this video the sun is shining, its a hot day and everyone he meets is happy and smiley all conventions of the perfect day. The camera plays a very important role in this music video especially near the end when James Nesbitt's character realises he is dying. There are panning-close up sots of his reactions when he realises he has been hit by the taxi, which show his horrified face as he realises he wont live for much longer. A slow motion shot of him touching his temple and revealing the blood trickling down his face is effective as it makes this sad moment last slightly longer emphisising the sadness of the fatal incident. There are not really any references to popular culture in this music video as the whole video is the story of this one man who is having the best day of his life, before he is unfortunatly knocked down by a taxi.
This video does not represent just jack in a visual way, he does not appear in the video at all however this shows the streangth of the song made by the artist. He obviosly feels that the song is strong enough to be recognised as one of his own due to his unique grain of voice, without the need for him to actually appear in the video.The selling aspect of this specific video i feel is the presence of James Nesbitt a well known and loved actor.
Only one real social group is represented in this music video and that is the one of the middle aged and middle class british male. This is mainly due to the lyrics “ tell my friends and my kids and my wife” this shows a certain age of the male being represented. But other things like the place he works and the people he sees fixes the social demographic.
There is no real ideological discourse in this video, the males and females in the film are show to be equal especially within the marriage. The only real sterotype is that the husband goes out to work and seems to earn the money whereas the wife sems to stay at home and look after the two kids. This could be seen as the male being dominant over the female however it appears in this marriage on screen a great deal of respect is shown for one another.
This video is likely to be consumed on a music channel like smash hits or box rather than a specific genre related music channel. It is more in the pop genre so it appeals to a wide range of viewer. I think this video is more likely to be consumed by an ambient viewer in the background in a communal way than a focused one. However there are no doubt fans of just jack who would go out of their way to look for his latest video but this would be probably be done on the internet or on a just jack fan website.
well done Elliot, what an unusual lyric, i wonder what made him write it. You confuse notion of looking and pov shot.
ReplyDeleteI meant Joe! (same comment)
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