Florence and the Machine- Cosmic love analyse

This is the music video for Florence + the machine. It is from her album "Lungs".
Florence + the machine (based around Florence Welsch) was formed in 2oo7 in London. The genre is similar to Foals, in that both are alternative indie rock, soul, and art rock. However I want to see how males indie artists differ to female indie artists in both music videos, thus i will compare both Spanish Sahara- Foals and Cosmic Love- Florence and the Machine.

The opening shot is of a light bulb. The mis-en-scene displays the light bulb to be flashing to a beat of the song, making it seem that the light bulb is generating music. The beat is similar to a heart-beat. This is similar to "Spanish Sahara" by The Foals as in the video the sequences of the sea move in time to the beat of the song. The soft reds and orange colour in the beginning shot of "cosmic love" sets a calm atmosphere. It has a connotation of autumn and winter through the reds.

The second shot is of florence walking through red autumn leaves, the colours match her hair colour. As she walks through, she moves leaves away from her face, and is looking above the right-hand side of the mis-en-scene. She is wearing a white shirt with a black bow-tie which contrasts with the red leaves (which have a connotation of autumn), and the dark lighting behind her. The clothing has aspects of alternative rock as ties are stereotypically a male item of clothing. There seems to be a light reflecting on her from the direction in which she is looking.
Florence then starts singing the song as beam of light floats down towards her. The lyrics correlate with the on-screen mis-en-scene, "A fallen star, fell from your heart". The beam of light is bright and lightens up the dark scenery surrounding florence.
As the beam of light travels towards Florence's face the lyrics "and landed in my eyes" are sung as the beam of light goes into her eyes. The image is quite shocking and disturbing.
When the beam of light goes into her eyes it lights up the dark scenery. The imagery is quite alarming as she looks like she is in pain due to covering her eyes with force through clenching her hands tightly over her face.

The shot zooms into a close-up of florence's face as she screams. The lyrics "i screamed allowed as it tore through them and now its left me blind". The shot shows the rings on her fingers, which shows the genre- indie. This could be due the quirky style of rings: two are pedant rings with queen heads on them- this is a fashion statement. The red nail narvish goes with the red colours in the mis-en-scene.
The mis-en-scene fades out and a close- up of florence's face looking into the camera appears. As florence sings "blind" her eyes sparkle a beam of light, suggesting the beam of light is still in her eyes. Florence is then seen singing in a mirrored box room, with reflections of orange and red lights on the mirror walls. She is wearing all black which contrasts with the warm colours and ambient lighting which surrounds her. In the first few medium close-ups she is seen lying on the floor singing and her movements are similar to someone who is suffering. She then starts moving in a slow dance but it is as if she is a puppet being pulled by strings, suggesting she is trapped. This has negative connotations suggesting a "performing monkey" which dehumanises her making it seem unethical and degrading. The lyrics "The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out you left me in the dark no dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight in the shadow of your heart" amplify the on-screen action with her being stuck in endless darkness. "Twilight" could mean everything is grey (no sunshine, or day or night), motionless and being stuck inbetween, suggesting she is trying to discover who she is as she is confused and lost in an emotionless haze.

There is a fade-in of a medium shot of Florence standing in some bushes. The image portrays an eerie ghostly version of herself. She walks through the bushes towards the camera. The lyrics "in the dark, I can hear your heartbeat i tried to find the sound but then it stopped, and I was in the darkness, so darkness I became" this amplifies the onscreen action and represents her as searching. The lyrics so far suggest her being in love with someone in such a force that she is consumed and overwhelmed by this emotion and in pain because she thinks he doesn't feel the same way so she is searching for his love.

The shots of florence walking through the bushes are cross-cutted, as shots of her in the mirrored box room are shown. This creates a manic atmosphere as the repetition portrays florence to be stuck in a continous cycle of pain, searching for love or somebody she is missing.

The lighting gradually turns darker with the repetition suggesting depression. Especially when florence is symbolised with that of a puppet, displaying how she is trapped. The shots become quicker and so do the movements, however her face depicts pain and anguish, showing that this is not a pleasant experience. The onscreen shots flicker past becoming quicker the audience can recongise differences that appear in the shots. One of these differences could be the clothing. Before this Florence is seen wearing black and white however now, she is seen wearing a light pink dress with tiny fairy lights on it, in a darker lit up box room.

However the music comes calms down and a shot of florence's eyes glowing a beam of light suggests that the beam of light (which entered her eyes "blinding her" in the beginnning of the song) has now left. Following this shot is a repetition of florence walking through the bushes, but this time the lighting is softer and daytime. Also a fundemental aspect of the video is her facial expressions. Thus prior to this her expressions were manic and depressed, but now her face is calm and happy which makes the atmosphere more relaxed. The background colours onscreen become much lighter and softer and contrast with the previous shots of the same action. This links to the lyrics changing from "you left me in the darkness" and describing her emotions of being alone, they now describe them as a couple, "I took the stars from our eyes and I made a map" suggesting that she isnt alone any more and whereas prior to this she felt alone and despeared she now feels comfortable and happy. Another key action is eye contact which florence now uses with the lyrics "you" which directly engages the audience and becoming a personal message to the viewer. As the beat gets faster leaves and glitter get flown in the air, which is like a celebration of all her emotions and the possible fairytale ending she could be getting in her song. Glitter also represents the genre through the connotations of fun and happiness, it also represents feminity.

As the images repeat the lighting gets brighter making the atmosphere more tranquil with the blues. These colours suggest daytime and a movement of time. The last line from the last stanza is, "in the shadow of your heart" which could mean that she is always going to be behind this man whom she loves- always be with him. This suggests a happy ending to the sad beggining, about loving someone who may not love you in return.

The ending shots are of the light bulb flashing to the sound similar to a heart-beat. This shows that the narrative has gone in a full cirle.
A similar aspect in both music videos (foals - Spanish sahara, and Florence and the machine- cosmic love) is hurt and sorrow. The endings of both songs could have similar meanings as in spanish sahara it is about moving on and not letting bad things keep you depressed, and in cosmic love it tells a story of unrequited love how fairytales can happen in real life.

Both music videos have only one character, in cosmic love it is a woman and in spanish sahara it is a man. This could show the stereotypes for indie music, as in music videos an aspect of the genre is singing but not in a live performance but in the narrative, making the lyrics amplify the on-screen action. In cosmic love, florence is seen dancing which a characteristic used by female artists and bands.

The camera shots in cosmic love is manly medium shots, panning, fade in-out, and zoom in-out. The shots are similar to that in spanish sahara except from spanish sahara has many close-ups of the character.