Coldplay-Fix you Textual Analysis

Genre characteristics

For any genre of any music videos there are always several characteristics used to fulfill the theme and the idea of the genre.

In this music video ‘fix you’ it follows the genre of the indie rock songs as it displays many aspects of it that people can associate with a slow moving indie rock songs. For example, the footage used that was filmed from one of their previous concerts can make the audience feel as if they were their with the band. Many indie rock artists use this in their music videos, as it is enjoyable to watch. Another convention ‘Fix you” displays of a typical Indie rock songs is the settings of the Music video is what you would see in normal every day life and is very ordinary. In pop songs or hip hop songs you would often see exotic locations like a beach or a boat but an indie rock song uses ordinary settings in order to attract indie rock fans.

What is the relationship between lyrics and visuals?

The relationship between the lyrics and visuals of this song has been thought through well as there isn’t much of a narrative. This has been done purposely to represent the meaning of the song to the audience and also so that the audience know how to feel when watching it. Having Chris martin as the main character throughout the video as it is slow moving and dull, this is to capture a connection with the audience as the message is being addressed through Chris’s actions does this. As the music video does not follow a narrative the majority of the video involves a lot of solo instrumentals and lyrics being illustrated by Chris martin (this means that the artist is facing the camera and miming the lyrics). In two separate parts of the music video Chris Martin is singing to the audience when he is facing us, and then in the second sings to the fans in the crowd. Due to the fact that the track ‘Fix you’ changes tempo, the video pace follows this well. All the elements of the video such as the camera movement, editing (cuts), dance routines and even lighting changes with the track (as the track gets faster the cuts and shots move along faster and consistently, the lighting get brighter and more complex as well as the camera moments begin to get differ and superior).“Lights will guide you home and ignite your bones and I will try to fix you” (Referring to the live performance in the video) “And high up above or down below When you’re too in love to let it go” (This refers to the beginning and ending of the music video, Chris Martin shows this in the beginning when he is walking slowly in the dark dull tunnels, to where he is engaging with the crowd at stadium arena).

Relationship between music and visuals

The video ‘fix you’ cuts to the beat of the  song towards the end, whereas before in the first few minutes it is all in slow motion for several shots. Towards the end of the music video there are more solo instrumental parts that are being played just as the music begins to build up tension. The three other band members are on stage waiting for Chris to arrive and sing, in this particular moment the band members are all seen playing their instruments in front of thousands in Wembley stadium. I think that Chris was chosen to be the main character in this music video as he is the lead singer and would usually stand in the front when performing in front of people just like in the video when they’re all waiting for Chris to arrive and perform. Because Chris stands at the front it means his face is more recognizable to the people who watch them. The public is more familiar with his face than the other band members, which is why he was chosen to be the main character.

Record label in which the artist is assigned to have certain demands

Often record labels have certain demands in regards to their artist in the music video. In order to promote the artist they make sure music videos have lots of close ups of the lead artist and to keep the visual style of the artist. This is evident in this music video as the lead singer chris is often shown to the audience through a variety of close ups in order to promote the artist.  The visual style presented in this music video is that chris is reflecting on his life and seems as if he is thinking about certain memories. He is shown to be walking but is made to seem as he is walking randomly but at the end its shown that he was walking to a certain destination.