Saturday 24 August 2013

Anna Calvi: Desire

Anna Calvi: Desire

The music video to the song Desire by Anna Calvi was directed by Aoife McArdle. During this post I will be analysing the features employed between 0:45 and 1:22 minutes of the music video.


The music video to Desire is a mix of performance based and concept based music video, featuring footage of the artist's performance. This is possibly because Desire is a track from Calvi's debut album and thus for the purpose of promotion and exposure her face is quite prominent in the video. The video also features elements for conceptual based music videos by using abstract visuals that add meaning and emphasis to the lyrics without directly following a narrative.

A central theme that is depicted throughout the music video is passion and how passion and ones desire for things can be uncontrollable and take over people. Said theme can be seen around 0:46 when Calvi utters, "The sound of love is beating like a fevered heart" we see shots of lamps and candles flickering on and off which somewhat suggests the how strong passion or desire can be. The use of low-key lighting in the shots contrast with the light and present them as more as fires burning rather than plain simple lights. This visual with the lyrics present love as a force powerful enough to cause said fires to burn brighter as the "sound of love is beating down". One may also argue that this emphasises the idea that love and passion can take over a person as seen in these shots as it disrupts and affects the environment around it.




In terms of mis en scene in one of the shots previous described one can see two candles in between them we see a skull, which has been lit up by said candles around the candles we see some form of vegetation. One may claim that the skull represents death whereas the vegetation connotes life but what is significant in this context is that skull is more lit up than the vegetation possibly suggesting that the lights, which illustrate the idea of passion and love in this shot, may lead to bad consequence. This may show that maybe passion, love or desire can be a dangerous thing.




Around 0:49 we see an extreme close up shot of Calvi's right cheek as the back lighting behind her becomes much brighter and prominent when she sings "And it's the fire". In this shot, one may suggest that the lighting depicts the fire that she has just mentioned; the lightings prominence adds more emphasise and feeling to the lyric whilst also giving audiences a stronger description of how powerful once again these feelings can be. The fire could mean the feelings and emotions taking over which is represented by this bright light taking over the frame and the artist as well. 





As the video progress Calvi repeats the words, "the fire" as the volume of her guitar and drums gets louder and much more intense so does the visuals in sync with the sounds as we see close up shots of various objects shacking and tilting. The sounds of the drums in sync with the tilting within the shots suggest that a force is approaching or knocking. One may argue that this tilting and disruption further illustrates how these feelings can take over and pushing everything else aside.  The close up shots allows us the audience to see the disruption in a more overt way possibly suggesting how at this point Calvi cannot hold these feelings in anymore.




 One significant shot during this sequence is at 0:55 we see a close up of a crucifix in which a feather glides down and falls to the bottom of the frame.  Around this time, we also hear Calvi sing It's heavenly, heavenly Desire. The lyrics during this shot in some ways contrast each other rather than complement each other as Calvi describes desire as being heavenly or good whereas in said shot the visual of the feather falling one may interpret as an Angel falling even heaven falling presents otherwise.  Said visual conveys desire as more dangerous thing as one may argue as previously mentioned since the drums and discourse within the shots represent the desire then what we see is these feelings shaking down the heavens themselves; perhaps even dragging them down to hell. This may emphasise connote how dangerous and uncontrollable these feelings can be so uncontrollable that Calvi has convinced herself that this desire this want for something is a good thing yet the visuals show us that what she wants may be her undoing and "drag her to hell".




 However, the intertextual reference of the crucifix and the bible story of Christ's death may connote the idea of going to "hell and back", that even though we may get consumed by these feeling we may always return from them and sometimes achieve what we desire.

In the bible, it is described that Jesus suffered on the cross and on the Saturday went to hell until he was resurrected. Said intertextual reference may allude to how sometimes when we want something really bad we go through suffering to finally get what we want or return to normality;  we go through "hell and back" for these feelings.

When Calvi first mentions Desire at 0:57, we see a close up shot of her lips covered in bright red lipstick. One could say that perhaps the artist is on sexual display as her bright red lips connote a seductive look thus linking in with the title of the song, the bright red colour connoting lust and desire. Moreover in relation to the lyrics the use of solely focusing of Calvi's bright red lips emphases and turns the word more into a command rather than just a word; it conveys the feeling that giving into ones desire is something more like a command, something which you follow blindly. 




Additionally, just like Calvi's lips her costume consists of bright red clothing, which in turn adds to the connotations of lust, and desire. One could suggest that because she is covered in red it could connote how these feelings are taking over her body.



During the extract around 0:59 we see a POV shot of a dark door slowly opening. The door in shot features a window in which we can see a flight of bright red stairs. One may suggest that this shot connotes Calvi succumbing to these feeling and giving into the temptation of her desire. The red stairs may represent the desire or lust itself and the journey it will take you on, whereas the door slowly opening may convey Calvi slowly entering this journey or just starting to be taken over by said feelings. In addition, the little window on the door conveys a sense of curiosity as she is slowly peaking in at this "journey" or what she desires, however that said the silhouette like lighting of the door may once again suggest how dangerous going after what we desire may be. One can argue that a dark door opening may signify how this desire is leading to suffering or a situation full of hardship.




Next at 1:02, we see another POV shot of the camera or perhaps Calvi walking up the red stairs. The shot is quite shaky and uses a Chiaroscuro lighting effect, which causes half of the stairs to be covered in darkness. The shaky and unsettling movement of the camera conveys a feeling that Calvi is somewhat hypnotised on this journey towards her desire as she climbs theses stairs. The shaking suggests a disorientated feeling as if she has been taken over by these feelings and will just go forward without looking back. One may also suggest that the composition of the shot also suggests a sort of "no turning back" feeling, as we do not see that bottom of the stair; there is no second thought and the only way now is going after this desire. Additionally the use of Chiaroscuro lighting in the shot presents the journey of going after what desire as dangerous and as an unknown. This may be evidenced by the fact that certain elements of the stairs are omitted from the composition thus one may argue that said shot may also represent how when we go after what we desire it can be fully of uncertainty we don't know what we are after and anything can happen to us but we still go on. However, there is still bright on the other side of the stairs, which could connote the feeling of excitement and temptation that we walk towards. Although the darkness and fear is on the other side, we still go on to get what we want.



Then at 1:05 we the POV shot continues to be used as we see a low angle POV shot of a red lamp emitting a bright light against a darker environment. One may argue that the red lamp connote desire itself and with the use of the bright light being emitted and contrasted against the darker background we the audience almost direct out attention uncontrollably to this lamp. In some way perhaps this shot allows we the audience to experience some form of the uncontrollable feeling Calvi may be experiencing.



The shot then cuts to a high angle shot of a red staircase going downwards which features a darkened area right at the bottom. During the shot, we see smoke slowly appear out of the dark area. One may argue this may connote hell itself as evidenced by the smoke slowly being emitted from the darkness. The smoke may subtly evidence the "fires of hell" that is depicted in other texts. This may connote that if we follow these desires this is where we may end up. The darkness seems bottomless and it may show that all these feelings lead to is a bottomless pit as we keep falling. The use of a high angle shot  further emphasises how far down and intimidating this journey is or where we may end up in.







In terms of  the relationship between lyrics to visuals when said  POV shots are played we hear Calvi repeat the word "Desire" emphasising her journey towards this desire ;the repetition here show how she is following her desire blindly and thinking of nothing else.
In addition, during two of these POV shots we hear a subtle thunderous noise being played in sync to the cut. Said noise is played in the beginning of the shot in which the door opens and during in the high angle shot of the staircase. This sound in sync with the door opening may emphasise a foreboding feeling as if some force warning not to enter; not to give in to these desires. However since we also hear Calvi mention the word Desire during this shot one could argue that although the sound of the thunder may represent danger and fear if one desire's something so badly then the danger is forgotten and this is what the door slowly with Calvi's lyric may represent.
When hear the thunder noise in the high angle shot of the staircase the sound here is used emphasise the danger that we may experience perusing these desires by adding to hell theme previously established by composition of the shot.

Around 1:12 into the extract, Calvi mentions "I wanna lay in the dust" and we see long shot of a stature in a dark red tinted room. It could be argued that said statue within the shot is Calvi's grave or a monument to her and the red tinted environment connotes hell or a place of suffering, which can be evidenced by the red flickering, which is reminiscent of fire burning. Perhaps this has been used to further illustrate where she may end up or what she may go through when giving into these desires.



Eventually we see a close up shot of the stature that appears to a have crack on it from its eye down to its cheek. Said imagery conveys a sense as if the statue is in pain as if it's been crying, however the expression on the statures face is blank perhaps connote the idea that all the emotion and desire has been lost yet it still suffers in this environment. One could argue that this may connote how when giving into these desires eventually we end up going through pain and loose who we are as evidenced by the cold expression on the statures face.



In addition, throughout the extract there are several extreme closes up shots of the artists eyes which show Calvi with a determined expression. It's said that eyes are doorways to a person's soul and perhaps these shot has been selected to specifically emphasise Calvi's desire or attraction for something.



At 1:19, after Calvi says, "God knows it's just the devil in me" we see a high angle shot of a red carpet split with white checkerboard flooring.  In relation to the lyric said visual depicts the internal conflict Calvi is going through as her desire for something is taking over as evidenced by the fact that the red carpet, which may represent lust or desire, takes up more of the frame than the black and white flooring. One may argue that the significance of the black and white tiles may represent Calvi's other thoughts whereas the red carpet connotes this one desire or thought taking over everything else she used to think about.



Next, it cuts to another high angle shot but of a statue surrounded by the red carpet. One could argue that this further illustrates how here desire has now taken over her thoughts since before we saw a divide between the red carpet and the checkerboard but now this carpet encompasses most of the frame.



It then cuts to a mid shot of Calvi performing. The shot creates a sense of voyeurism (goodwin 93) as if seems as that a different entity is watching; the shot is composed more like a POV shot which can be evidenced by how blurry and shaky the shot is. In relation to lyrics Calvi mentions "The devil that's taking my hand to the fire" perhaps this could suggest that this watcher is the devil or temptation about to consume her.



 Finally, at 1:22 we hear Calvi finishes the line "The devil that's taking my hand to the fire" and we see a close up shot of a door closing. Behind the door, one can see blurred bright orange lights. One may argue that the use of said visual has been employed to illustrate how Calvi has no gone so far down this journey towards her desire that there's no going back; theses emotions have completely consumed her. Furthermore the link between the lyric to visual suggests more that in fact her desire has taken her to a place full of suffering; the fire meaning hell or pain this has been depicted via the use of the bright orange lights to convey a sense of burning.


In addition, another religious intertextual reference can be seen within the shot as on the doors one can see the Fleur De Lis printed on the door. It is said that the flower that said symbol originates from sprung from the tears shed by Eve as she left the Garden of Eden. Perhaps this has been used to draw parallels to Calvi's desire and Eve's desire as Eve was tempted by the devil to give in to the desire of eating the forbidden apple, which caused Eve to be punished, one may argue that the same is being shown here but with Calvi in place. This shot may suggest Calvi giving into these desires and getting punished for it.


I wanna go to the sun
Hold my life like I've never done
But it's just the devil in me
The devil that's calling as I come undone
The sky is getting dark tonight
Darker than the fear that's gonna pull us apart
The beating is the sound of love
The sound of love is beating like a fevered heart
And it's the fire, the fire, the fire
It's heavenly, heavenly
Desire, desire
Desire, desire
I wanna lay in the dust
The dust is gonna fall here when I lie
God knows it's just the devil in me
The devil that's taking my hand to the fire
I never wanna leave you now
Leave you like the sun is gonna disappear
But it's just believing now
Believing in my heart is what I've come to fear
And it's the fire, the fire, the fire
It's heavenly, heavenly
Desire, desire
Desire, desire
I've got desire, desire
I've got desire, desire
And only the lonely
Only the lonely fall
Only the lonely
Only the lonely fall
Fall
Oh, and I go to the fire
But God knows it's the sound of, it's the sound of love
It's the beat of my heart that you
Finally beating, it's coming, coming, coming for you
And it's just the devil in me
It's just a door to the devil gathered in disguise
Taking me by the hand
And leading me, leading me off to the fire
And it's the fire, the fire, the fire
It's heavenly, heavenly
Desire, desire
Desire, desire
You don't have to be lost
(Desire, desire)
You don't have to be lost
(Desire, desire)
You don't have to be lost
(Desire, desire)





1 comment:

  1. Fantastic detail in this close analysis. Well done for exploring the lighting (using correct and advanced terms) and for offering interesting interpretations of the symbolism within the video.
    T: Are there any features/ideas/angles/techniques that could be useful in your own production?
    T: Consider the pace of editing and the choice of transitions.

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