Analysis of Plan B Writing's on the wall

       

Mise-en-scene

The opening shots of the scene in the house show us a girl in her home moving around doing domestic chores such as cooking the meal. This fits in with the stereotypical image of a wife at home working while the man is out enjoying himself. The kitchen is white connoting purity. She is not to blame for the break-up of the relationship.

She has curlers in her hair and puts on make up to make herself look lovely for her man. Again this is a stereotypical portrayal of gender as the woman should make herself look attractive for her husband.

The scene in the club is much darker. There are people dancing and having fun. This contrasts to the solitary state of the woman at home connoting that she is isolated from her boyfriend.

The girl is shown to be taking a lot of trouble over laying a romantic meal for her boyfriend. She has created a romantic meal with candles and she has chosen oysters which are expensive and meant to be an aphrodisiac. The scene is colourful and vibrant. She is wearing a bright orange, sexy dress connoting that she has a good evening planned.

When she receives a phone call from her boyfriend she is sitting on the stairs. She realises he is not coming home and her whole demeanour changes. Her isolation denotes her sadness and connotes the fact that she is alone as her relationship has broken up.

She burns herself connoting that the relationship is burnt out.

There are scenes of the singer out enjoying himself with his friends. He is eating and drinking and having a good time. This contrasts to the girl who is seen drinking alone.

At the end he is seen kissing a woman. This is an act of betrayal against his girlfriend. This is stereotypical of the celebrity lifestyle as they are stereotypically seen to have affairs typically the males. This action connotes the end of the relationship.

With the shots of Plan B playing in the theatre, there are shots of the woman getting ready and cooking diner. This is a stereotypical representation of women as they are typically seen to stay at home and do all the cooking and cleaning while the male goes out and has fun with his friends.

Sound

At the beginning there is loud cheer from the audience as the singer comes onto the stage. This shows what a great star Plan B is and shows all his adoring fans.

Throughout the video Plan B is on the stage singing the song which fits with the visuals and tells us the narrative of the video.
 

Camera Angles

Throughout the video the shots cut quickly from the scene at the club to the scene of the girl at home. This serves to emphasise the contrast between the two.

There are lots of close up shots of Plan B performing. This connotes he is a star and instantly recognisable by his audience. The record company would want close up shots of him in order to promote him and the single.

When the girl is getting ready for her boyfriend to come home there are lots of establishing shots of the rooms of the house. This is showing us that this is where he should be and that she is waiting there for him.

There are long shots of the girl looking beautiful in her dress which is stereotypical of this genre of music, for it attracts the male gaze. This uses the male gaze theory, where the camera is the males’ eyes.

There are close up shots of the band on the stage playing their instruments which is stereotypical of this genre of music video. It is also a form of advertising for their live shows as it will encourage people to see him play live.

After the phone call there are close up shots of her face showing her pain as she realises the relationship is over.

Narrative

The narrative content of the video fits with the lyrics of the music. The song tells of a relationship which use to be good but has slowly died and there is very little left. With the narrative there is no final conclusion to the story as it ends before the whole story is told.

Titling

The video begins with a shot of the top of the venue where the singer is playing. The sign is made of large, dark capital letters against a white background. The dark colours connote a dark theme to this video, which gives the viewer an idea of what to expect from the video. It has the name of the fictional character that Plan B is playing, Strickland Banks, and the Sold Out beneath it. This connotes he is a major star and very well known. He is so popular that there are no tickets left for the concert.