What Makes An Effective Music Video?

When the day is long and the night, the night is yours alone,
When you're sure you've had enough of this life, well hang on.
Don't let yourself go, everybody cries and everybody hurts sometimes.

Sometimes everything is wrong. Now it's time to sing along.
When your day is night alone, (hold on, hold on)
If you feel like letting go, (hold on)
When you think you've had too much of this life, well hang on.

Everybody hurts. Take comfort in your friends.
Everybody hurts. Don't throw your hand. Oh, no. Don't throw your hand.
If you feel like you're alone, no, no, no, you are not alone

If you're on your own in this life, the days and nights are long,
When you think you've had too much of this life to hang on.

Well, everybody hurts sometimes,
Everybody cries. And everybody hurts sometimes.
And everybody hurts sometimes. So, hold on, hold on.
Hold on, hold on. Hold on, hold on. Hold on, hold on. (Repeat & fade)
(Everybody hurts. You are not alone.)

Key:

Sadness Words of Hope

“Everybody hurts”, by R.E.M

“Everybody hurts”, by R.E.M was released as a single in 1993. The Music video was directed by Jake Scott and belongs to the genre of alternative rock. The genre of alternative rock emerged in the 1980s and 1990s, with a sound that didn’t resemble the typical heavy metal. The genre itself is defined by indie sounds and rock roots and was built as post rock. To begin with the genre focused on independent bands that were from the punk rock era but was not to be classed in the category of metal. Despite the genre of alternative rock having no set musical style; the majority are guitar based which is evident within this song. Furthermore, alternative rock has the tendency to address topics of social concern such as drug use and depression. It is evident that the theme of depression is a prevalent theme throughout the song I have chosen and follows this convention of alternative rock.

On first hearing the song without watching the music video, one could assume the song is about sadness and depression.  This is not surprising, given the sombre tone to the lyrics however the lyrics contain a much deeper and stronger meaning which is the preferred meaning; not to give up with the words of “hold on” being repeated.  The video itself is narrative led; however the main singer is part of the narrative and leads the narrative through. The camera often reverts back to his singing, to add to stability for the music video. Even if he is not singing, his figure is recognised by fans and acts as an anchor to the video. John Fiske, a media studies professor theorised semiotic democracy. Fiske discussed how rather than being passive couch potatoes that absorb information in an unmediated way, viewers actually are able to give their own interpreted meaning which this video by R.E.M stimulates.  

The editing in this music video always cuts to the beat however it undoubtedly cuts slower than most rock video which is a common convention of the alternative rock genre. Furthermore, the lyrics appear on screen which helps to emphasise the preferred meaning for the music video of hope. Additionally, different thoughts of people as subtitles are matched to their shots. This helps to give a voyeuristic feel to the music video as despite these people looking “okay”, there subtitles show that there is a deeper meaning and they are in fact not.  As the song progresses, the notion of hope becomes increasingly more noticeable and to show this the editing pace quickens.

The situation of being in a traffic jam provides an insight to everyone’s scenarios and makes it further evident that it is not just one person feeling pain and losing hope. In order to show this, the camera is often panning to show that there is more than one person in a depressing situation and giving a rounded view, instead of focusing on just an individual. The video includes intertextuality from the opening dream sequence of Fellin’s 8 1/2 as at the end of the video all the people leave their cars and walk instead, and then they vanish.

Three minutes, twenty seconds into the music video there is a close up of the lead singer, Michael Stripe. His figure is dominant in the frame, with shallow depth of field of the cars behind him. The use of depth of field can provoke an uncertainty due to the blur of those in the car, who feel like they are losing hope whereas the lead singer is hopeful and therefore he appears in focus to depict that he is the only one and this precise time in the video that is hopeful.

The singer himself is dressed in a suit which perhaps such his superiority in telling these people that there is hope.  However this is also Micheal Stripe's typical style which therefore helps him remain favourable to his fans. His status is represented through high status clothing but by also the framing of some shots. For example towards the middle of the video, the singer gets out of the car and starts walking higher up on the wall. Due to this framing, the people in the car are able to look up at him, therefore emphasising his superiority. Additionally those inside the cars are dressed in what would be classed as 'every day wear' which further adds to the authenticity of the video itself.
 

As the video ends, there is the use of a voice over from a reporter, explaining that all these people have just 'got out and walked'. The use of a voice over, further add to the voyeurism which is evident within the video and also the diagetic sound of a helicopter propeller suggest that these people are being watched, not only by the audience themselves but also the reporters who are characters within the video.

The director, Jake Scott has made the video, appealing to fans by filming, the main singer with several close ups as he leads the narrative through. Nonetheless, the video has also been targeted at those who are perhaps feeling depressed as the message of the song alone provides hope. I therefore think that this music video has successfully satisfied its target audience as the singer is represented as a 'god- like figure' as he first exits his car and walks as others soon follow. This is therefore something a fan would expect to see, as the singer is the main person throughout the narrative.

Overall the R.E.M music video of “Everybody Hurts” has shown common conventions of the genre by the sombre tone. However its preferred meaning is hopeful, which is not a typical convention of the genre. However without watching the video, the lyrics can easily be mistaken for a depressing song. Additionally, this song has recently been used in 2010 to provide hope for the Hati earthquake. The song was produced and covered as a charity single to help raise money to help victims of the earthquake further emphasising the meaning of hope that the song provides.