Analysing
a music video – Sam Smith – I’m Not The Only One
The
video opens with a handheld establishing shot of a house to show where the
story starts, the shot is also very shaky which could mean that the
relationship we’re about to see is shaky as well. The colours in the shot are
very dull which is odd given that the house looks nice, the desaturation
symbolises that the house may be not as lively as it once was which, given the
rest of the story, is the case. We do hear the wife say the line “I made you
breakfast” but the husband replies that he’s “in a bit of a rush”, this shows
that the wife has gone to the effort of making breakfast but the husband
doesn’t even thank her for it. During the opening scenes there is nothing but
silence and sounds of birds to show that the couple have love for each other
and there is a feeling of peace between them.
The first scene between the characters is a
kiss and then a smile between the couple which shows that they’re in love,
however as soon as the wife leaves the man looks at the mirror and breathes out
symbolising he’s about to do something bad such as cheat, this is backed up by
the expensive suit that he’s wearing which could be seen as over the top if
you’re just going for a drink. The wife see’s off her husband with a wave
whilst smiling but as her husband leaves the shot, her smile becomes a more of
a face of disgust and hate as she knows what he does when he goes out. Also the
music starts with a loud kick drum at this point to show that once the husband
has left, the peace between them has gone which emphasises her disgusted look.
The first line states “You and me, we made a vow; for better or for worse” to
show that when they married they said that they will take care of one another
and love each other no matter what happens between them.
The wife then goes into the garden with a
glass of drink in her hand, whilst this is happening the husband is entering
the bar showing that they both are going for drinks but not together as you’d
expect a couple to do, this shows that their love for one another has gone
south and they’d rather be alone than together. The colour contrasts between
these two scenes as the man is in a very low-key place whereas the woman is
wearing white and is in a high-key lighting set, the director does this to show
that the woman has done nothing wrong since white is a sign of purity but on
the other side the man has done plenty wrong by the low-key lighting which is a
sign of bad, this is further backed up by the woman removing her wedding ring
since she knows what he does and doesn’t want to be with him anymore. This is
further backed up by the lines “I can't believe you let me down; But the
proof's in a way it hurts” which shows that she is emotionally hurt by him
going out constantly and cheating.
Next the man is shown in a bar with a woman
whom he seems to know well as he goes up to her and greets her with a hug and a
smile, this is clear that the man is in an affair. Meanwhile the wife is now in
a car driving whilst crying because she wants to get away from the thoughts
inside the house and just leave, however one quick shot of a ring on her finger
symbolises that she is trapped in this loveless relationship, this is backed up
by the line earlier which said “I wish this would by over now; But I know that
I still need you here” which is to make the viewer feel sad for the wife as she
wants to escape but has no one to go to if she did. Both subjects are then
shown drinking large quantities of alcohol as they attempt to forget one
another which the man is doing easily as he might often be doing this, I think
this because the camera hasn’t cut to his ring at all or anything to do with
his marriage.
The wife is then shown inside a shop buying
lighter fluids and oil and then burning all of the mans belongings to symbolise
she has had enough of him going out having an affair which shows she’s known
for a while, this is seen in the line “You've been so unavailable; Now sadly I
know why” since she knows that he goes out drinking and cheats on her with
other women. Her rage is further shown through a scene of her smoking, which
could mean she has bad habits that only come when he goes out. Also during this
scene the embers from the fire colour her skin orange/red to further emphasise
her anger towards him.
She is then seen breaking down even more in
the bedroom where the line says, “you say I’m crazy” which shows that she has
confronted him before but he has denied it by telling her that she’s “crazy”.
The use of fast cuts between shots of her crying and breaking down emphasises
that she’s had enough and she is finally going to do something about it. The
husband is shown walking home in the dark of the night between shots of her
crying which consistently has been showing him in low-key lighting to show he’s
the “bad guy” in this story.
The final scene shows the wife and husband
hugging in the doorway where the wife clearly knows about him cheating but
can’t physically bring herself to leave him as she possibly has no one else or
no support to leave him, which throughout the story we know is the case. Throughout
this section Sam Smith repeats the words “I know” multiple times just to really
emphasise the fact that she completely knows what he does when he goes out,
however she can’t bring herself to leave him.
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