Music Video Analysis -- Shatter Me

Shatter Me -- Lindsey Stirling -- featuring Lzzy Hale from Halestorm

       The video is meant to inspire hope. It's about breaking free from life's restrictions. The video uses symbols to tell a narrative. It begins with the clockworker winding up the clockwork. Day in and day out the clockworker is stuck toiling away with the machinery. The violinist represents how trapped the clockworker feels. The video focuses on a ballerina with a violin stuck inside of a class crystal ball. To me the crystal ball is suppose to represent her prison and her music is her source of freedom. Whenever a light shines through the glass the dancer can see a glimpse of the outside world and she realizes their is more to life than what's inside her crystal prison. As the ballerina plays her music her glass prison gradually starts to crack and break till eventually her cage shatters and she gains her freedom.

       I never noticed this before in videos until there was a class discussion on it and now that I'm actually paying attention for it in this music video, I see it. The eyes are almost always half way to 3/4 of the way up in a shot no matter the distance from the camera. During the sequence of the video many different shots are used. There are close ups, to mediums, and from full body shots of both characters at the beginning of the video to the long shot used at the end that show the mountains in the distance and the violinist in the center among the remains of her shattered crystal ball.

      The video is timed with the music for example when the scenes change from shot to shot. Other great examples of this include; when the mirror shatters or when the violinist hits the crystal ball. However, this effect really stands out due to the violin rifts matching in time with the cracks appearing in the glass ball toward the end. There are also effects used to enhance the appearance of the beat further such as  zooming in and out, shaking the screen or flashing between the singer and violinist in quick succession. All these different effects put together causes the video to flow nicely.

       Lighting is another technique used in this music video. It's used to set the tone or mood of the video. At the beginning only the dancer and crystal ball have colour while the backdrop is completely black. Darkness and fog surrounds the glass sphere giving an air of mystery to what lies beyond. The darkness contrasts with the lighter colours causing the ballerina, crystal ball, the cracks in the crystal ball, and the occasionally butterfly to draw in the viewer's attention. At the end of the video the crystal ball shatters entirely and all the colour the outside world was lacking suddenly appears. The colours become softer and warmer in comparison to the beginning where the colours were darker and colder. The softer and warmer appearance makes the ending feel alive.