Music Video Analysis - Strawberry Swing by Coldplay.

The best way to comprehend how certain codes and conventions are used, not only throughout a music video but also within the genre, is to take a much more detailed look at one, thus producing a complete and thorough analysis. The video I have chosen, whilst remaining Indie, is entirely different to most videos currently circulating modern media. There is no performance, and what narrative there is does not match the lyrics or the music. It is based upon an artist’s chalk drawings and their animation with no real link between the visuals, the music and the lyrics. Despite this completely contradicting Goodwin’s six main conventions, it remains a highly successful music video winning not only Video of the Year, but also Best animation in a Video and Best Rock Video.

Strawberry Swing by Coldplay (2008):


Indie is a term used much more widely today than it once was. It no longer means to be entirely independent but is more so a term to describe the stereotypical traits of the music itself, its sound. Therefore although Coldplay are signed to EMI and are no longer independent, their music and their representation is that of an Indie band. As they are signed to such a large and successful label, their budget for the music video was substantially larger than the budget of any literally independent band such as The Young Knives.

Probably the best way to first analyse this video is look at how it challenges the typical codes and conventions of music videos by Andrew Goodwin, mentioned previously in our research. To begin with, there is no link between the visuals or the music, nor the visuals and the lyrics, yet it seems to work. For example, the lyrics; ‘The sky could be blue, The sky could be grey, Without you I just slide away, The sky could be blue, I don’t mind, Without you it’s a waste of time,’ have no real link to a superhero, clouds or a giant squirrel. It is almost like surrealism. You could also look at a possible connotation of the ‘random animations’ within the video, the possible images of one person’s imagination. When you are in love, which this song conveys through its lyrics, you are almost in a dream world where nothing quite makes sense, you are one step back from reality, almost a blind love. It is possible these animations represent the random goings on within a person’s mind at such a time.

That last point, although a huge use of imagery, is not in itself iconography, another convention of music videos according to Goodwin. Although today, the genre of Indie is rather large and ever-changing, most videos do feature performance, or at least rather a lot of close ups as demanded from the fans. Although Chris, the lead singer of Coldplay does indeed feature in the video, it is always from a far and in full costume and so is hard to distinguish as himself, thus challenging normal conventions. There is no voyeurism, nor any intertextual references; it is a completely unique video. Despite challenging all other aspects, the production of this video is mainly editing; the video and animations themselves were directed by the visual artists Shynola. There is a lot of controversy over whether the art was actually hand drawn or computer generated and so in an interview with one of the directors from Shynola, it was cleared up with; We had pretty much all of the animation roughly blocked-out beforehand using computers. It was just a matter of taking one frame at a time with our grid for reference. Luckily, you only need to draw or rub out the bits that have moved since the last frame. We also had this cool portable monitor while filming, which showed you a live feed from the camera, blended with the previous take and our pre-vis.’

So although the conventions are challenged and the codes not kept to, it remains a very successful video. Why? The animations. Even just watching the video you become transfixed not only on the beauty of them but also the complexity. The effort and time put into the video is astounding and compels you to carry on watching. It is such a different take on any music video, a risk the label were willing to take which in turn has produced a huge advance in modern music videos today.

In order to gain a more detailed and wider understanding of what particular aspects of this video appeal to people, I have conducted a brief questionnaire and asked five people, aged 16 – 20 of both genders, selected at random, their opinions of Strawberry Swing;

1)What are your initial thoughts whilst watching this video?
Participant 1: This is a very good video.
Participant 2: That the animations were very well designed.
Participant 3: Weird, interested, wondering what will happen next.
Participant 4: Very original, hard to follow.
Participant 5: It is odd, but very likeable.

2) Do you like this particular music video, and if yes, why?
Participant 1: Yes, purely for the visuals.
Participant 2: Yes, because it was very well thought out and well produced especially as it seems it was created on a low budget.
Participant 3: Yes, since its fascinating and interesting and something new that i havent seen before.
Participant 4: No.
Participant 5: Yes, it different, colourful, and rather ‘happy’.

3) What is it about the visuals that compels you to watch?
Participant 1: It's just really interesting. Makes you want to watch it all the way through.
Participant 2: The contrast between 3d and 2d animations, specifically the falling umbrella scene.
Participant 3: Its new and different.
Participant 4: Fast paced changes kept my attention.
Participant 5: The rather colourful animations.

4) Do you think the music, visuals and lyrics complement each other?
Participant 1: Indeed they do, very well.
Participant 2: I think the lyrics, especially in the chorus, fit well with the visuals of the video.
Participant 3: Yes all three go together well to interest you.
Participant 4: No.
Participant 5: Yes, I think they do.

5) After watching the video, what is your impression of the song?
Participant 1: It is very good, but the visuals may distract you from the song itself, therefore basing your judgement more so on the visuals rather than the music.
Participant 2: I liked the song, I think that the lyrics and music complement each other very well.
Participant 3: It’s a very chilling, relaxing song.
Participant 4: Comes from someone with a very eccentric imagination.
Participant 5: I really do like it, it’s a rather relaxing song complimented by the visuals.

The overall consensus is as follows; the video itself is new, interesting and very original thus becoming rather impressive and progressed in modern videos today. It is a very likeable video, the colourful visuals are fascinating and quite mesmerizing to the audience. The fast changing 2d to 3d visuals are extremely interesting thus keeping your attention fixed on the video, whilst the music and lyrics complement this. Therefore after watching the video your impression of the song is that it is a rather relaxing and peaceful song.

After conducting those questions and collating the answers, now we can see why it is so successful. Therefore taking a risk with the production of your music video, depending on how you do it, could be rather successful and progressed. Therefore when it comes to the planning and production of our own music video, I will take into consideration other ways of challenging the conventions and taking risks, in order to produce something truly original.