Textual Analysis - Sia Chandelier

                                                                        Sia


Chandelier

This music video is mainly well known for its choreography as this is a memorable factor, there is no lip syncing - it is just literally Maddie dancing to the meaning of the song.

Performance – 

Sia doesn't like to star in her own videos, she has Maddie Ziegler a young girl who dancers throughout for her as a dancer. The performance is of Maddie dancing all around an abandoned, neglected location which is dirty and unpleasant.

Lyrics -  The words "swinging from a chandelier" is usually know as a metaphor for partying to excess. As she states in the lyrics "party girls don't get hurt" so if she keeps drinking she won't feel the pain that addictions can eventually give. She sings about how she used alcohol to try and escape from her depression '1,2,3 drink' and 'Keep my glass full until morning light cause I'm just holding on for tonight'. 

Music – 

Genre / mise en scene – The background location is  a dull  colour pallet,  in a run down apartment as its all falling apart and has been left in a disastrous state. This all comes together to make a depressing feel to the video as it matches in with the words she sings.

Camerawork –  It  looks as though it has been shot with a hand held  cam and this ends up being effective because it allows the person filming  to move around fast to keep up with the dancer but also keeps the footage from ending up being shaky.

Editing – The editing is done with a very small amount of cuts there isn't many and also, they are long shots in order for you to focus on her face, it's continuous so you follow her actions and words, instead of cuts dragging you away from what it is saying.

Intertextuality – Something that may be class as intertexuality may be that the dancer in the video is actually of 'Dance moms' as a dancer.

Narrative – 

The narrative of the actual performance and song itself is about addictions, to alcohol and drugs. Maddie's, the dancer, does not change how she dances the whole way through, its staged so that it looks at though she is mental or is going mental. The narrative is presented throughout the whole video as it is continuously through out, the beginning middle and end are not sectioned or displayed as separate settings. There are also images shown around the house/setting which are strange images or pictures, all painted by different people. This is helping to paint a picture of the narrative of that shes not the only one in that position/situation and also to show what drugs or addictions can do to you as a person.

Star image/ the brand - 

During this music video, Sia herself is not shown once. It is presented by someone else who is not the artist. This makes this video different from the most common female pop music videos where the stars are usually shown the whole way through and also sexualised.

Voyeurism – Within the music video we are watching Maddie Ziegler dance and unravel all of her problems that Sia is singing about. However although she is wearing hardly any clothing it isn't mean't to be sexualised because she is a young girl showing her emotions.