semantics of a music video

Keane-Bedshaped

Keane's video for Bedshaped has broken the normal conventions of a music video yet also at the same time it has strengthend them. From the beginning of the video we can see that it is different from most other videos as it has been made using plasticine and visual graphics to animate it.
During the planning of the video the director has made the narritive go off in two different ways, as it links to the song yet also tells a very different story about the battle a person suffers from drugs, alcohol and or mental illnesses. Which most is most likely alcohol and paranoia in this video, which can double up as an ad campaign towards the knowledge and understanding of what people suffering will go through.
The unconventional cartoon and plasticine characters and theme of the video has been original in many ways as there are only a few other videos which use this style. However, the fact the video is uncoventional means that it is highly original yet still follows conventions in many ways, as there are numerous close ups of characters, shots of the band playing. Solo shots of the singer as well as lighting to portray the mood of the song.
As the video has been made with plasticine the band has had to be placed into shot in an original and abstract way, they have been filmed, cartoonised and placed on the walls and skies like graffiti. This could mean that they want the band to be almost criminal in what they are saying as they graffiti could symbolise their message, which is one of anti drugs and awareness.
During the first few seconds of the video we see a cat which comes into shot and jumps on to a cardboard box which we later find out the character is sleeping in. During my analysis of the video I believed the cat to be a guardian angel or the man's saviour as he is helped via the cat many times, the first scene in the video the man is awaken by the cat, he could have been brought back from the brink of a suicide attempt or an attempt to fade out of society but the cat brings him back, builds up his confidence and at "3:03" gives the man a bag which say on the side "There for you" this could be his sub conscious speaking to him, knowing that there is help and that he can recover from his condition with the help of the cat.
At 1:32 we see a billboard which says "on your own?" this relates to both the feelings of the character and the lyrics of the song, these signs are also speaking to the character who may be suffering from schizophrenia, and is telling him his own subconscious thoughts.

In conclusion this music video by Keane uses the narritive and the story to portray the battle an addict goes through to come clean, which in the case of the video I believe he doesnt as he goes off into the white light, which could signify heaven.