Textual Analysis: The Fray - How To Save A Life

        ‘How To Save A Life’ by The Fray was released in 2007 and quickly become their bestselling song. It reached the top of the charts all over the world. The song is about a band member’s relationship with a friend addicted to drugs, and how he recovered.

LANGUAGE

The video opens with a long shot tracking shot of the band; this sets the scene and gives the band a face, however, the shot has been blurred, possibly post-production. This could perhaps show the uncertainty that would be in the relationship between the band member and his drug addicted friend. 

 It then cuts to a close up of a man singing, this gives the voice an identity which is important for the audience because they will feel much more involved in the song, so the meaning in the lyrics and video will be portrayed much more. The next cut is to another close up of the same man singing; this time though he is looking and singing straight into the camera (could also be considered the audience’s eyes). 

In the next cut it shows an extreme close up of an eye, the pupil of the eye dilates showing the influence of drugs; once again helping portray the drugs usage message to the audience. Next it cuts to a montage of what appear to be random images. This could furthermore be showing the drug addicted friend’s confused thoughts. It cuts back to a mid-shot of the singer and pianist. This helps keep the bands identity which helps promote their image, also it reminds the audience from where the singing is coming from which puts a face and meaning into the song. 

The next shot is a mid-shot of memories of a group of people that he had a relationship with before it got ruined because of his drug addiction; showing the anti-drugs message that has been abundant in all of the video and song so far. 

      The band is shown once again in a mid-shot/long-shot when other instruments start being played and then a close up of the singer/pianist, this helps keep the bands personality on show. Next, I think the lyrics are important when collaborated with the visual elements of the video. The lyrics “she goes left and you stay right” suggests that a decision he made has meant he has parted with someone or maybe many people. During that line of lyrics there are 3 shots, a long shot of a young woman standing alone; possibly an ex-partner who he lost through his actions. Next it cuts to a long shot of lots of people walking in two directions (left and right) which could signify the confusion of which path his life should follow. It then cuts to close up of a young woman turning left, showing the “she goes left” lyric. All these people are memories of people the drug addict had relationships with, whether friends, family or a partner.

       Once the song gets into full swing there is a series of shots of the band. There is a mid-shot of the pianist singing, mid-shot of the guitarist, long shot of the whole band with the drummer in the forefront, a long to close zoom of the guitarist to his guitar and a close up of the pianist singing into the camera. The three shots that have the most influence are the long shot of the whole band, the long to close zoom of the guitarist to his guitar and the close up of the pianist singing. The long shot of the band gives the band identity which is important in keeping fans close, because when they see them they would then know who they are. The zoom to a close up of the guitar adds a bit of emphasis to the sound of the guitar in the music track; this makes the music more forceful and therefore creates a bigger impact on the audience. As stated earlier, the singer singing directly into the camera makes it a lot more personal with the audience because the camera is the audience’s eyes.

       I think the pace of editing varies really well in the video. As the music becomes more lively and louder the pace of editing; this is a good way of keeping the music and the video as one because it makes it more in time and the link between the two is much stronger, thus making it a better video.

      The director uses juxtaposition in the video by having close up shots of a caterpillar and a butterfly. Because the butterfly is a progression of the caterpillar it shows that what is happening with the drug addict consumes not only his but others lives. It’s another way of portraying the anti-drugs message.

      Throughout the video there are close ups and mid-shots of lots of people. These are people who have been affected by the drug addiction and who he has lost from his life because of his actions. Each shot of them they are sad, showing the audience how drugs can have a negative impact on lives. The close ups help show this even more because you can see all their facial expressions clearly. Whilst the mid-shots of groups show the large number it affects.

        Overall, the video is a fairly simple one in terms of the style of shots and the mise-en -scene. However, this has helped make it easy for the director to get the message of anti-drugs across and also give and improve the band an identity which will make them more popular.

        IDEOLOGY:

      The ideology of the song and the music vary's on the person. However, lead singer Isaac Slade claims that the song is about people unsuccessfully reaching out to a boy he once knew who took drugs and was in depression. The verses of the song describe an attempt by an adult to confront a troubled teen. In the chorus, the singer laments that he himself was unable to save a friend because he did not know how. The video project an anti-drugs message by showing that drugs not only effects the victim but others that surround him. This is shown by the symbolism of the butterfly and caterpillar. The actors we see in the video are mainly teenagers, which shows that they are targeting it towards that age group due to the alarming rate of depression, drugs etc in this age group. The video also features words such a 'love', 'open up', 'remember' and 'open up' which shows the viewer who may have an addiction that there is always a way out.

        INSTITUTION:

    The Fray is an American rock band from Denver, Colorado. Formed in 2002 by schoolmates Isaac Slade and Joe King, they achieved success with the release of their debut album, How to Save a Life in 2005, which was certified double platinum by the RIAA and platinum in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK. The Fray achieved national success with their first single, "Over My Head (Cable Car)", which became a top ten hit in the United States. The release of their second single, "How to Save a Life", brought the band worldwide fame. The song charted in the top three of the Billboard Hot 100 and was a top 5 single in many different countries. They signed to Epic Records, a conglomerate of Sony in 2004.

        AUDIENCE:

      The main audience for The Fray are teenagers/ young adults. This is shown by them being signed to Epic Records, who's artists are usually marketed towards this demographic. Their song 'How To Save A Life', in particularly, is targeted towards teenagers due to the ideology of the song and how the videos actors are mainly teenagers/young adults. By including band performance into the music video will make others watch the video as they are fans of their, not just this demographic.

        REPRESENTATION:

       Due to the minimalistic mise-en-scene used in the video, this makes it very clear that their sole purpose is to get the ideology of song across. By doing so, it represents them as looking out for the audience and gives their fans something they can rely on and relate to. As the song is about a teenager that the leader singer knew, makes it even more relatable as it is coming from his past experience not something he has made up in order to get a hit. Despite being a rock-pop band, they have not conformed to Richard Dyer's 'star theory'. Instead of presenting themselves as typical 'rockers' they are wearing plain outfits to make their more relatable and the focus to be on the video.