Section Two: Lily Allen - Smile

Lily Allen - Smile

BthaLegend | MySpace Music Videos

Aspects of performance/Mode of address
This video is narrative based with elements of both direct and indirect modes of address. The video switches mode of address between direct during the parts of the video where Lily is shown to be in her room and singing to the camera and also indirect during the more narrative based parts of the video e.g. when she is walking down the street.

Narrative
The narrative of this video is non-linear as it switches from her walking in the street to her spending time with her ex.

How does the video create an image for the star/artist/band
This video creates the image the she is a strong, independent woman. It also creates the image that she isn’t superficial through the showing of her getting revenge on her ex.

How do the visual elements relate to the song (Illustrate/Amplification/Disjuncture)
The lyrics in this video amplify the visuals as the song is about taking revenge on her ex for cheating on her. This is shown in a number of ways such as when she pays the group of ‘hoodies’ to mug her ex and also to trash his house.

Mise-en-Scene
Lily Allen’s costume in this video is colourful where as the other costumes in this video are not, this means that Lily stands out from everyone else. The use of ‘normal’ looking places e.g. the cafe shows realism in the video. Another point about her costume is that it is trademark to her image – this being the big ear rings and trainers.

Use of Camera
At the beginning of the video there is the use of zooming in to highlight that Lily looks sad/upset. There is use of over the shoulder shots to show conversation happening without the need to use shot reverse shot. The use of eye line match is to highlight a specific item in the shot e.g. the clothes in the toilet.

Editing
The editing in the video is fairly fast paced which doesn’t flow with the song as much as it is telling a story. There are fairly quick cuts used during the trashing of the ex’s flat so that most of the movements in the flat are seen by the audience.

Representation
There is a negative representation of youth culture in this video shown through the ‘hoodies’ as well as the use of revenge and also that it is set in a working class looking area. There is also the representation of Lily appearing to be a ‘normal’ person through the themes of emotions, more specifically the mixture of sadness and hate that her ex had cheated on her and then going to joy when she get revenge on him.

Special Effects
There are no noticeable special effects used though it is possible that the last shot in the video is done with a green screen as it looks like it could be an artificial background.

Genre
This song belongs to the genre of ‘Pop’.

Audience
The audience for this song would likely be aged 13 – 19.