Analysis: Once In A Lifetime

The wavy background in the first shot denotes water, linking to the lyrics and meaning of the song. It also kind of reminds me of cells or enzymes or something biological, which links to life in the lyrics. The sounds at the beginning also link to the water idea as there are sonar type sounds. The actual music that follows this - when the guy pops up - sounds like something from a science programme, linking to the biological idea. The character himself pops up and down as if his upper body were circling round and round. I like weird effects like this and know how to do them.

To me, this is an intertextual reference to the Ministry of Silly Walks, but I doubt that that was the intention as it doesn't really fit the theme of the song. However, this action does link to travelling which represents the lyrics 'how did I get here?'. The artist is wearing a suit, which is a convention of the genre, it hides his body form and makes him seem more middle class. The use of a grey suite may also link to the idea of going on through life without realising how you got there, just going with the flow doing normal routines in a normal way. Grey is quite a boring colour so this fits.

In contrast to the grey suite however, the artist is doing something decidedly abnormal. This also links to the idea in the lyrics of waking up from normal life. The people in the background could also represent repetition. The song is about people 'letting the days go by' and following normal routines their whole life. Repetition, as denoted by the figures in the back are a part of this. Furthermore, the fact that the artist is out of sync with his clones means that he is losing touch with normal life. Though it's not too good today, the effects used to create the figures in the background were very visually appealing.

The use of what I would call 'archive footage' from around the world connotes life itself. It is varied and is all around us. The video takes snippets of unusual footage in order to question normal life and normal ideals. The artist is also shown to do this by copying actions from the videos. This shot makes it seem almost as if the artist is a teacher, showing us how to wake up from reality by doing these actions.

This clip showcases several close up. The artist appears the whole way through this video, and there are numerous close-ups. The purpose of this is to advertise the artist and build up a star image. The clip also shows how the artist is tossed around as if the music is controlling him. This links to the lyrics 'letting the days go by', 'let the water push me down', as they suggest that the flow of life (like a water stream) controls your actions in life. Similarly, the guitarist in The Sounds also acts a bit like this in Living In America. Thus, this could be good for my own music video - I think it could work too as a "psycho's" actions might not be their own...