Jason Mraz is a 33-year-old acoustic singer songwriter from America. As he is of a similar genre and style as my chosen artist, “The Next Forever”, I have chosen to study and analyse one of his music videos to his successful single “I’m Yours”. I am looking in particular at what conventions arise from this genre of music videos and to see which I can apply to my own music video.

The music video starts with an establishing shot showing an aeroplane on the ground. Straight away the thoughts of some kind of journey taking place arises. The next few scenes also give hinters as to what the music video narrative is about. We see Jason leaving his previous home, shown by him packing his belongings and throwing down his key on the table. Jason is on an aeroplane flying to a different location, which, as the audience creates a number of questions: Why is he leaving? Where is he going? Who is he meeting? This is a very powerful and thought provoking start to the music video which keeps the audience interested and makes them want to watch the rest of the video to see if any of these questions become answered. The concept of some kind of journey portrays Jason as “A man on a mission” and this is reinforced by some of the lyrics in the song. For example his lyrics are very determined and have a feel of motivation behind them: “ I won’t hesitate no more, no more, I cannot wait I’m sure”. Here, Jason could be referring to a relationship, perhaps he is trying to win back a lover. This feel of determination may be recognised by some of the audience and they could relate to it from their personal experiences.

The use of lighting as part of the mise-en-scéne plays a big part in creating a character for Jason in the music video. In some of the earlier scenes, for example when he is in his house or onboard the aeroplane, he is shown in a shadow. This could perhaps represent that he is not whole without someone on something. This links back to the theme of a journey in the sense that he is trying to find the thing that makes him complete and a whole person again as apposed to just a shadow. An example of this can be seen in the picture to the right.

Another key theme that stands out in this music video is that of Jason Mraz’s love for nature, the earth and for friends. The video shares elements that are very similar to that of the Hippie culture. For example the theme of love and emphasising beautiful scenery of nature are stereotypically key aspects of the hippie culture. This could perhaps indicate to the audience the kind of person Jason is and adds a more personal feel to the music video. The visuals in the video showing aspects of a hippie culture are accompanied with lyrics such as “Listen to the music at the moment, people dance and sing, we’re just one big family”. The connection between these lyrics and the visuals help the audience to construct the theme of the narrative and give meaning to the music video. It also enables them to relate to the music video through personal experiences. There are many shots of waterfalls, lush grass and rainforest that could all represent Jason’s love for nature and the outdoors. From another perspective the music video could be acting as a political message in the sense of showing all this beautiful scenery which human activity is gradually destroying.

The clothing that Jason Mraz wears in the music video is a mixture of casual clothing. This could suggest that he is a down to earth person, again adding a more personal touch to the music video. Studying other music videos of the same genre I have noticed that the majority of male singer songwriters tend to wear casual clothing and so I would like my artist to dress similarly to share this convention. The clothes he is wearing are quite stylish despite the fact that they are casual looking. Some members of Jason’s’ target audience may look upon him as an icon or someone who they admire or lust for, and the clothing choice in the video may continue this. There are some shots with Jason with his top off, which may also appeal to some of the members of the audience. The casual clothing choice is not over the top, for example fancy suites, which add a sense of realism to the video, enabling the audience to relate to it. Jason is wearing sunglasses, which promotes connotations of summer and sunshine. This is quite a positive vibe, creating an all round pleasant video. In the first few shots he is shown wearing a bag, which again could symbolise some kind of journey in the music video.

The theme of summer is continued and explored further in other aspects of the music video. For example there is a use of a high angle establishing shot, which shows grass and fields in the spring or summer months, which could represent the start of fun times with friends and family. Spring also is a time of new life in terms of animals and plants, which could represent a new start for Jason, perhaps in the sense of a relationship, which again taps into the theme of love of the music video.

There are many shots that show Jason with friends doing a number of activities. These include skate boarding, walking through rainforests, diving off cliffs in water and surfing. Perhaps the songs lyrical meaning is about Jason’s love for his friends as apposed to a single person. This is reinforced by the shots of him and his friends doing fun activities and enjoying the weather. When these extreme sports such as skateboarding are introduced the drums kick in making the whole video a bit more upbeat. This is an example of a connection between visuals and music as when the music becomes a bit more interesting with the addition of drums, the visuals become more interesting with less establishing shots and more energetic shots showing the extreme sports. These activities are quite extreme and may appeal to members of the audience who are interested in extreme sports. It also could act as an insight to Jason’s personal life and what hobbies he has. This personal aspect of the video also helps to create a nice feel to the music video, which I really like. This has made me want to include some personal aspects of my artist in the music video I am going to make.

The shots of surfing are very similar to that of Jack Johnson’s music video “You and your heart”. This has led be to believe that perhaps extreme sports and summer themes could be conventions of acoustic music videos and perhaps I will incorporate some aspects of these in my music video.

The structure of this video is very similar to the structure of many other music videos of the same genre. I have watched videos by artists of the same genre such as Jack Johnson, Joshua Radin and Colbie Caillat and these all consist of a narrative, which includes them singing in, but also a performance section with them playing the guitar. This video fits in with this convention as it also includes both narrative and performance, with Jason appearing and singing in both. I could choose to use my chosen artist “The Next Forever”, in both the narrative part of the music video and the performance part to tap into this convention.

There are many close up shots in the narrative section to show Jason singing and extreme close ups are used to show his lips pronouncing the words. I have found the use of close ups to be very typical for this genre of music videos and have decided to include several close up shots of my chosen artist. When it came to the more performance aspect of the video towards the end of the song, there is a more traditional band structure. This includes another guitarist along side Jason, a bassist, a drummer and also a percussionist. This challenges the conventions of the performance section in an acoustic music video, as typically the performance is just the singer-songwriter playing the acoustic guitar and singing. I think when it comes to shoot my music video I will stick to the more conventional approach of an acoustic music video by having my chosen artist singing and playing the guitar.

The video ends with Jason sat on the edge of a pier looking out at sea. He has his head bowed, which makes him look sad. Again the lighting used has made Jason appear as a shadow in the shot. Perhaps this is to represent that the journey has come to the end, as the music video has come to the end. The narrative could be about him going on a holiday to visit some friends and now the holiday has come to an end he is sad and not whole again, represented by the shadow. The journey he has undergone could have transformed the character Jason plays in the music video, but now he is alone again, perhaps until next time when he meets up with his friends again. So the

music video narrative could be a cycle as represented by the shadows – the music video starts with Jason portrayed as a shadow, and it finishes the same way. Perhaps the message is that he feels whole when he is with his friends and incomplete when away from them.