Smile - Video Anlaysis

Smile by Lily Allen is the music video I am analyzing for my music video research. The video was directed by Sophie Muller who has directed many other music videos like Hips Don’t Lie by Shakira. It is produced by Future Cut. The genre being pop goes against most of the conventions that a pop music video would normally follow. For example girls being all pretty and smitten by boys and so on. She does however use a typical storyline within the video with a slight twist which is typical of Lily Allen. She (Lily Allen) is getting her boyfriend back for cheating on her. The video will be broken down to gain a greater analysis.
Throughout the video a story is running through which allows the visuals and its lyrics to be parallel otherwise it can become too complicated. At the beginning it shows her sitting on the bed on her own, looking sad and lonely whilst she sings ‘Just sat by myself all day…’ we also see clear parallels before the chorus and in the chorus where she pays her friends to help her out. ‘With a little help from my friends I found the light in the tunnel at the end…’ The title ‘smile’ is throughout it as the expression on her face is always happy and smiling.
The music again links in with the title of the song, its up beat and a good sing along tune. However some of the visuals shown in the video don’t necessarily represent that. Although Lily Allen finds it funny and a laugh it isn’t to the person its happen too. For example when he gets beat up you wouldn’t find many people smiling at that or when she puts laxatives in his drinks which could be shown as contrast within the video. This is typical of Lily Allen to be different from the normal pop music videos with contrasts in her music.
Lily Allen is a very unique artist who doesn’t follow trends but creates her own. Her star image motifs I feel is her dresses with trainers and big hoops. She wears this in many of her videos and it gives off the impression that she doesn’t care what people think of her. This is the message she offers to young girls which makes her a lot different to most pop artists. This video is similar to her other videos like LDN and Alfie and I feel she does this to promote herself as an artist. As Lily is the main artist she has the majority of camera time as she is the most important however the camera does include other characters to help the story to be revealed.
Lily Allen isn’t one to care about looks so wouldn’t be shown in a sexual kind of way. She gives girls the opportunity to love themselves for who they are and not be judged by what you look like. This has helped Lilly Allen to reach her success I believe.
There is a slight intertextual reference of the film Bridget Jones as they both are dumped by boyfriends and just sit by themselves, sulking and eating chocolate. It is typical in many love films.
The type of video is both story and performance. You see Lily Allen singing a large amount of the song whilst still in character. The chorus is the main chunks of the story where we get to see what she has done to him as his punishment. It isn’t really a concept video, most pop videos aren’t.
As a whole this music video allows me to see the pop genre in a different light, the more British way of music. It is up to date and current in the music industry. Through the music and the visuals the story is able to come to life and allows it viewers to relate to similar situation they may have been through. A good music video to analyze and has helped me within my own ideas for a music video.