Research Music video analysis 6: Sara Bareilles- 'She Used To Be Mine'

This is the establishing shot of the music video for Sara Bareilles' "She Used To Be Mine" which is one of the song which she wrote for Waitress the musical but then altered to re-record for a single performed by herself. This shot is diagonal to Sara and pulls in closer to her. From the use of a black and white effect it creates a sad, emotional atmosphere which is reflective of the songs lyrics. Sara's face is revealed through the reflection of the mirror into the camera.

After the establishing shot the camera pan's round to the side of Sara's face. The costume she is wearing in this video is all black. Black clothing is usually a symbol for rock/punk music but in this video I believe it has been used to show the emotion of the song. It is evident in this shot that a lot of props have been used to create the scene of the dressing room. Having a great number of props like shown in the image above makes the scenery in the shot look real also to help the narrative.

Here is an over the shoulder shot with the reflection being centre of the shot and her actual self to the left of frame. Applying Goodwin's theory i believe this video will be a narrative music video as she is telling a story throughout the video.

This is the first time in the video that the shot it not showing Sara's face. A table of simple props is used her for example: makeup, cotton pads, nail varnish and makeup brushes. These kind of props we could use in our music video as they are cheap and we can easily get hold of them. During this shot it is showing Sara writing a letter, to me as a viewer I believe that this video is narrative based as it is creating a story which is building gradually as the song progresses.

During this shot the location of the video moves. Here the camera is tracking following Sara as she walks through the door and down a corridor. During this shot the camera is tracking behind Sara as she walks down the corridor, I feel this is really effective due to it showing every single part of the narrative and it continues from one scene to another very smoothly.

This shot is a close up of Sara's hands on the piano. This is reinforcing to the viewers that Sara wrote the song for Waitress but has converted it into a song that she can produce herself. Sara adapted the song for her personal use so she could release it as a single. Throughout the video a black and white filter has been used on every shot. The use of black and white creates a emotion of sadness which is linked with the narrative and the lyrics of the song, which I think work really effectively in this video.

An longshot is used here to show Sara walking across the stage towards the piano. Her again she is seen in the full black costume which is now discovered to be worn throughout the video. Due to the black and white filter on the video it is hard to see the details in this shot as it is all very dark.

The video then returns to the original location of the video, returning to the dressing room. Except this time Sara is sat on the sofa instead of at the dressing table, this is suggesting maybe being at a different time to the first shots. She is viewed here from a medium longshot as her feet are not visible.

The music video ends with a convention of music video's with the artist singing directly into camera and then she turns her head away as she finishes singing. The final shot of the music video is in a new location that is not seen anywhere else in the music video. Once Sara has finished singing the camera pan's away from her until cutting to the end of the song. 

As this video was actually written for the musical "Waitress" the musical version is below. 

This video is from the press rehearsal before the music hit broadway and was used to promote the musical. The version of the song is different to Sara's as this version fits into the story of the show, although the lyrics are the same the rhythm of the song changes in place to build more tension to make it easier to be acted on the stage.

How this research has influenced my planning:

• Using black and white all throughout the video makes it more emotional
• Using plain clothing so the focus in on the action and singing of the video
• Having some of the shots taken over the shoulder reflecting into the mirror.