Hard Life Video Research

 

Hard Life (formally known as Easy Life)- nightmares: https://youtu.be/-dQnXExTp2w?si=pJ9zUa6-CVT_st8j           

Nightmares by Easy life is a song which studies themes such as anxiety and insomnia. The video features a man in a wheelchair after a car accident as he stares into the camera blankly, singing along to the song. He passes many people as he goes, including a newborn child, a man on crutches and then gets undressed into his coffin.

The video loops, each time however the scene is slightly different with things being stranger each time- a human heart falling on Murray for example. He gets decorated with a banner saying, ‘welcome to the world,’ which is an opposition to Murray who is seen dying in the video. Props such as the wheelchair that the lead singer Murray is pushed around in and the fake heart that falls onto his lap reenforce the hospital setting and the story of the video. There is also a balloon coffin that Murray is later placed in, which opposes the serious nature of the theme and the song. All 5 band members feature in the video, with some making cameos in hospital uniforms or coroner suits to fit the setting of the hospital and reinforce the idea that the person in the wheelchair is in danger, which reflects the mental danger the band are expressing in the song. By having all the band members feature as actors in the video, they are instantly recognisable to fans. This makes audiences excited to see these familiar faces, however, only Murray is performing the song This is unsusual for a music video and it makes it unusual and weird, which is often seen in Alternative music videos.

Bright Pinks are a common theme in the music video which heavily contrasts the quite morbid and sad aspects of the video and song. Artificial, high key lighting used to put a focus on Murray. Puts a focus on Murray’s situation, while keeping them looking at the story occurring in the background. A prosthetic pipe injury is used on Murray’s head- which contrasts the fact that Murray is singing in the video. The irony is that he is singing about mental health while a pipe is in his head. He is oddly calm in the situation which is alarming.

The whole music video takes place at the hospital and mostly in the same corridor with there being subtle changes each time it goes round. Most of the video is in a medium long shot with close ups sprinkled throughout in certain scenes. Objective point of view used with tracking shots on a dolly used, both the dolly and the wheelchair being wheeled round the hospital makes viewers feel as if they are also being wheeled around the hospital with Murray. The camera sits eye level to the wheelchair, this makes the audience feel as if they have been placed inside the video and connected to the video.