The lyrics of the song relate very much to the actual video itself. This meant that it is an amplification and narrative video. The lyrics concentrate primarily on the concept of 'post secrets'. The chorus including "I'll keep you my dirty little secret, don't tell anyone..."
Throughout the video, at regular intervals, a montage of postcard sized placards revealing personal secrets are held up by different people. I found the different shots used at moments very interesting in relation to the lyrics. For example, the first secret displayed at 0:10, reveals, "I want to go blind, so I don't see them together". A close up shot of the placard was used keeping the secret the main focus. In turn, this made the person's face blurred in the background and out of focus. This technique was used on numerous other secrets shown also. This links nicely with the lyrics suggesting the secrets to be too embarrassing to own up to, therefore they are written down and hiding their identity.
However, at some intervals the people wear a bag over their head to further emphasise the shame of the secret but also adding comedic value to the video as some of the secrets revealed were humorous. To add to the comedy, the placards were either printed in a non-formal font or hand written, accompanied by a corresponding cartoon picture. A good example of this is shown at 0.41; "I pee in the sink".
In addition to the lyrics and video having a connection, at 1:49 the lyrics 'The way she feels inside, those thoughts I can't deny' compliments the secret being displayed by the woman stating, 'Sometimes I think my fiancé isn't the one." This influences the decision that the secrets may at times be random, but some have specific, direct relevance to the lyrics.
Like the majority of music videos, the shots are normally cut according to the beat of the song. Although this video does not necessarily cut to the beat of the music, there are a variety of shots that in my opinion, make this video just as successful as the ones that do use it. Despite this, it still uses other elements associated with popular music videos.
The opening of the video consists of a long shot of the group playing their instruments to the song. They are performing in what looks like a studio with all the placards included within the video bloated and organised together to form a wallpaper behind the band whilst they play. The placards had a multipurpose which I found clever and creative, keeping the theme of the video there throughout by cutting alternately from the band to the placards. Close ups of individual band members were used, mainly of the lead singer, Tyson Ritter. The electric guitar is associated as the most important instrument within the making of 'rock' music. Therefore, a close up was used of the band member's fingers playing on the neck of the electric guitar more times than any other instrument. The vocal is the most important element of any music video. Therefore, the lead vocalist, Tyson Ritter, is focused on the most, with close ups of his face and in particular his mouth lip syncing into the microphone stand.
Mise en scene and costume is also a key part of presenting different characters to the audience in order to make a successful music video. Due to being associated as a 'rock' band, the members have dressed accordingly to the stereotypical view of what a modern rock band looks like. The band are considered to have long hair for a males, styled as though naturally 'untamed' to connect with the target audience of their music genre, which is generally teenage students. In addition, to further match the typical 'rock' appearance, the band are wearing dark, casual clothing such as a plain t-shirt and black skinny jeans. Likewise, with all media products, make-up is also crucial for portraying the characters. In this music video, they have used very subtle, natural make-up. This is considered important within the media as image has become an increasing factor in order to make particularly an artist's career successful. Their songs are mainly advertised through their videos and image, not the singer's voice and soundtrack individually nowadays.
To conclude, I find this music video very creative and individual with some of techniques used. It can also be linked with modern music videos also because a lot of the same elements were used associated with popular videos, such as the crucial close up shot of the singer lip syncing. Overall, a very good music video that also shared a moral throughout.
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