'Goodnight and Go' Analysis

Since our group has decided to use a Frou Frou song for our music video, I thought it might be useful to analyse the video for an Imogen Heap song (since she's the lead singer of Frou Frou and her solo songs are the same style as her Frou Frou songs)

'Goodnight and Go', along with Imogen Heap/Frou Frou's other works, is an indie pop/ambient song. This is shown through the quirky nature of the video, which is very much linked to the 'indie' genre.

The music video somewhat contradicts the message being put across in the lyrics. The lyrics are about a girl who likes a guy and her daydreams about him. She also sort of stalks him a bit by following him home and watching him through the window. The video is more or less unrelated to these themes, since Imogen Heap is a wind-up toy who is being watched on TV. Since the visuals are more or less unrelated to the lyrics, the song seems a lot more innocent and quirky. Whereas, if the video were to illustrate the lyrics (e.g. show her watching the guy through a window), then the song wouldn't seem as light-hearted and what would once appear to be quirky, could instead seem a bit scary.

The video is cut to the beat. There isn't really an instrumental section in the song, but there are some visual representations on some of the sound effects on the track. For example, at about 2:50, there is a kind of 'boing' type noise, and this is accompanied by a jack in the box popping out of it's box, which acts to amplify that sound.

There are quite a few close-ups and some medium close-ups of Imogen Heap in this video. Her image seems to be quite quirky and different to that of some mainstream artists. This is reflected in the concept of the video. Since the main setting is a room with lots of children's toys and a dolls house, she seems to be quite innocent. However, when you look at some of those dolls and figures, they're actually quite scary looking. This suggests that maybe she's not as innocent as it would first appear. This idea is reflected in the style of the song. It's quite upbeat and has a relatively catchy tune, but when you listen to the lyrics in the verses, it's actually not as innocent as it seems. Like some of Heap's other videos (for example, 'Hide and Seek'), this video is almost all performance based.

In the video there is some reference to looking since Imogen Heap is being watched by some man on a TV. So, some of the shots (e.g. a show of Heap on the TV) have a voyeuristic quality to them. Heap is not really on sexual display at all. She is dressed as a child's wind-up toy which makes her seem more innocent. The little dances that she does during chorus are definitely not presented in a sexualised way. The style of dance is a little bit strange and seems quirky rather than sexy.

The video is mostly performance based, since most of the video takes place in one location where Imogen Heap is singing. The video is also concept based, which is shown through the location and also Imogen Heap's costume.