The music video "Breakeven" by the
Script was released on the 12th December 2008 and was directed by
the film director ‘Aggressive’. The song
includes references to the genre of soft rock followed by elements of folk rock
and acoustic music as the main singer Danny O'Donoghue's describes his feelings and emotions
towards his break-up between him and his girlfriend.
The music video
includes conventions of both performance and narrative based music videos to
present the protagonist very differently. The narrative elements of the video portray
him to be a ‘normal’ person with real feelings as he is just a man in
love who misses his girlfriend, providing audiences with para-social intimacy.
The performance based sequences, however show the singer with his band in front
of crowds of people presenting him as a star. This adds to his ‘meta-narrative’
by making him appealing to audiences through showing this down to earth side.
The lyrics of the
song match the visuals of the music video as the song includes themes of
heartbreak. In the first verse when the main protagonist is shown to sing the
lyrics “Cos I got time while she got freedom” a low angle shot of his
ex-girlfriend in a field is used to connote her sense of freedom as she is no
longer in a loving relationship with him no more. The lyrics “They say bad things happen for a
reason” are emphasised in the visuals of the music video as the audience see
his lover walking out of the front door with her bags packed illustrating this
scene to be a ‘bad thing’. The lyrics of
the song are further emphasised as the main actor sings “While I’m wide awake,
she’s no trouble sleeping” conveying him to be sitting on the edge of the bed
with his hand on his head which suggests he is unable to sleep due to the
breakup between him and his girlfriend.
Throughout the
music video, flashbacks are used to show the difference between the past and
present. This is displayed through the different variations of colour as the
flashbacks are shown to be much more colourful and slightly brighter than the
real-time shots to give the audience the impression that they are looking back
in time from O’Donoghue’s memory. The constant change of colour conveys him to
be much happier when he is with his girlfriend and sad and miserable when he is
alone. Visual techniques are used to assist this, for example the room is lit
by a flickering light which gives the impression of flames as if the artist is
telling a story and reminiscing from the past. The rule of thirds is also used
in the black and white flashbacks which make the shot feel like a photograph, reinforcing
the idea that the audience are looking back in time from the singer’s memory. Furthermore, a black and white shot of the
lead singer sitting alone in a room looking at a colour video of his love
divides the two aspects of the video to avoid any confusion of the audience.

The ideological discourse of the video shows that it is ok
for a man to show his emotions by expressing his loss for the one that he
loves. The main singer is shown frustrated by the absence of his love as he is
shown to be walking along the seafront singing this as if he cannot hold this
in any more. The lyrics “I’m falling to pieces” and “what am I supposed to do” reinforces
the confusion and sadness he feels. This side of emotion conveys the 'new man'
ideology found in contemporary society, reinforcing a hetro-normative
discourse.
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