Daniel Powter - Bad Day
Watch the video here!
The opening shot of this video shows two different shots, which we presume to be two different story lines. The scene is of two people, one man and one women, waking up in the morning. This scene is repeated four times, showing the repetitiveness of these people's morning routines.
When the male actor is shaving we see an over the shoulder shot from his perspective; the pictures and stick-ups around his mirror gives the impression he is a student / young adult, who is normally happy and enjoys time with friends. As the female character leaves her abode, we can see that she lives in a small flat or apartment. The map of Manhattan & Jersey City could show that she lives in a New York Apartment. She repeats this scene 3 more times, once again showing the repetitiveness of her morning routine.
We then find out that these two people are different people in the same routine; they are both fed up of everyday life. Both of them look down in slight disappointment when seeing a couple on the bus - this leads us to believe that they are both single, not by choice. Multiple shots of meetings, office staff rooms and desks give us the impression that these people are in a 9-5 job which they find un-fulfilling. Office furniture such as the water cooler enforce this idea.
Half way through the video they both make eye contact and we find out that they work in opposite office buildings. Although after the eye contact they think nothing of it. At a train station the female draws a rain cloud over a poster of a woman with a black marker. This could once again link to her "fed-up" emotion. When the male character sees this he draws an umbrella, showing that he is a positive person. All drawing is seen over the shoulder so the audience feel a part of the story. The lighting for this scene looks artificial - giving the scene a gloomy evening look. Over time they build-up a minor story through drawing on this poster.
When the two characters meet for the first time we see the scene from a low angle; this is to give the image of the male being a hero style character. There is little lighting and the mise en scene shows a gloomy city corner.
Throughout the video there are elements of performance with the artist, Daniel Powter, playing the piano in the park. The shot type is varied but all transitions are straight cut; the tempo of the video is fairly slow, which matches the tempo of the song. The lyrics to the video have a strong narrative which is well represented in the video. The lyrics present themselves as negative and although the video starts negative the story slowly builds to a story about a man and woman meeting. According to Andrew Goodwin it is important for the artist to play an active role in the music video to connect with the audience.
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