Video Analysis: Je Suis Seul by Eskemo

I picked this video in particular for its unusual choice of animation. It is as it is was drawn and certain features reminded me of the song "Take on me" by Aha. The opening shot, establishes where the video is taking place. The colours are very simplistic with a soft focus, which implies the story will be steadily played out over the music. 

A tracking shot is pulled to the main character of the narrative in the music video. The shot heavily focuses on the picture frame of the two people as it slowly pulls over to the male character. 'We' as an audience can identify he is the man in the photo and he has a girlfriend.

The main character is identified when he is given an extreme close up. The light is behind him, suggesting he is facing the darkness (metaphorically). His features look sketched.   

The main character looks at his partner. Something is clearly wrong, but it isn't made obvious at first. Although we can guess from the lyrics

"Sorti d'un rêve éphémère
elle m'est apparu irréelle
comme un ange tomber du ciel" Which translates as..
"Out of a fleeting dream
it appeared to me unreal
like an angel falling from the sky"

The imaginary become relative to the lyrics when he is sucked through the bed. Suggesting it is a dream. The animation becomes lined and blurred as he falls. Emphasising the vertical drop. 

The video is very dependent on the lyrics, despite it having a clear narrative. Her memory is shown as her being half drawn in, suggesting she is not real unlike him, or the idea that his memory of her is fragmented and being lost.  

"Come haunted my thoughts
I feel her every caress
and dream of it by my side"

The character then follows her to the door. The open door reveals the sky, suggesting he is dreaming. Sky and clouds in dream usually mean peace and freedom of that person, however, because it is windy and dark inside it signifies unrest, or frustration.  

The bands album cover is put on the wall as if it is a poster, this is clever, because it allows the band to self-publicise and still continue with the stories narrative.   

 

I picked out these to shots, because it reminded me a lot of the "Take on Me" video. As the character panics and tries to reject the bad memories he becomes sketchy and turns black and white. This memory of the girl fades and his outline becomes steps she is running repeatedly. Her features are no gone and only her silhouette remains. This implies the sad idea that he is losing her in some form. This is the favourite part of the video, because it is very creative, by showing emotion and trouble through the use of colours. The repetition emphasises panic of the character and a struggle, causing him to replay it in his mind. 



 

The music starts to fade and the camera spirals out to an aerial shot of the girl in the ambulance who then later dies. The spiral out highlights her leaving him, by getting further away. The colours are darker which allows the emergency lights to be more effective to create a bigger impact on the ending of the story, which relates to the song title "Je Suis Seul" = "I am alone" 

Official Video