Deconstruction 1 - Charlie Puth

Song: 'How Long' By Charlie Puth

Lyric analysis  

Synopsis: 

"How Long" is a song by American singer and songwriter Charlie Puth. Written and produced by Puth, with additional songwriting by Jacob Kasher and DJ Frank E, the song was released on October 5, 2017, by Atlantic Records, as the second single from Puth's upcoming second studio album, Voicenotes (2018).
Timeline: 

00:00-00:05 : Close up of Singers face where he is walking towards the camera. We call this a tracking shot
00:05-00:06: Music instrumental fades in and close up of singers feet moving to represent him walking 
00:06-00:12: This is where the mis en scene is introduced. A quiet street, long shot of the singer walking
00:12-00:13:  Close up of Singers hand
00:13-00:16: Lip syncing begins and close up of singers face to represent this
00:16-00:20 : Mid shot of singer walking down the street
00:20-00:21: Close up of singers feet turning direction 
00:21-00:24: Close up of singer lip syncing
00:24-00:31: Long shot of singer walking down the street - happy tone, walking down with a happy vibe
00:31-00:36: Song reaching the chorus, Singer leaning against wall lip syncing 
00:36- 00:40:This consists of quick long shots to mid shots to close ups of the scene, lip syncing of the singer and his actions that co insist with the song, for example clicking to the beat
00:40- 00:50: Mid shot effect which has been edited of the singer climbing a building, there is a pan shot used here to show this effect. 
00:50-1:00: The speed of the music has got more upbeat and faster. This is shown in the music video by the singer where he is dancing more and moving more to the song whilst waking down the street. 
1:00-1:05 : This shot shows the singer coming down off the building in a pan shot again but has also been edited on.  This makes it clear to the audience that he is not there anymore. 
1:05- 1:11: Quick transition cuts of singer lip syncing and dancing. Over the shoulder shot of the artist walking down the street which establishes the point of view of the singer. 
1:11-1:22: This is a new location, looks like the reception of a hotel where the artist walks in lip syncing an this is shown by a close up. Shortly after a tracking shot is used to show him walking towards the camera. 
1:22-1:28: A pan shot is used here to show the singer walking over the table in the middle, to show that nothing gets in his way and that he doesn't almost care.  
1:28-1:32: Close up of the singer lip syncing
1:32 - 1:33: Another new location is introduced - Not thoughtfully
1:33-2:07: This is when the chorus comes in again and is filmed in the hotel reception. The singer is shown to be standing on a desk with close ups showing him lip syncing as well as his feet showing the direction he is traveling in. Then there were mid shots of the artist dancing and showing us that he was happy from his body language and para-linguistic features such as his face.  
2:07- 2:13: There is a tracking shot/pan of the singer moving from one side to the other in fast motion. This presents the up beat in the music.
2:13-2:23: This is where the new location is set and shown. Its outside with the singer standing on the road in front of a car with a girl in. From the scene being set, close up shots of the car were shown as well as a close up of the girl. I like the effect on this location because of the darkness and the full beam headlights on the car shining on the singer to show his importance.
2:23- 2:33:Singer staring at a unusual painting of a girl - close up shot - inside  
2:33-2:40 : Another location is set here at the rooftop of a building. 
2:40-3:19: Special effects are used to her to show the singer going up into the air within small quick transition cuts to singer in hotel reception lip syncing and on the roads. 
3:19-3:20: Close up of singers feet reaching the ground and a fade out into a blank screen which ends the music video. 

Personally, I really enjoyed this music video because it was upbeat and the singer as dancing to the music as well  as singing. I would say that this was a performance based music video and i think the different locations and special effects worked really well.  
Mis en scene: 
There are a various of different shots, including long shots and mid shots. There are also tracking and pan shows which makes the music video effective and interesting. There are set locations inside and outside. The difference is location is clearly shown through the tracking shots and pan shots. The settings are quite urban which goes with the theme of hip hop based genre where everything is modernized and urban area.
Costume and makeup: 


In this video, the singer is wearing a suit. The costume is, plain but formal as well. this show how wealthy he is and stereo typically shows his gender. It could also link to how he lost the love of his life and so he decided to change his lifestyle by suiting up and becoming a businessman. wearing a suit shows how upper class the actor is as well as it linking to the setting being in a quite a tidy and lighted place. Its very urban as well.

 Album digipak:  

 

The front side of the digipak is quite plain but eye catching, due to the yellow background which is bright and connotes the feeling of happiness. Below is an image of the singer who is facing away from the camera, which portrays no emotion in his face. The use of his green suit is something different and unique, it also stand out from the background as well. In the centre there is text of the singers name and the album name. As the text is not very big, its the only text on the front cover meaning it easy and snappy to read meaning ti attracts customers. 

On the back of the digipak, the background colour changes to a dark colour. This does not affect the digipak in any way as the back is not shown on display therefore would not matter. However this time the singer is shown again on the back with his face looking away from the camera showing his back. He still goes about wearing the green suit. Below on the bottom right is a bar code. On the bottom left hand corner there record label is shown with terms and conditions along with it. There is no text on the back.

Magazine Advertisement: 

 

The magazine Advertisement uses a black and white background. In the middle there is an image of the singer/ song writer who is looking side on the camera. He is dressed in casual clothing (Black T shirt) which links to the setting he is in. It seems as if he is in bed looking out a window. Behind him is a lamp and a back board to state this. Below the image, there is the album name which stand out because its in bod capital letter in a red bright colour too. Below is the singers name in a smaller font to emphasis the importance of the album name. Next to this is text explaining the release date and then the bottom right shows further music advertisement such as spotify, iTunes and music to portray other places where his music has been released on.