Research - Music Video Analysis 2 - Habits (Stay High) by Tove Lo

This analysis will be of the music video for Habits (Stay High) by Tove Lo. I really love the concept for this video and the story it tells.

The establishing shot shows a close up of a woman in centre frame. The remainder of the frame allows the audience to understand that the woman is on a bed surrounded by other people, this immediately suggests a more mature feel to the video with some possible sexual connotations. The state that the woman is in with her clothes on and her make up on suggests that she may have been on a night out so drink/drugs could also be present also relating to the title, 'Stay High'.

Alcohol is very quickly introduced into the video as the first shot evolves into he main woman drinking a can of beer, she had just woken up from what appears to have been a drunken night so drinking immediately after really helps relate the video to the title, if she has to 'stay high' or drunk then she must be feeling very depressed.

There are quite a few close ups featured in this music video, personally I feel like the close up shots make it seem like even the small things like lacing up shoes and applying lipstick feel so dramatic since she's been left alone, that's why she feels the need to be recreational with drugs and alcohol.

There are a few shots in which the background is blurred or undercranked to portray the madness induced by the alcohol, it also shows time slowing down and speeding up to help the story line progress.



This screencapture shows the main actress in the video kissing another woman. This shot appears immediately after a shot of her kissing a man, these shots are shot through a hand held camera as they are both quite shakey and this intensifies the drunk and messy atmosphere. This shot represents a modern society because it is unfortunately unusual for gay and lesbian relationships to be portrayed often in the media, however this is now becoming more common.

These close-up shots are shown immediately next to each other, the quick jump cut progresses the story line and also presents how alcohol can affect emotions and the sadness she portrays link to the sad lyrics of the song and how she needs the alcohol in order to be happy.

How this  research has influenced my planning

I really like the jump cuts from one emotion to another, I really hope we can find a way to use this in our music video as I think it is really effective for the story line and to the audience.

I also really liked the way the background blurred to make her the focus of the shot and to highlight her drunken state.