Sara Bareilles - Brave

This song is all about "speaking up" and being yourself and showing the world "your brave". Throughout the video, there are many different people who're dancing around different places, including the gym, a shopping centre, a market square and an office.

Sara Bareilles also dances throughout the video, as shown above, and also sings throughout every scene that she features in. Some of the other characters also lip sing along with some of the lyrics, as if they're taking in her words and being brave and really showing their true person.

So really, the video is just based around a set number of characters in different locations, in public places, however it links in well with the song/lyrics as there is a deeper meaning to the video. One of the people who filled out my questionnaire based on this music video didn't understand it and didn't see an ongoing storyline and meaning, however I do.

Personally, I think the video does get repetative and repeats in the same style throughout, however at the end all of the characters do show their inner brave and dance along with Sara Bareilles.

The start of the video is extremely interesting, as it starts off like a 'home video' as it looks like Sara is staring the recording herself:

I like this style. It kind of links with the 'home video' style of the Lady Antebellum song that I liked when she was looking back at their memories, however they were all dreams.

The beat of the song actually fits perfectly with the editing. On the beat, the scene jumps to the gym scene and fits well with the man using the weights: Video

They all seem to jump of the beat as well when the scenes jump between each other, which is really good and fits with the continuous nature of the video.

Sara sings in most parts of the video, however there is a part towards the middle of the video where she actually joins in with dancing with the rest of the characters that're shown. It kind of works like a montage. Lot's of different characters and scenes placed together, however work well:

The 'home video' feels continues throughout the video, as people are shown filming people on their phones whilst they're dancing and when the man is dancing in the office, the person who is filming seems to be hiding as if they don't want him to see, which fits in well with the framing of the shot.

This LS of the man seems to be as if the person filming is hiding from him, linking to the framing of the shot as it looks like they're in a cupboard.

It is interesting having people actually filming the characters dancing, as it relates back to just be yourself and "be brave" as you have the right to "start speaking up", which is what these people are doing. No matter where they are, no matter what their shape/size and no matter what clothing they're wearing, they just putting themselves out their and being different by kind of being 'crazy' in public, which most people wouldn't do. This is giving out a message to the audience that actually, by you being brave, you could potentially start of a world wide phenomenon, as others may want to show their inner brave.

This links to further on in the video, as a women joins in dancing with the guy in the office and also some others that feature in the video:

I love how the members of the public are also getting involved and their facial expressions are revealed:

Towards the end of the video, all of the characters including Sara Bareilles come together 'jump' into the shot one by one, which is really creative and done particularly well. They also then dance together and a lot of the dancing fits in with parts of the story that is also brought in inbetween this scene. The characters are shown with their arms up in the air and then the women in the street in the pink top is shown with her arms in the air, giving a flowing feel to the dancing. The lyrics also work extremely well with the narrative.

Before they join Sara, they kind of follow her and she is shown in white in a LS, then MS connoting her purity and innocence, as if she has inspired these people to "be brave" and follow their dreams and 'be out there' and wacky. The rest of the characters are shown out of focus, with Sara in shallow focus, which is interesting and works well as she is emphasised as the main character, which she is.

Here, you can see how the characters 'jump' into the shot one by one, fitting in with the beat of the song:

Overall, I would say that this video should be emphasised as a 'feel good video' and should really allow people to be free with their thoughts and feelings and not feel like they have to hide away and not express themselves.

I did mention before that I felt like this video was a bit repetitive, however watching it numerous times and picking up the true meaning and the deeper meaning of the song, I think it works really, really well and I like this video very much.

There are some zooms that're used interestingly in this music video and they have been filmed with a 'home camera' or a lower quality camera, as they aren't smooth and don't flow, however this links to the 'home video' feel, which I really like.