MV Analysis: Ceilings (Lizzy McAlpine)

 

Ceilings 

- LIZZY MCALPINE -

Release date: Valentine's Day, 2023

Duration: 3:53 (3 minutes and 53 seconds) 

Co-writers:  Philip Etherington and Jacob Bugden.

Genre: Indie Pop/Folk

Style of Music Video: Concept and narrative

The story (meaning): 

"Ceilings" by the talented Lizzy McAlpine was inspired by the idea of ​​the illusion between reality and fantasy in a romantic relationship. At the beginning of the song, the lyrics seem to "trick" the listeners, making them think of the subjects (presumably lovers) as being intimate, loving, and tender with one another. However, as the story of the song progresses, the truth starts to unravel, and the imagery slowly blurs. Ultimately, the listeners will understand that everything was just a daydream. 

The song overall discusses the emotional twist of the realization, while being in love, that you may or may not have romanticized something that has been in your head all this time. Key psychological states of mind include:  Yearning - to hold onto something that is no longer there, or doesn't belong to oneself (in this case scenario, it is a love story that never happened or didn't turn out well); Escapism - avoidance of real-life crisis or troubles while losing oneself in the comfort of the imagination. 

How the message was delivered through cinematography (Music Video): 

The music video begins almost immediately into the sequence, straight-cutting into an establishing shot from a black screen to what seems like a house party - encoded through the groups of people inside the room shown, along with the diegetic sound of chattering. Simultaneously with that appearance, the non-diegetic soundtrack of the song ("Ceilings") begins with an acoustic guitar intro. This sets the tone for the music video: personal and vulnerable. 

The sequence cuts on-beat to emphasize the slow, slightly sorrowful rhythm of the song to a medium shot in the midst of the crowd of people. The party-goers are seen sipping on beers, which further sustains the connotation of a gathering. Most guests are wearing casual outfits, for example, jeans, jackets, and hoodies. This connotes that the "party" itself is more of a friendly, informal get-together. The lighting is low-key, almost dim, with some highlights of various hues to point out the different places in the same house. For instance, in the living room - encoded through the organization of couches - there was a blue light coming from the right corner, which can be decoded as the TV.  As the scene continues, the shot types get smaller and smaller until two consecutive medium close-ups are shown, the first one of a male character and the other of a female (portrayed by Lizzy - the singer of the song - herself). This is to indicate that they are the two subjects of the song that the audience should pay more attention to. Through all those straight cuts, the intro is still ongoing, leading us to the first verse.

Suddenly, the scenery changes to a meadow area, often associated with poetry, calmness, and neutrality. This creates a strong juxtaposition with the first part of the music video, brought out even more clearly by the use of bright, natural sunlight - usually associated with the thought of warmth and closeness. It can also be understood that at this stage of the song, the character was "blinded" by the sweet taste of the dream, as the sunlight can at times be shown overwhelming Lizzy's image on screen - accentuated more strongly by the lyrics at the same time: "Lovely to sit here with you."

But like how the sun disappears every night, those feelings are only a transience, a fleeting moment of happiness that is wiped away once darkness and reality settle down. "But it's so short", this line encodes how the "fairy tale" could never last forever. Lizzy is seen lip-syncing to the song, breaking the fourth wall (staring directly into the camera). However, unlike the obvious analysis that she is communicating directly to the audience, her facial expression with slightly furrowed brows and sad, sentimental eyes, it is more likely to decode that she is portraying her character in the narrative who is grieving the fantasy of a romanticized, beautiful ending to a relationship and is speaking to her past lover. 

Cross-cutting technique is used between her lip-syncing and shots at various angles and settings, most at conventional couple settings, for example:

[0:36] “Pillowtalk” moment: encodes for a safe space, when people let their guard down. This indicates the immense trust and honesty that the lovers have for each other, signifying their bond. Moreover, this segment also includes sunlight, which brings back the same sort of positive energy towards the idea of the relationship. 

[0:57] Eye contact: the cross-cutting leads the viewer to a medium close-up shot, with the two characters staring into each other’s eyes. This connotes a sense of attraction and great affection. Followed by a continuous cut to a medium shot of them sharing a kiss - a clear statement of their connection and feelings. In addition, the sink behind the male character, along with the mirror attached to the wall, can support the watcher in decoding a restroom. This further highlights the amount of ease with which they are in each other’s company, granted that they shared the bathroom.

While the sequence continues, the lyrics sing, “I don’t wanna leave, but I have to go”. This encodes the conflict between her heart and mind. Her consciousness is telling her to go - to release herself from the hold of the “what if” narrative and save herself from the inevitable, which is the ending. On the other hand, her heart longs for more time, wishing that everything could have worked out. 

At [1:33], the beat changes, adding a stronger bass line, creating a stronger sense of tension and almost agony. The contrast is emphasized even more strongly by the introduction of a new scenery: the beach. Conversely to the meadow, the colour-grading done in this specific segment can be decoded as much darker: the blue connotes a hint of coldness and distance. This indicates that the visual aspect of the video is slowly leading the viewers to a buildup, raising expectations of a “plot twist” or a turn of events. 

“I would say all of this, but I don’t wanna ruin the moment”. This line shows the singer’s strong passion for keeping the dream alive, to keep the love alive, and how she feels as though saying a single word could shatter whatever they had. 

This shot of the couple sitting side by side, laughing in the dark night, while a light, from what could be decoded as from the moon, shines only on them. This encodes the feeling of living in the moment of the two characters, as if it were only they in the world, hand in hand. “Lovely to sit between comfort and chaos”, indicates the awareness of Lizzy pf how they are purposely ignoring the troubles and letting their selfishness take over. 

At [2:06], a pause in the music while the sound of violins fades causes a split second of silence. A silence where it all came down. A silence that encodes the surrender of the singer, when she accepts her fate and looks at the truth, “But it’s over.” The scene is shot at a wide angle, encoding the true emptiness of reality, how none of the sweetness happened. Suddenly, as the bridge of the song begins, the atmosphere starts to change. The drumbeat, pounding to the bass guitar, chases the sped-up tempo of the final chorus, indicating that it is now the breakdown. Snippets of flashbacks, memories, and fantasies follow one after the other at a quick pace, connoting the clash of Lizzy’s emotions. 

“But it’s not real, and you don’t exist. 

And I can’t recall the last time I was kissed.’Throughout the song, the girl has been painting a vivid, convincing artwork from her desires and delusions. But now, as time has run out, she admits that it all wasn’t real, none of it exists, and she faces that loss. The images and footage gradually turn distorted, indecipherable. This conveys how, as the girl looks into reality, all the things she longed for become nothing. The sequence shows this strong juxtaposition by showing the "real" scenes, not the version in her dreams where they cuddle and laugh, but the one where she is alone. This creates a strong indication or visualization of "you don't exist" from the lyrics. 

“Feels like the end of a movie I’ve seen before.”

This refers to some sort of cycle, encoding a repetition of the conventional love story narrative: hope, then love, and finally heartbreak. The disappointment of Lizzy towards this outcome can be decoded through the way she sings the line out of breath and full of melancholy. The final line, “Before,” once again underscores the fact that she keeps finding herself lost in the loophole of a “romantic roller coaster”. Accompanied by the ongoing violin from the track fading slowly, ending the song, the scene encodes a sense of yearning. The non-diegetic sound of chattering from the party at the beginning, at a stable medium long shot, circling the audience back to where it all started. A jump/straight cut shows the introduction between the two main characters when they first met each other before both gave the other a hug. This is to physically encode the repetition, the recurring storyline.

BRANDING:

Lizzy is known for her deeply confessional writing, often resembling how someone would confide to their diary or a close friend. This explains how,o w instead of aiming for a flashy, pop-star-like music video, Lizzy’s team avoided high-budget production and complicated narrative and opted for more casual and simple visuals to enhance her image of authenticity, representing raw emotions.  Lizzy’s production team seemed to use more muted, “earthy” tones: chocolate brown, orangey-yellow; hints of red and blue. This reinforces the viewers that she isn’t aiming for a manufactured pop artist reputation, which presumably would be associated with more vibrant, vivid colours that would make more of a statement; for example, like how Olivia Rodrigo made purple her signature colour) But her passion and lyrics are rooted in sincerity. Overall, Lizzy’s position within the alternative, or indie, field of music, rather than the mainstream landscape, was strengthened through the focus on emotional intimacy of the music and visuals.