Breathe

POVs

The video camera POV with an identifiable aesthetic

The reason why the short manages to hook viewers can be found here, in the way it plays with changing POVs. The story is told from the POV of a little girl, but is interrupted a few times by the POV of video cameras. The meaning of these other POVs is disconcerting, they show certain events that question the nature of what the viewer is seeing. The different POVs only become logical and complementary by the end of the short. At that point viewers understand that they’ve been deceived, need to recontextualize what they’ve seen, and try to grasp the meaning of the film. A great choice the directors made is that they decided to leave some questions unanswered.

The world created initially through the film is then put into question at the end. This could be interpreted as if the part of the narration that takes place until the light of the sun goes out had been a more subjective one from the POV of the girl, rather than one from a more omniscient narrator (though the cameras breaking the continuity of the story seem to point otherwise).

Editing & Continuity

At an average shot length of 3.4 seconds, editing is quite fast, in line with current filmmaking averages and used to create visual rhythm. Mostly cuts and short transitions (crossfades) are employed. Editing is mainly used for building continuity and as is usual in music videos, at times follows the punctuation of the music. It is also used for introducing the changes in POVs.

By the end of the film, as the little girl changes to a sad mood and the aesthetic responds accordingly (darker, more de-saturated colors, slower moving camera, etc.), editing is used as a device for contrasting both POVs: it emphasizes the difference between the video camera POV that starts showing flashbacks of the girl enjoying “nature” and the POV of the sadder mood of the girl, which helps emphasize and deliver the message to the audience. The dolly revealing the kids waiting in line, and the lights turning on along with the green signal do the rest.

It’s interesting to note that passage of time, as happens with all of the mise en scène, is re-contextualized at the end. What was perceived as a few hours could’ve been just 10 minutes.

Aesthetic

Returning to the synthetic world, with a contrasting aesthetic

Saturated, bright colors, with prevalent greens and blues until the end of the short, in which the color palette changes, and becomes more in line with the lyrics of the song. 3D animation and toon rendering are used for creating the images of the short, to give a stylized 2D appearance.

The authors used 3DS Max along with its scanline renderer and Reyes-Infográfica’s CartoonReyes plugin for creating the contours of the objects and characters. The same technique and aesthetic was used later by two of the authors, Jérôme Combe and André Bessy, on the music video for Thomas Fersen’s Deux Pieds song.

Socio-cultural factors

The universal appeal of the music video can be easily understood. The subject of losing touch with nature and living everything through prepared, synthetic experiences is one that can be shared by most people living in cities around the world. This is a trend that has been evolving for the past centuries. Concerns about the environment are shared at a global level, too. There is no dialogue in the soundtrack, and that also helps transmit the message without language barriers.

The authors were influenced by the films “The Truman Show” and “Soleil Vert”, and quote them as sources of inspiration.

Extras

The video contains a number of sensory images (jumping over stones, getting dizzy by spinning, hanging to a tree branch and falling into water, etc.), its impact could’ve probably been enhanced if diegetic sound had been used in the soundtrack – though admittedly the main goal of the piece is to transmit the song.

Conclusion

The video uses changing POVs to turn a seemingly simple story into a disconcerting one and employs changes in aesthetics, visual rhythm and editing functionality to deliver the final message. It even manages to leave people thinking about the short after it finishes, and will probably tempt them to watch it another time. It does need repeated views to be fully appreciated. It must also be said that it does justice to the song itself, which has great lyrics and probably has reached a wider audience thanks to the wide appeal and distribution of the music video.