Desire - Anna Calvi

The tracking shot sees the movement, presumably of a person, walking up the stairs. There is low key lighting at this point, emphasising the cold atmosphere which the home portrays. As the top of the stairs is approached, a lit lamp appears in the central third of mise en scene, with a wall composed to one side of this and silhouettes the other. This therefore, could represent 'the light at the end of a tunnel', suggesting that the desire of the artist is finally in sight.

Next we cut to a wide close-up shot of a cherub. The iconography of the cherub is religious, having a biblical tradition of a winged angel. However, with the close-up the audience are able to notice the crack vertically situated on the cherubs face. This goes with the lyrics 'God knows it's just the devil in me', representing the crack as the affect that the bad has on the good. Not only this, but the shot has a red filter laid upon the shot, symbolising the devil with the colour red but also suggesting that the devil inside the artist has taken over.

Furthermore, religious iconography is shown with a small figurative character of  jesus. Here, the figure is placed upon a red step, being incredibly small. This shows firstly, that the devil is in more power than God, due to the large size ratio of red. In addition, a shadow is over-covering the figure, representing the devil as taking over likewise to the previous scene including the cherub.

Throughout the shots, the common colours are red and gold. Usually, these colours are associated with royalty. In addition cherubs are often owned by the rich. As this appears to be a consistent theme it could be assumed that the desire of Calvi, is that of wealth. However, with the crack through the cherubs face, this could suggest that the artist can not get hold of what she so does desire.

Next, the camera utilises a point of view shot looking through, what I presume to be a glass. Patterned on this is a repetitive pattern of crosses. Again, this keeps the theme of religion running throughout the entire video. Here, the visuals and lyrics create an illustrated relationship, showing an orange light through the glass, being a symbol of fire. At this moment the lyrics sing 'And it's the fire, the fire, the fire'.


The following striking scene, encompasses that of a low light room with an arm hanging out of a bath tub. The lyrics at this point are, 'Leave you like the sun is going to disappear'. Although the visual and lyric relationship here seems to contradict, I feel instead the visuals amplify the lyrics. Reasoning for this is because the sun is a symbol of life therefore, if the sun is going to disappear then it could be assumed that death is in sight. This is then shown visually with a pale arm hanging out of the bath tub indicating a lack of life.

The remaining video is seen to be heavily performance based, showing the artist singing whilst playing the guitar. Throughout my half a minute of analysis, there are a variety of shots used of the artist including; medium shots, close-ups and extreme close-ups. These shots are used for a variety of different effects. For example, the extreme close-up of the artists heavily made up eyes portrays a suggestive and seductive look. The framing instantly carries the notion of looking, objectifying the artist. Not only this but, an extreme close-up captures the rouged lips of Calvi, identifying common conventions such as sensuality and femininity, especially heightened by the choice of colour.

In opposition, medium to long shots are used of the artist to pick upon what Calvi is wearing. Her costume is red and therefore, links to the song title, as the colour red has connotations with desire, romance, danger and the devil - themes which also run throughout the song