Video 1 – Losing My Religion (R.E.M.)

 https://youtu.be/xwtdhWltSIg?si=T909ODdzwsm0ERP3 

The Music Video for R.E.M.’s “Losing my Religion” effectively uses chiaroscuro and darker lighting to emphasize the darker tones and themes that are present through the lyrics of the song. Additionally, it uses this chiaroscuro to create shadows, and a sense of mystery and hiding like the themes of the song, allowing the video to convey the song's message. Furthermore, the video also effectively uses its costumes and religious imagery to link back to the idea of religion like in the title and chorus of the song, and how it is being lost as one does not know who he is and is hiding part of themselves. This is particularly emphasized in the sequence where one of the old men in wigs are revealed to actually be wearing a wig, emphasizing the songs core messages once again through the video and the costume. Additionally, the editing of the video is non-linear which emphasizes our confusion as the audience, much like the confusion of the people in the video who are also questioning their identity and “losing their religion”. Furthermore, the lack of narrative also emphasizes this confusion. Therefore, through the illusions of mystery through the lighting and costumes, aswell as the questioning through the editing and the questioning of the identity in the narrative, the video could be targeted at a younger teen audience who are in a state of change in their lives, questioning their identity as they are forming the person they are becoming. Additionally, you could argue that the video could be targeting a more religious audience through its religious imagery and lyricism, although due to the subject matter of the idea of “losing this religion” it would make them somewhat more likely to take an oppositional reading in occasions, making them more of a secondary audience.