AY: Institution and audience and Media Language

 

'Counting Stars' by OneRepublic

 

Institution and Audience

• Consumed through online channels such as YouTube and Vevo where audiences can watch videos as many times as they want for free
• Websites such as Spotify allow people to download songs for free and create online playlists which they can also share with their friends
• Using New Media Technologies, the song can be downloaded onto an MP3 device an listened to whenever the consumer wants to
• The institutional context of the video is bringing together two different generations through the use of religion and dance
• The man is seen to be 'healing' people and enlightening them by bringing out hidden talent within each one

Media Language

• I think that the message behind the video, describes a couple struggling to survive in their relationship for various reasons.
• The lyrics "Lately I been, I been losing sleep, dreaming about the things that we could be" suggest a person who has lost love and is struggling to come to terms with this fact.  
• As well as this it could be used to portray someone who has recently over come an addiction but has now sunk back into old habbits:  "make that money, watch it burn," suggests that they are wasting their money on substances such as drugs. "Sink in the river the lesson's I learned," implies that they are ignoring what someone has taught them as they cannot live without this addiction.
• The lyric "Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars" suggests a person who has run out of money and is having to live on the streets therefore counting stars as a way to pass time.
• "Everything that kills me makes me feel alive" further suggests a link to drug abuse as these are potentially harmful but they give people highs which encourage them to continue taking them and become addicted.
• As well as this, the link with religion is brought into the lyrics "I been, I been praying hard" as if the person has been praying for forgiveness for squandering their money.  
• Comic affect is induced into the video through the use of dance. For example the man makes a business woman do the 'worm' subconsciously. This is comical as it looks more like break dancing and therefore the audience would not expect a woman of this demeanour to dance in such a way