~Music Video Evaluation~ [Piano Lessons]

Piano Lessons is one of the most bizarre music videos I have ever seen. Watching it through the first time, I have to say that it confused me. The surreality here is unsurpassed by anything I've seen before in a music video.

The video begins with a close-up shot of the dealer playing cards, which cuts to a shot of a faded shot of the members of the band in blur focus. The shot then pans very quickly to a spaceman from a high-angle shot, and the camera zooms in to show the spaceman ironing a CD. The editing works in time with the music, which is fast paced, to create a sense of disjointedness in the song. For example, lines typically seen in old-fashioned films often flash across the screen during the video, as if this is being filmed in the past. The camera often shows those within the video in soft, shallow focus, and the depth of field alters often. The cunning use of zooming in, rarely used in music videos, works brilliantly here to create a sense of surreality once more.

Interesting captions show up throughout the video, referencing the video within. For example, at 8 seconds a circus-like poster tells us that his is a 'promotional video'. At various stages of the video we are also greeted by messages such as 'Hook' and 'Guitar Solo', informing us of what is coming next. This creates an odd sense of certainty about the music, and the way in which the whole concept is one of a circus develops an almost sinister sense. We see the members of the band tied up, or attired in odd clothing, and they frequently stand beside this space-man character who is seen performing a variety of odd tasks (pushing a hoover over a CD, ironing a CD). This could be some form of subliminal message, or it could just be to lend shape to the overall bizarre music video. The lightning within the video is oftne low-key and gritty, with various different locations changing the context. Part seems to be filmed within a studio, and the other features open-area landscapes. Flashing imagery of the members in a mannequin-type stance develops the sense of uncertainty about the video, and the way in which the music is psychadelic further makes the viewer wonder just what's going on.

We see odd use of props to centre the characters - they often appear off-centre, and for example, standing in front of a frame re-enacting some form of drama piece, as if to reference memories (''I remember Piano Lessons/the hours in freezing rooms''). Between 30-33 seconds we see a cheeky deliberate subliminal message telling us to buy their album, so the band are very much aware that their video is a work of humour as well as art. The old-fashioned theme of the music video in conjunction with modernism seems to suggest that Porcupine Tree are reviving a genre of music which began in the 70's in the 2000's, and we have to sympathise with the video - the clever use of lighting, blur effects and flashing bizarre images all work together to create a sense of wonder and fascination.