Music Video Deconstruction: Gotye- Easy Way Out

Artist: Gotye
Song: Easy Way Out
Album: Making Mirrors
Genre: Indie Rock
Director: Darcy Pendergast
Year: 2011
Audience: 18+
Country of Origin: Australia

The opening shot of a film or music video is possibly the most important shot as it establishes the atmosphere, characters and setting. From this shot, one can infer that the atmosphere is monotomous and rather unexciting. The character appears to be a young man living by himself (single bed) in a rather grey apartment. Interestingly, and perhaps not immediately noticeable, there are a variety of ‘dead’ object in the room- a trophy head, a withered plant and an empty birdcage. These would seem to suggest that the place the man is in not worth living in or for, or something equally sinister. A similar message could be drawn from the peeling wallpaper on the left side of the shot.

The second shot shows the man in kitchen eating breakfast- coffee or tea and a huge cigarette. Most people smoke cigarettes to relieve stress, so perhaps the character does so too. This would mean that he is under stress/strain.

          


The next shot shows the character at work, typing repetitively on a typewriter, the pile of paper to right getting higher and higher. Here one sees the continued colour scheme of blues and greys, generally depressing colours. The shelf behind him is virtually empty, indicating that the job he works is very pedestrian, and does not require much else. 

                                                     

The video consists of five settings (bedroom, kitchen, workplace, tram, bathroom) all leading round in a circle, going against the song title, ‘Easy Way Out.’ Progressively, things get worse and worse in each scene as seen above in the ‘work’ setting. From a brightly lit office, it turns into a dark, bloody hell, as papers begin to stack up. The other rooms become darker, grimier and more derelict each time the circle is repeated. Another example would be the tram/train sequence- each time, the small space becomes more and more packed with different people and the walls rapidly covered in graffiti. All the chaos was started by a single cigarette being misplaced on the kitchen table, suggesting that consequences in life are perhaps not forseen.

Easy Way Out Music Video: