This is the video to Florence and the Machines single ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up), from their debut album Lungs. The video was directed by Tom Beard and Tabitha Denholm. The pair have also directed other videos for the band including ‘Cosmic Lover’ and ‘You Got the Love’. The video for ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)’ is most similar to the original video to ‘Dog Days are Over’, also directed by Beard and Denholm, with both the videos shot in similar locations and with the lead singer, Florence Welsh being surrounded by a number of colourful characters. Both the videos have a vintage feel to them and one that is quite intimate with the lead singer, which has been aided by the use of close ups. The image that has been created of the lead singer in the videos is something that has been carried over outside of the videos and therefore building a star image. With the help of the videos we would now expect to see big performances from the band, similar to the ones portrayed in the video. The white dress that she is wearing in the video to ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)’, is something that is we would also expect to see in her performances as she often performs in white dresses. Her red hair is also becoming a trademark of hers and the close ups in this video help highlight this.
Close up in Dog Days Are Over, showing how she is surrounded by people in her videos.
Close up in 'Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up), showing how she is surrounded by people.
Wone of her many stage performances in white dresses.
The white dress in the video.
There is a relationship between both the visuals and the lyrics, particularly at the start when she sings “looking glass so shiny and new”, she is looking through something that is shiny and new, and as the song says “how quickly the glamour fades”, the object also disappears from view, symbolising that she is now seeing this work for real. There is also a reference between the music and the visuals as we see a harpist playing and also hear him on the soundtrack. The harp is something that features in a number of her videos and performances also, notably her show at the 2010 BRIT awards.
"Looking glass so shiny and new"
Harp used in the video.
Harp used in the performance at the BRITS.
Close up in 'Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)'
Close up used in 'Cosmic Love'
One inter-textual reference is that of religion and offerings. She is giving herself up for slaughter, hence why she is put in a white coffin and left to float in a lake, like a story we would expect in the bible or other religious books. The main inter-textual reference is that of Alice and Wonderland. In the lyrics she sings about “the looking glass”, something associated with the Alice in Wonderland novel and film, as Alice falls through the looking glass. The other reference to Alice in Wonderland is that she appears to be at the mad hatter tea party in the video. She is playing the role of Alice, giving her some vulnerability.
Mad Hatter's tea party in 'Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)'
Mad Hatter's tea party in Alice in Wonderland
According to Goodwin there is a demand on the part of the record company for lots of close ups of the main artist or vocalist to sustain the establish star-text as a way of the music video assisting in the sale of the single and album. This is the case in this video as there are a number of close ups of the lead singer, which show her as we would expect to see her, performing with bright red hair. Similar close ups are also used in her videos for ‘Cosmic Love’.
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