Focus Group

Florence and the Machine, Cosmic Love...
I asked a group of people some questions on what they thought of the video cosmic love by Florence and the Machine, and asked for their positive and negative thoughts on the video.
The group all said how they thought the video was well suited to the song and they liked how Florence was the main focus throughout the video.
"The song is almost spooky in aspects, its very unusual and individual; the video is very much what you would expect from the song, it has eerie aspects to it"
"Although the video is mainly Florence dancing and singing, it is very effective. It is a fairly simple video however the song refers to love and emotion which is very much portrayed through the mirrored scenes where she almost throws herself about with views from all mirrors; these connotations suggest how love can cause your emotions to be all over the place".

Did the video help your understanding of the song?
- Yes showed how the song is very emotional.
- The way in which it is portrayed helped me understand the song and enabled me to focus more on the lyrics of the song, getting a better understanding of it.
- When listening to her songs previously, I have been unsure on her as an artist however watching the video changed my opinion, she is quirky and individual which i like.
- The video is dramatic which highlighted to me the dramatism of the lyrics.

What criticisms do you have of the video?
- Although the video is effective and works with the song, there could have been more variation in scenes as the video seems to flick between similar scenes repeatedly.
- The video works well with the song but I wouldn't say it stands out to me memorably, more props or dancers could be used to add even more effect.
- The video is fairly simple there could have been more variation.

Favourite parts of the video?
- The way in which the mirrors are used to show all angles is clever, you have to concentrate to understand what is happening, its an unusual but effective technique to grab attention from the audience.
- The way in which she emerges from the leaves/tree's is effective, it adds to the eerieness and suits the song well.
- The twinkling and flickering of the lightbulb at the beginning and end is effective, it introduces and closes the song well as it is almost mysterious.
- Through having Florence dance it shows her as an artist and almost her image.

The comments show how overall the group liked the video and there were many positive comments. The group liked the simplicity of the video and how it set the scene for the song making it more understandable. However a point was made about always going back to the same scenes; the video is more of a concept video as oppose to narrative therefore this is not unusual however there could be room for more variation. Furthermore, videos by alternative artists are often individual to them and slightly quirky or different which is also what makes this a very effective video. It may be simple but it simply creates a picture and understanding for the consumer of the song and of the artist.