“Afterglow” is a clever yet realistic interpretative music video by Wilkinson. The video showcases a number of scenes that will keep the audience entertained. Like any music video, a story is to be told and Wilkinson does it well.
The lyrical composition of this piece is rather simplistic. The artist uses the word “Afterglow” throughout the song to get the audience involved. Cleverly, it is simply just a repeating-word memory trick. Without the music video backing the lyrics, I get a sense from the lyrics that the relationship the artist has created with their partner is strong. I feel a connection between the lyrics and the music video comfortably line up for this song. It is the music in the music video that creates this blending of layers.
The music supports the video well. As the scenes clip on and on, the calmed presence of a lightly-echoed piano and a perfectly-tuned voice support the music video. These then fluctuate into the drum and bass beat for the chorus and form an excellent act of transitions. Transitions define the song’s pace, and initiate the listener’s mood to that certain part of the song. For instance, in the beginning of the song, the listener is placed in a slower pace. This pace is accommodated by lower tempo vocals, and a soft piano. I like to call this the “neutral” area of a song, where you basically sit back and enjoy. As the beat kicks in and builds to the chorus, the listener is immediately thrown into a faster pace. This faster pace can create a series of effects, likeclassic cues to sing along with the chorus, followed by feelings of euphoria. I feel this song executed this very well and accompanied the music video. With cues aside, there’s something about the originality of the music video which feels real.
Originality can be one of the hardest things to accomplish in this day and age, especially in a music video. Wilkinson chose the slightly unoriginal route of doing a “the more you know” style of music video. The facts gradually lead to one point or objective. The music video relays to the viewers that both individuals in the film have been dating for 5 years. It shows an array of scenes to define what dating for 5 years is like. What I found original about this was that it is surprisingly real. Being realistic is great way to connect with viewers. Even if every fact displayed isn’t similar to your situation, I feel that there is something in there for everyone.
Video editing and video quality are two categories I like to compare together. As with any cinematic composition, both topics aide each other in the final product. The video editing in this music video is done seamlessly. Every scene gets the point across, and is not left in the composition for too long. It can be problematic in music videos when scenes used in compositions are too long or are repeated several times over. Doing so will kill the overall quality. Wilkinson did a great job of getting scene timing down, and the viewer glued to the video. You never feel like you need to skip forward to see what lies next. In short, the video editing and quality is excellent. Perfect lighting, high definition footage, and most importantly, it matches the music quite nicely. With everything said, I recommend this music video to people who are simply in love. Count your days together, you never know when it could be gone.