Country Analysis: Smoke Break by Carrie Underwood

SMOKE BREAK – CARRIE UNDERWOOD

“Smoke Break” is a song recorded by American country music artist Carrie Underwood from her fifth studio album, . The song was met with critical acclaim, with music critics describing it as “a homage to hard working people in need of a breather”. []

Narrative:

This country music video contains both narrative and performance elements, with Carrie Underwood participating in her own performance-style narrative, as multiple other narratives play out, visually portraying the lyrics of the song. The videos overriding narrative is about escaping life’s many stresses; a waitress, businessman, horse trainer and more are shown going about their day-to-day businesses. One component of the video’s overall narrative presents a hard-working diner waitress. This relates to lyrics of the song: “Working three jobs, feeding four little mouths in a run-down kitchen”, showing a link between lyric and visuals.

Camerawork and editing:

The camerawork of this video is very smooth; presumably it was shot with either a steadicam or a track. As the majority of the shots show Underwood driving a vintage Ford truck through a ‘sepia-washed’ desert, the track ensures that the shots are kept still on the singer allowing the audience’s focus to be completely on her.

In the final part of the video, in which Underwood is seen giving a performance, numerous close up shots show the singer playing her guitar and singing into a microphone, creating an intimate feel. This enables the audience to feel engaged with the performance as if they were actually in attendance. Equally, this use of camerawork enables the viewer to see Underwood’s passion for the song, suggesting she may have a personal connection to it – this is highly common in Country music.

In terms of editing, the beginning of the video uses a crossfade which gives the video a relaxed feel complimenting the calming mood of the song. The video is cut continuitively, which means the narrative is told in continuity. The smooth flow from shot to shot helps to  develop the narrative creating a sense of realism as the edit is invisible. This sense of realism engages with the theme of the song.

Mise en scene:

The music video opens in a remote desert that appears to be in the middle of nowhere, with only surroundings of plants and trees. This desert environment, which is established using various wide shots, immediately sets a country tone. Underwood is shown driving through this setting to a gig. Her pick-up truck overheats, and she gets a ride from a young woman.

In terms of costume, Underwood is shown to be wearing a white plain top and a check shirt, complete with knee-high brown boots. This costume adheres to stereotypes as this style of outfit would commonly be associated with the country genre.

The use of the props throughout the video ranges from a guitar to a vintage Ford truck. Both of these props are stereotypical of the genre.

The actors, shown in the video going about their day-to-day lives, are majoritively female. This is perhaps done to show that women are often under-credited for their hard work; they need a break just as much a men.

The video climaxes with a performance by the singer at a dive bar location. This setting has a significantly different mise-en-scène and is complete with low lighting and smoke. This creates a live gig atmosphere. The performance is attended by those who were previously shown participating in their daily lives, as they let loose after a hard day of work.

Codes and Conventions:

This video does little in the way of breaking conventions, but rather follows them to a tee. The video adheres to the following conventions:

• Long shots and tracking shots show location etc.

• Performance elements use close up shots

• Editing is continual

• Propsandcostume include cowboy boots, a checkered shirt and a vintage Ford truck

• The setting is natural and realistic; ‘sepia-washed’ desert

• The lighting is natural in many scenes

• Indoor setting includes a dive bar; Underwood performs here

• Hair and makeup is natural: less of a focus on looks

DIGIPAK

Front:

The front cover of Carrie Underwood’s ‘Storyteller’ digipak is highly simplistic, featuring solely an image of the singer dressed in a dress and cowboy boots. For this photo, Underwood adopts an inviting expression, featuring eye contact and a smile. The font used is different for both the artist name and album title to allow for differentiation between the two. A red colour scheme is adopted. This theme is reflected in the text colour, and outfit sported by the artist. The setting of the album cover is a dirty white backdrop.

Back:

The back of this digipak is highly consistent with the front. It uses the same backdrop and text as the front, however, this time the photo featured is a closeup of the singer. A tracklist can be seen, as well as credits to the production team, a logo of the label the artist is signed to and a barcode. At the very bottom of the back cover, there is also information on the artist’s website.

Codes and conventions:

This album follows many codes and conventions of the genre:

• Reflects a personal feel through the use of images of the artist

• Underwood adopts a friendly and inviting pose

• Outfit is simple and features cowboy boots, stereotypical to the country genre

• The singer’s makeup is natural

WEBSITE

Homepage:

The homepage of Underwood’s website features a sparkly theme that matches the concept of the singer’s most recent album cover. An image promoting the singers latest album and single can be seen immediately on the homepage. At the top of the homepage, a navigation bar lists pages including: Tour, Music and Videos. Clicking on these page names will take you directly to the desired page via the navigation bar. Alternatively, the website can be viewed through its scroll navigation feature.

Other pages:

The ‘Live’ page lists all of the artist’s upcoming tour dates, offering an easy way to access all of the tour dates in one place. The background is the same sparkly textured one used on the home page.

The video page features thumbnails and titles of music videos by the artist for the viewer of the website to watch. A ‘view more videos’ option is available to allow further exploration of Underwood’s videos and discography.

The store page takes the viewer onto a different site, which is opened in a separate tab. The store site features similar branding to that seen on the website.

OVERVIEW

Branding:

A sense of branding is created through Carrie Underwood’s use of a logo on both her album cover and websites. The singer brands herself as a ‘clean-cut’ star, portrayed in the images of her featured across her products, such as her ‘Storyteller’ album. This image appeals to the singer’s varying audience as it is appropriate for all.

Audience:

As with many country artists, Underwood’s fan base is highly varied. The singer adheres to clean lyrics and uplifting messages which indeed entice a whole range of fans.