Billie Eilish - Bellyache - Colour Analysis

Whilst searching through YouTube to find music videos worthy of analysing, I came across Billie Eilish's "Bellyache". The video holds a very simplistic style, however, what captured my attention was the use of colour.

 To summarise the song, Billie takes on a persona of somebody who has committed a series of crimes, including murder. The character feels an immense sense of guilt at what they have done - an emotion that makes her feel sick to her stomach.
The colouring of the video is interesting because the tint of purple hues and added saturation represents this overwhelming sense of sickness, kind of like how high key lighting can represent a headache. The connotations of  the colour yellow, which Eilish is dressed completely in, include instability, the phrase yellow-bellied meaning cowardliness. Curiously, Ancient Egyptians used to wear yellow to signify the dead - and considering Eilish's persona's history, this choice seems no coincidence. Though yellow is connoted often to being a happy colour, it can also represent jealousy and deceit.

The significance of the violet hues may represent frustration in her indecisive self, her moodiness. With the tint across the whole screen, you may describe it as a 'purple haze', the editor quite possibly suggesting that the character Eilish created is under the influence of drugs.

The sky, a striking blue, could again represent a series of things. In Iran, blue is the colour of mourning, Eilish's character may not only be regretting what they did, but may be feeling sorrowful over the loss of whom they killed. It may also represent the feeling of self-centeredness, one reinforced by the placement of Billie throughout this video.

When watching the video, there were a few shots I wanted to analyse more than in terms of colour alone, these shall be included below:

This shot shows Eilish carrying baggage behind her. This may represent her actions, her sins, the weight of guilt she carries around with her everywhere. With it just being her in the shot (and throughout most of the video), we may deduce that due to this 'baggage', Eilish feels isolated (or has isolated herself).

The sunset: representing the end of something. Perhaps this shows that the end of an era for Eilish's persona has occurred, she can no longer go back to who she used to be due to her actions. The use of slow motion may reinforce the idea of 'purple haze' (also supported by the sky in this shot).

By seeing money in the rubbish bag, we may assume that her early actions are now worthless to her. Throughout the video, Eilish can be seen throwing money around like it means nothing to her - as the audience, we may guess that she regrets her actions and no longer sees the value in what she has done. No amount of money can bring back life. 

This beautiful shot may represent Eilish throwing away her purity and all sweet connotations of the colour green. Nature is often a sign of health, and when paired with yellow, often connotes to happiness and warmth. Here however, by throwing away the flower, she may be admitting to ill-health, or sickness of the mind. 

Here, with the mix of canted angle shots and Billie's actions, we can clearly see her persona's deranged attitude. The quick shots and running combined may represent how quickly this is escalating, how quickly time feels to be passing since her actions. With the combination of slow motion used throughout the video and quick shots, again, this may represent our character being under the influence of drugs, as the contrast in time representation is unnatural and muddling.

A simple ending for a simple video, but one of impact nonetheless. By placing a policeman standing calmly at the end of the road, at the end of the video, may represent the inevitability of karma and justice.

I've also included some of my favourite shots: