In this music video and collaboration with Khalid, The opening shot is of Billie Eilish crouched down on one knee in a giant glass box. The box has ample space to move around, but Billie is adorned with chains that act metaphorically and physically as a limitation to her movement. She has on black headphones that go along with her all-black outfit. The camera pans in and across the box, in somewhat of a circular motion smoothing out the harsh 90-degree angles. The camera then zooms into Billie Eilish’s face, and she begins to lip-dub her singing. Since it is a duet and collaboration with Khalid, once we hear Khalid harmonizing, he appears in the foreground, while the camera focuses on Billie. Billie then walks out of the frame and Khalid walks into the frame. They begin to circle each other as the camera follows them both at eye-level. Billie and Khalid are somewhat interconnected, not only through there voices and lyrically, but through there movement. The choreographed duet allows for the movement between them to highlight the lyrical aspect of the song. Both dressed in black from head to toe; they are visually and musically in unison.
The style of this music video gives the viewer the impression of one long take. Rather than staying in one place, the camera travels along with the space and creates an extensive range of angled shots within the boundaries of the glass box and its surrounding.
Aesthetically, Billie Eilish’s signature cool tones are very much present. Natural elements such as a cloud are introduced. The fluffy cloud is juxtaposed with the harshness of the sharp glass box. The glass box goes through natural phenomena when it begins to rain inside of it, and it eventually freezes, as though it has somewhat gone through weather changes.
Ghida Dalloul 