Stand Up: Serena Ryder "Weak In the Knees"

Serena Ryder "Weak In the Knees"
dir. by Kevin De Freitas
Serena Ryder sings of unrequited or lost love with a forced voice of strength, which fails to hide the vulnerability she carries beneath. When she suggests walking over and kissing her lover, she sounds less than confident in her actual ability to do so. Director Kevin De Freitas uses a number of images and contrasts to establish these emotions behind the words, but there is one scene that captures the feeling particularly well.

As Ryder proclaims her ability to stand tall even with her legs warbling beneath her, De Freitas alternates between close-ups and wide shots of the singer standing in front of flowers. When we are near her face the background is completely filled with colorful arrangements of hope as if she were standing in a garden. But when he pulls out we remember she's in fact in the cold street - and those potted flowers look rather cheap (maybe fake) inside a dirty truck. As hard as she tries, she can't escape the weight of her longing.