Artist- Noah & the Whale
GENRE CHARACTERISTICS
As mentioned before in '101,' the costumes, the cinematography, tune and location are the characteristics of the indie/alternative genre. In this music video, I found that the costumes are still not vast but also not so diverse for this genre, as the band wear suits and the main girl who runs is wearing what looks like a PE Uniform. The cinematography here is much more varied, as the lighting is (seems very) natural and bright, which is reflected by the tune of the song, which is very upbeat and cheerful despite the lyrics being a tad darker, such as 'he took up all his old things, and set 'em all on fire.' The location used is rather typical of this genre as well, because it's using mostly one single location, even though it's a wide open setting on a long street with a school field and houses that run along it, eventually leading to an airport hangar then to a hot air balloon.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LYRICS AND VISUALS?
The only noticeable connection between the lyrics and visuals is a very large section of the video shown as a metaphor for putting away your old life and chasing a better one. This is shown with the very beginning scene of the girl dropping the slice of watermelon (could that resemble manufactured happiness; the slice looking as though it creates a smile if held to the face?) and screaming, as though she's letting everything go; her old life. The line 'left his house at midnight, resolute and young. In search of something greater than the person he'd become.' This is obviously reflecting the girl throughout the whole video running in a visually straight line, eventually passing everything and into a hot air balloon, as though she's off to find a new life.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC AND VISUALS?
The music here is very upbeat, which ties in with the bright sunny day and the bright clothes. It sort of becomes the epitome of a warm day for the video, as the beat at the very beginning plays along the girl running, which gives it a lively feel to it.
ARE THERE CLOSE-UPS OF THE ARTIST AND STAR IMAGE MOTIFS?
There aren't close-ups of the artist, as the band is shown from many mid-shots maybe to allow the bright and sunny background to be shown. However, motifs are evident, such as the suits they wear, which are also in their other single 'L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N, where they sit in a gloomy bar with black suits.
IS THERE REFERENCE TO THE NOTION OF LOOKING?
ARE THERE INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES?
There seems to be no intertextual references to books, other music or other works, which shows the video as being more of a genuine indie video.
IS THE VIDEO CATEGORY ILLUSTRATION, DISJUNCTURE OR AMPLIFICATION? HOW MUCH?
The video is probably 85% amplification and 15% disjuncture. Amplification because almost the whole video resembles the lyrics, but not in an illustrious fashion, more of a semantic fashion. We see the girl running to a location undisclosed until the end, but we know that she's running after a new life as she took apart her old life and 'set it all on fire' and she's 'gonna change' and she feels like her 'new life can start, and it feels like heaven,' possibly resembling the bright sunny day and going up into the hot air balloon at the end. It's also a quarter disjuncture because some of the allegory is so subtle that you may be wrong in thinking you've interpreted it right. Such examples are the shots of the cheerleaders and of the band, which is a normal element of any video anyway.
THE VIDEO- http://youtu.be/6HKdXbTI49U
