Textual Analysis

Textual Analysis

I will be analysing an Arctic Monkeys music video within the genre of ‘Alternative Rock’. The Arctic Monkeys produce a combination of different genres of music such as indie rock, psychedelic rock and alternative. The music video fluorescent adolescent is a narrative based video, which would be aimed at an older audience or young adults of both genders.

The artist is not shown in this music video, but the type of music and the lyrics represents the artists as being quite indie, care-free and the kind of people to do what they want, as they are fighting in the video and doing things illegal like blowing up a car. We can identify that this video is a narrative based video, as we can see there is a story being told about two very different men who seem to have disagreed in some way and are therefore out to get each other. We are then told that they used to be friends when they were children as we are shown images of younger children on the swings who are playing together, one child is dressed in a clown outfit and the other in a black jacket, this tells us immediately who they are. We can recognise the genre of this video by the unique use of images and close ups which conform to the codes and conventions of an alternative video. The examples of unique images are the violent men dressed as clowns, which relate to their music as it is different to the usual. There are also examples of close ups, there is a man in the black jacket being punched around the face, showing the audience that he is hurt and an image of the clown straight after to show it’s him who is punching him, this tells us the clown is angry at him for some reason, which also adds to the narrative of the video. There is no use of black and white images and the artist is not shown throughout which challenges the codes and conventions of alternative rock. This music video would appeal to a young adult audience as they will most likely be able to relate to the lyrics in this song, and there is a use of inappropriate language.

We are shown a combination of different types of camerawork in this video. An example is handheld movement. Handheld movement is used mostly throughout this video to add to the care-free, do it yourself kind of feel and it also makes it seem like the artist is involved in the video, although we cannot see them. There is an example of an over the shoulder shot, of the clown and the man in the black jacket standing face to face, showing that they are looking at one another. This also adds tension which relates to the type of music. An example of a side angle is shown in this video of the man in the black jacket running. It shows us he is running away from the clowns with a case in his hand that he didn’t have before. This adds to the narrative as the fight may be over the case the man is running away with. There is a selective focus, after the clown has beaten the other man up. The camera is focused, unfocused and focused again of the clowns face from the man in the black jackets point of view, showing us his vision is blurred and he is injured. This creates a realistic effect of the man’s vision and adds realism to the video.

We are shown different types of editing throughout this music video. We are shown long shot duration of the children on the swings at the park, showing us that it was the two main characters in this video when they were younger as they are in the same outfits. This is also a two shot as it shows us a relationship between these two children and that they must be friends, as a close up is shown of both their faces friendly smiling at each other. Jump cuts are used throughout this video but two examples are at the beginning, when the cars are following one another and it jump cuts from them driving to them arriving where they are. The other example is of everyone fighting, a jump cut is used to speed up the fighting, showing it is quick and there’s lots going on at once, this adds a fast paced effect to the video. The shot duration throughout this video is all fairly short, we are shown lots of quick different fighting scenes which conveys urgency and shows the narrative of the video. The last example of editing is a fade to black that is used at the end of the video, to tell us it’s the end which is a transition.

There are use of special effects such as the make-up of the clowns, and the stunts, such as the fighting with the chairs and the car that blows up at the end, this all adds to the narrative and adds effect to video, and keeps the audience entertained.

In the mise-en-scene the location is by an abandoned building and car park, this gives us the idea that it could be a dodgy deal or meeting, conforming to the genre of alternative. All the props in this video add to the narrative – the cars, the case, the chairs and the clothing.

The relationship between the lyrics and the visual is different as they don’t really connect to each other in any way. The lyrics are about a girls life it seems, whereas the visuals on screen are of two different gangs of men, meeting for a fight, one dressed as clowns and the other in smart suits.

The relationship between the music and visuals match as the music is very harsh, loud, fast paced and uses lots of different instruments, whilst the visuals are all happening quite quickly with harsh motions and actions of violence.

In conducting this textual analysis it is evident that camerawork has played a major part in constructing the genre through using close ups of the characters in the video and different types of shots to explain the narrative.