Genre: Indie Rock
Style: Narrative/performance
Before the actual music is played in the video there is a little story shown which helps the audience see and understand what the context of the video will be, and as shown it is a school show/competition, and a group of dancing girls are performing, however, it is not the dance that is expected out of girls that are wearing athletic outfits/costumes.
What can be noticed in the video is that every member of the audience are part of the elderly, which can represent not only the elder generations and their thoughts about the youth, but also the narrow mindset that some elderly people stereotypically have.
The dance that is performed is actually quite provocative and rather inappropriate for girls of such a young age, and I believe that this is the reason for the surprised reaction shots of the audience, another reason why the reactions are so obvious could also be because the audience are possibly due to their ages.
The dance is shown for approximately a minute and the more it is performed, the more provocative it gets, and finally, ends abruptly. What I liked about this introduction was that there is a little bit of a story before the actual music of the song starts, however what I did not like was the way it ended so abruptly, but it can be argued that this was done in such a fashion because this music video is performed in a realistic way, and in such a situation the performance could end in such a way.
After the performance unexpectedly ends, a member of the audience is shown applauding in a medium shot, with his facial expression not amused, which can suggest that the audience are only clapping due to the respect that should be shown to the children who try to create a good performance. When looking at the props and costumes on the audience members, they are all dressed in a stereotypical plain, conservative fashion that grandparents tend to wear to formal events, or in general.
After the performance finishes and the girls leave the stage, the presenter comes to the centre of the stage (previously stood in the corner) and is shown in a long shot when he informs the audience about who was on the stage ("that was OMG bae") and introduces the next band that is about to come onto the stage ("next up is The 1975") which are the protagonists within the video, as they are the performers.
Before the stars get on the stage, it should be noted that the mise-en-scene in the music video is meticulous and super realistic, creating a mood of a school talent show. What makes it obvious that this could be held at a school are the stereotypical curtains and the old, distressed stage that is used.
The moment the music begins to play (1:00) flashes of on and off lighting used to impress the audience which is shown to be effective in a wide medium three-shot where the elderly's shocked reaction shots are seen, which can foreshadow that this act will be more shocking/ interesting to the audience.
When looking at Strauss' binary opposition theory, it is not supported in this music video, as a few members of the audience are wearing black and so is most of the band that are going to perform, yet they are children and there is nothing evil about them. Same can be said for the costumes of white, as there are no 'good' or 'evil'. However, Todorov could be applied to this video, as there is and equilibrium at the beginning, although not as obvious. The disruption would be the band performing, and the close would be the band finishing their performance and leaving the stage.
There are some medium close up/close up shots of the main performer, however, they are extremely fast and are not of the actual artist, as the performer is the real singer's younger brother. Since this video was released after the band has became recognised within the music industry, I believe that the close ups are to show the similarities that are between the actor and the actual singer within the band. The whole setting of the video has some intertextual reference to how the band actually formed, as they have started to perform together in secondary school, so this whole video could be referring to that.
The children in the music video are wearing extremely accurate and detailed costumes, to match every detail of each band member. From their usual clothing, to body modifications and hairstyles.
In general, the whole video is just the younger version of the band performing for the elderly in a concert, which can either be a school performance or a few volunteers which put up a show for a seniors retirement home.However, towards the end an interesting high angle shot is shown of the previous performer girl, who's reaction is much more positive towards the performance that 'the band' has put up in comparison to the actual audience's. This could represent the actual band implying that their music is not meant for everyone, and that everyone has a different taste in music, so if an older audience does not like the music that they create, it is fine because it is not targeted at them anyway.
How this research influenced my planning and creativity:
- I could also use star images that do not physically match the actual performer's voice, however, I am unsure whether that would appear as normal as it did in this video
- I could also use similar locations to create some of my shots (school halls)
- I could use a wide range of actors to create diversity within my video
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