MVA

The entirety of the music video is filmed in black and white. This creates an atmosphere of mystery and anonymity as well as causing the exterior shots of the bus to contrast strongly with well lit interior shorts of the band performing.

There are both performance and narrative elements to the video. The performance takes place primarily on the bus and features strong lighting and numerous close ups of the artists. One of the characteristics of music videos that Andrew Goodwin identified was that there is a demand on the record company for lots of close ups of the main artist or vocalist. The narrative aspect of the video establishes several characters of which we see frequent close up shots. Primarily we follow the journey of Keeley Hawes’s character from sitting on the roadside, obviously upset, to boarding the bus and being comforted. This narrative combined with the performance on the bus represents that band as being fun and freedom enabling.

This video features a fairly dark colour palette throughout. This reflects not only the personal style of the artist but the genre of the song and the lyrics also. The style and tone of the video aid in the reinforcement of the band’s star persona. There are various wide cityscape shots combined with medium and close up shots of the artist. The darkened edges on the city shots are vignettes. This is originally a photography technique and it adds to the mysterious and sometimes impersonal nature of the video.

Shots of the lead singer looking into a mirror are repeated throughout the video. They reflect the questioning nature and flaw of character insinuation that the song proposes. They also illustrate and amplify the lyric ‘everything in your eyes’. Andrew Goodwin states that one of the characteristics of music videos is the relationship between the lyrics and visuals.
Heavy eye makeup and dark clothing is worn during the video. This purposefully stylised ‘goth’ or ‘scene’ look is typically of lead singer, Taylor Momsen and is a trait which she has already established and is well known for. This type of styling is inspirational and attractive for the target audience of the video. Also, it helps to reinforce the star persona of the lead singer.
The transition between cuts is very shaky and this combined with the flashing of lights and jumpy movements of the artist creates a lot of movement which reflects the fast paced, heavy beat of the song.

The live performance sections of the video is trademark for the rock genre of music. This is indentified as one of Andrew Goodwin’s characteristics of music videos - ‘particular music genres have their own music video style and iconography. Such as live performance in heavy rock’ It create a relationship between the music and the visuals as it emphasises and amplifies the intensity and emotion of the song.

Pulp’s video features numerous close ups of the lead singer. They capture his already established quirky traits and personality. One of Goodwin’s theories is that, over time, an artist may develop their own iconography in and out of their videos –this is true of Jarvis Cocker. The close ups also establish a relationship between the lyrics and visuals as his facial expressions convey what he’s singing about. For example, the second screen shot illustrates his disappointment and vulnerability while he sings the lyrics ‘well I guess it couldn’t last too long, I came home one day and all your things were gone’ Again, Goodwin has identified that music videos often have a strong link between the lyrics and visuals.

The video is set against a plain white background and there is very little detail meaning that the prime focus is on the artist. This is aided by the mise-en-scene of his bright green shirt and dark suit which boldly stand out from the background.
There are a lot of trademark Jarvis Cocker dance moves as well as numerous hand gestures which are often used to frame his face and add further emphasis to the lyrics and escalating pace of the music.

MVA

by maherr on Oct 24, 2010

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