little lion man analysed

1. Mumford and sons
Little lion man

2. Genre characteristics
• The video demonstrates the typical codes and conventions of an indie music video
• This is conveyed by the typical iconography throughout the video of instruments such as
the guitar and drums which can be seen as a signifier for the specific genre as well as
their costumes which consists of tight jeans and baggy flannels
• There is low lighting with the rooms on the stage being lit up by light bulbs in order to
make the video more rustic and maybe more personal which could then feed back into
the meaning of the song
• This is then affected by the colour coding which consists mainly of warm colours such as
yellow and brown tones which represents a calm atmosphere that’s typical for the genre
• The camera shot have long shots of the band which is showing them signing, playing
instruments and representing them as playing on a stage to an audience which is usually
seen within this genre as they are preforming
• However there is no audience so even though the performance on the stage is a typical
convention and characteristic for this type of music, the band having no audience might
then lead into the storyline of the song and the meaning behind the lyrics

3. Relationship between lyrics and visuals
• The meaning of the lyrics is explaining how as a father, he is apologising for the
past and how he has behaved which has affected the sons behaviour as a result
which they cannot then help
• As mentioned previously there is no audience which could convey how the song
is an apology even if the person who they are apologising to doesn’t want to hear
it which is then emphasised by there being audience listening to the band
• Other than the empty audience relating back to the apology of the song, there
are not many other visuals of the song that makes it relate back to the lyrics
because the majority of the video is based on a stage and not within a home with
characters performing the storyline making the video more of a performance
rather being illustrative
• This again is because the song relates more to the genre of the band rather than
the lyrics and the storyline itself which is supported by the lyrics being based on
personal issues typical of an indie genre rather the video illustrating this

4. Relationship between music and visuals
• The music is has an extremely up beat tempo and the dynamics are
loud which varies throughout the song
• The song matches the pattern of the visuals because every time the
song becomes louder and faster, the camera shot will show the whole
band or individual artists playing the instruments and singing to
emphasis their excitement and liveliness within the song
• The song starts off with a slow beat with the artists playing the
instruments slowly and there are close up camera shots of the
instruments to match the musical sound of each individual
instrument

5. Artist involvement and increased motifs
• The artists feature within the song to show their visual style which is
shown through both their clothes and the instruments they play
• They wear tight jeans a baggy shirts which has been previously
mentioned and the instruments are then most acoustic as well as
drums and other types of instruments
• This all supports and feeds back into the idea of their specific indie
genre and also gives them a specific style that the audience can
recognise and maybe relate to in order for them to increase their
specific audience demographic for their genre of music

6. Notion of looking and female portrayal
• There is no female involvement in the video
• This could them support how the song maybe to promote their style
of music and attract attention from a specific demographic that isn’t
listening to their music because of there being sexualisation but
instead because of their enjoyment with this music style
• The video is only the artists who sing about topics such as personal
issues which cannot be portrayed with the appeal of the sexualisation
of women but instead just to inform and express their feelings

7. Intertextual references
• There could be a reference of the Shakespeare's play Richard the third
• The play was about Richard the third and how he was a child with no
father that then affected him in his later life becoming a selfish man
who even his mother had hatred towards
• This is evident by the meaning behind the lyrics that could suggest
about a father that is apologising to his son about how he affected
how his son has grown up to be without it being the son to blame

8. Performance or narrative
• The music video throughout is a performance
• This is because there is the band that is playing on a stage singing
along to the song as well as playing their instruments
• This is both a performance and a typical representation of the genre
because of the typical conventions which includes a performance
• Even though there may be a meaning behind the lyrics, this isn’t
shown by the video with a narrative but instead gives signifiers such
as the empty stage to emphasis the apology not being heard but no
matter what, they will still sing in order to make a difference

9. Narrative theory
Todorov
• There is no narrative storyline so Todorov’s theory cannot be applied
Propp
• Within the lyrics there is a personal issue explained about a relationship so the villain could be
the father that is to blame for the sons resulting behaviour and the son could be considered to be
the princess as he was the one that was hurt and need to be saved but doesn’t want to be saved
• However other than the meaning behind the lyrics, Propp cannot be applied due to the video
being performance based
Strauss
• There could be the binary opposites of the colours and lighting because there is a colour code
that consists of a warm tone such as brown and yellow however the stage is then lit up by the
light bulbs which makes the stage lighter for the performance
• This could be replicating the meaning of the lyrics by the dark tone of the sons saddening mood
towards his father and the father tying to reach out to his son in order o see him signifies by the
lights but the son still rejecting the father so the darker tones still come through