This is my analysis of The Walker by Fitz and The Tantrums forgone of my three genre analysis.

1. GENRE ANALYSIS – FITZ ANDTHE
TANTRUMS –THEWALKER
Saeed Moulai

2. Fact File
■ Artist/Group: Fitz AndTheTantrums
■ Name OfThe Song: The Walker
■ WhichAlbum, when was it released?: Out Of My League, 2013
■ Who Directed It? Warren Kommers

3. What is the song about?
■ The song is a person telling the story of
what is going on with his life, and it
mainly talks about how this person isn't
going to to what people tell him to do.
The lyrics talk about how the person is
far ahead of the others who say things
about the person, and how this character
is taking control and rebelling against
what others say. It shows a celebration
of being different and rebelling.

4. Is there a plot in the music video?
■ The plot focuses on a man lining up for the DMV store on a boiling hot day, and constantly
throughout the video it shows him suffering from flashbacks.The video shows him struggling
with the heat and the main character from Fitz andTheTantrums singing the lyrics behind him,
and its almost like when the lyrics are being sung the temperature is being cranked up.The man
then starts twitching and shaking, then when the chorus comes around the character bursts out
and starts dancing in beat with the music (which is typical of an indie pop music video).The song
then shows the man walking around the area which also links in with the meaning of the song
and is a convention of indie pop.After this the band members join in and sing and walk along
with the man, they sing through the use of lip sync. Both of these conventions (band members
appearing and lip sync) both fit in well with typical codes and conventions of indie pop.The music
video ends with the sweaty man leading a massive dance troupe in an urban area.

5. Is it performance, narrative or
conceptual?
■ I think that in general the music video is a narrative video because it follows one
person and it tells a story of what has gone on. But there are also elements of
performance because there are many parts of the music video which include dance
moves and dance routines, as well as the band members joining in and singing through
the use of lip sync. It is also slightly conceptual through the use of random images such
as a random helicopter flying in the air, although this characteristic is typical of indie
pop music videos.

6. Is there an obvious connection between
the lyrics and visuals?
■ I think there is quite a strong connection between lyrics and visuals in this video,
this can be seen in many occasions through the use of the characters dance
moves, for example, when the lyrics go “I need it, I need it oh!” the visuals is the
man dancing with his fists clenched almost begging the air. Another example is
when the lyrics go “They say I'm a walking dreamer, baby, If I stop they would
make the show”.The visuals that accompany this is the main singer walking fast
in time with the music down the street and pointing to himself.There are many
gestures and movements like this throughout the whole song, it is also worth
noting that the main characters footsteps are always in time with every beat
throughout the song.

7. Who is the target audience for this
video?
■ I think the age of my target audience would be between the ages of 16-
22.
■ This is because the way that indie pop artists, particularly Fitz andThe
Tantrums produce and distribute their music is in a way which is suitable
for this age
■ This is also a good target audience because of the tune of the song , as
well as the lyrics to the song, many people this age can relate to the
lyrics in this song and many others in the indie pop genre. It could also
be argued that this song is targeted at hipsters because its alternative
music

8. Does the video focus on the artists/group, or
are other characters in focus?
■ The video mainly focuses on one
character, a male, who is in his mid 20s.
He is dressed smartly in a shirt and tie
and has a short, neat haircut. The story
of the video follows him but members of
the band also join in often showing shots
of them miming and dancing along with
the music, this links in well with
Goodwin's theory of Star Image as well
as various codes and conventions of indie
pop videos.

9. What is the atmosphere of the music
video?
■ The atmosphere of the music video is positive and uplifting. It tells
the story of happiness and self comfort as well as not listening to
others, which means it also gives off a sense of rebellion and
resistance. All characters seem to be happy and singing, which gives
off a positive atmosphere and a good, happy vibe.

10. Describe how camera, editing, mise en scene
and SFX are used to convey meaning?
■ The constant use of close ups to the main
character’s face is an attempt to portray his
inner emotion and how he really feels.
Throughout the video there is a constant use of
cutting to the beat which is an aspect of
Goodwin’s theory and is also very typical of
Indie Pop music videos. Most character’s
costumes are casual and dull clothing, which is
also typical of the Indie Pop genre.

11. What is the intention with the music
video?
■ The intention of the music video is to show that its good to show
your individuality, and to be yourself, and when you are yourself
you’ll be a lot happier and will make more friends.This can be
discovered through the course of the narrative where the
character starts off timid and once he is himself he’s very upbeat
and happy.

12. Can you provide any further rhetorical
readings of the music video?
■ The video links in many aspects to Goodwin’s theory of six
main aspects to a music video.This can be seen through
the use of star image, thought beat, narrative alongside
performance, lyrics and more.There are no findings of
Mulvey’s theory in this music video but there are hints of
Todorov’s narrative theory simply because the music video
is narrative and it tells a story.

13. How far does the video contain typical genres of
music videos of the indie pop genre? Does it
present or challenge?
■ I think that the music video conforms to the stereotypical
codes and conventions of music videos very strongly. Firstly,
this can be seen through the use of mise-en-scene.The
costume of the characters in the music videos are casual and
laid back, baggy clothing, mostly khaki or camel colored as
well as black and grey.This can also be seen through the use
of location and setting.The setting is typical of an indie pop
music video because its set in an urban area, which is
generally low budget. Although this video does go against
the trend in some ways because it has no use of actual
performance with a band alongside narrative, which is
normally a common trend in indie pop videos.