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1. Music video analysis:
The Lumineers – ‘Stubborn
love’
By Jumana Ismail

2. Overview of music video
The song ‘Stubborn Love’ by The Lumineers is an indie folk song, which is within
the genre that I will be researching. It was a released in 2012. Due to the fact
that there has been two music videos made for that song, I have decided to
analyse the music video that includes a young daughter leaving with her mother
due to her parents divorce. I feel as if this music video conforms with the indie
folk genre due to the following scenes I will be analysing.

3. Camera (Shots, movement and angels)
The use of camera shots in this music video has a very big
effect on the video as a whole. For example, in this screen
shot of the music video, their is a close up shot of the girl
looking out of the car window as she leaves with her
mother. This enables the audience to see how sad and
upset the girl is which makes it seem more realistic and
therefore the audience sympathises with the little girl. Due
to the use of the wide angle shot, the audience can see
the rain through the car window. This emphasises on the
fact that its a gloomy day for the girl due to her parents
divorce.
Throughout this music video their is a panning camera
movement as the car is moving. This type of camera
movement is used to portray to the audience what the
young girl is seeing when she is going past people in the
streets. The camera is showing the girl watching people sing
and dance which depicts the contrast of moods. Their is also
views of nature shown as she is driving past which
emphasises on the fact that she is moving onto another
stage in her life with her mother. This image portrays the
long journey the young girl is going on which tends to be a
convention of Indie Folk music videos in addition to visuals of
nature.

4. Sound
The sound used throughout the music video of
‘Stubborn Love’ is very mellow and calm which
tends to be a convention of Indie Folk music. In this
music video the instrumentation of the track is very
simple which allows the audience to pay more
attention to the lyrics and therefore would be able
to identify with what is going on in the music video.
For example, at around 30 seconds into the video,
when the song was starting, the audience was only
able to hear the instruments playing every time one
of the band members would sing. When the band
member would stop singing, the instruments would
stop and their would only be silence present. This
has a big effect on the music video as a whole as it
allows the audience to stop and think about the
actual lyrics and what message is the band trying to
bring across rather than be distracted by the ‘loud
music’.
Non diegetic sound added
in.

5. Editing
The use of editing throughout the music
video allows the music video to flow in a
linear or a non-linear way. For the music
video of ‘Stubborn Love’, it flows in a
linear way which allows the audience to
see the continuous journey of the young
girl in the car. This type of editing is
called continuity.
41 seconds 46 seconds
The use of eye-line match allows the
audience to see what the young girl is
looking at as she in the car. Throughout
the music video we see the young girl
looking at the views outside. This portrays
how she is really feeling, as with the help
of the camera shots, the girl is looking at
how happy people are in comparison to
how she is feeling.

6. Mis-en-scene
Most of the music video is taking place in the car.
The car is an important prop as it emphasises on
the fact that the young girl is going on a long
journey far away from home. As the car drives
through the city, it portrays the fact that the
mother is taking away the daughter for good from
her father. This is typical of Indie Folk music videos
as most of them tend to portray the fact that the
artist is going on a journey.
The lighting throughout the music video is very dim
and dark which gives of a gloomy effect throughout
the music video. This portrays the fact that the girl is
unhappy and the reason she is leaving home is due to
an unfortunate reason which has had an effect on her
mood and the whole city. The fact that its raining as
she is leaving emphasises on the fact that she is
feeling melancholy, as rain usually connotes
nostalgia, as well as going through a big change in life
as it seems purifying.

7. Andrew Godwin's Theory
 Andrew Godwin’s theory is based on 5 key characteristic’s that are included in many music
video’s. These include the relationship between the song and the visuals, the technical aspects of
the music video, the narrative and the performance of the song, the star image and the thoughts
through the beats. Godwin’s theory has helped me a lot when analysing this music video as it will
allow me to use his theory's in the music video that I will produce.
 The star image - In this music video, ‘Stubborn Love’ by The Lumineers, there has been many
close-up shots on the young girl to highlight the fact that she is the protagonist. The star image,
who is the young girl, is the main character the audience is introduced to at the beginning of the
music video and therefore this makes her the centre of attention. If there are many camera shots
on the young girl, the audience have no choice but to focus on her and therefore this makes it
clearer who the young girl is and what is happening to her.
 Relationship between the music and the visuals- One way visuals are used to promote the song
in this music video is Amplify. This is the use of repetition of the camera shots which are constantly
repeated throughout the music video and encompassed in our visions.
Technical aspect of a music video – When thinking of Mis-en-scene, the fact that the music video is
filmed around the country as the young girl is going on a journey, it portrays the fact that the
director of this music video has made an effort and thought really well about how to match the
music video with the lyrics.

8. Representation & Ideologies
 Representations used in this music video is very typical from representations that
are signified in the media. For example, the little girl in this music video is
represented as ‘cute’ and ‘innocent’ which is typical of how young girls are
represented in this media. This for example conforms to typical representations of
young girls in the media. In addition, the family in this music video is represented
as a dysfunctional family, in which the women is leaving her husband and taking
away their daughter with her. This is also a typical representation, as it is the
‘norm’ for children to live with their mothers if their parents have separated
according to the media as well as society.
 However, this music video goes against dominant ideologies because of the fact
that the couple are separated. The ideologies that are present in this music video
is that young children are highly effected by separation or divorce between
parents. It also goes against dominant ideologies of women having to listen to
their husbands or partners and stay with them regardless of what the situation. By
presenting the woman taking her child and driving away on a journey portrays how
strong and independent she is, and therefore not needing to rely on any man.

9. Audience reception and Stuart Hall’s
theory
 Stuart Hall is a cultural theorist and sociologist who was also known for working on
covering issues of hegemony and cultural studies. Hall looked at the role of reception
to different types of media texts and audience positioning in the interpretation of
mass media texts by different social groups in society. Hall came up with three
different key aspects that suggest how the audience read media texts. They include
dominant reading, negotiated reading and the oppositional reading. Stuart Hall
believed that mass media creates issues of public interest through audience
positioning.
 In this case I believe that this music video allows the audience to have a dominant
reading in which the audience accepts the preferred reading, in a way that the director
and the artist of the music video would want them to view it in. This is due to the fact
that the visuals on the screen narrate the lyrics of the song.
 For example, part of the lyrics of this song include “And I don't blame ya dear for
running like you did, all these years. I would do the same, you best believe
And the highway signs say were close, but I don't read those things anymore.”
meanwhile, the visuals in the music video show the girl and her mother driving away.

10. Binary Oppositions in the video (Levi
Strauss theory)
The Binary opposites that are present in this music video is the
contrast in going backwards to moving forward, happiness and
sadness. The overall narrative of this music video is that the young
girls parents are separated and she has ended up leaving with her
mother. Some people in the audience may interpret this as moving
back to square one, in which the woman has lost her partner and has
to figure out what she has to do, as well as how much it negatively
effected the young girl. On the other hand, some members of the
audience may feel like this is a turning point in both the woman and
her daughters life, as they are going on a long journey to search for
the next chapter of their lives. This has been backed up by the long
shots and wide camera shots that are captured as the woman is
driving off.
Another binary opposite that may be present in this music video
would be that the young girl is juxtaposed with the adult in the
car. The young girl is depicted as care free and happy, which is
typical of any girl her age. This is highlighted through the use of
mid camera shot used on the young girl. In contrast, although her
mother seems to look strong, and put on a fake smile, it is evident
though the close-up shot that she has more worries on her mind
as she is separating her daughter from her father.