The neighbourhood - sweater weather video

1. VideoAnalysis– The Neighbourhood‘’SweaterWeather’’
The neighbourhoodare anindie rockbandconsistingof 5
members.UsingLacey’srepertoireof elementsIamgoing
to conveyhowthe bandcategorise intothisgenre of
music.
The firstcharacter we see are the band members with
Jesse Rutherfordasthe leadsinger,theyare satarounda
deskworkingontheirmusic;thissongwas their‘’break-through’’songandthe firstsongthat they
everwrote therefore the bandwantedtomake the videopersonalto themselves.Theiraimof the
videoseemstobe thattheyare makingthe audience believe intheirpassionformusicwhichisa
stereotypical conventionof Indie artists(tobe alternative andseriousabouttheirmusic). The mise
enscene of thisshot reflectsthe seriousmoodastheyuse darkcoloursalthoughbrighthighlighted
area aroundthe centre of the table where theyare working.Theyalsodrive alotaroundCalifornia
whichistheirhometown –tellingthe audiencewhere theyare fromandalso againhavingthe
personal elementtothe video. The onlyothercharacterinthe videoisa female character thatis
purposelyoverlysexualised throughbodypositioning,costume inthe mise enscene andnarrative. A
lotof shotsshowthe female characteronher ownwaitingaroundforJesse whichstereotypically
representsfemalesasdependantonmen.
Jesse playsthe maincharacterwhichisoftenconventional inmusicvideosof bands.Jesseexplainsin
an interview thatthe songisaboutsex althoughthere are onlycertainelementsof thisintheirvideo
as theywantedtheiraudience tointerpretthe songintheirownway. The female characteris
portrayedina sexual waythroughthe mise enscene,especiallywhenwe see heronherown.She
wearsshort dresses andskirtswhichshow off herlegs,there isalsoafew shotswere youcan just
see hersilhouette.Thiscostume stereotypicallyconveyshow womenshouldconformtomenby
wearingcertainclothestoenhance theirbodyshape.Alsothe fact
a lot of her fleshisshownmaybe suggestsvulnerability. There are
a two or three shotsthroughoutthe videoshowingthe couple
togetheronthe right,the body positioningof the characters
makesitobviousthatJesse isthe more dominantcharacteras he
ison top of her – this isstereotypicallyrepresentingthe power
that menhave overwomeninsociety.
The videoisveryfastpaced,a lotof fastclose upcuts are usedwhichuse iconographytomake the
narrative clearer.FirstlyOne exampleof thisisa close upshot of a globe, thismayconveythat they
travel a lotwiththeirjobwhichtheyenjoyexploring –againconveyingthe ‘personal’elementtothe
videothereforetheyhave hadalot of inputto thisvideo.An
iconicimage of the indie genre isa close upof a vinyl playing
whilstthe bandmembers are working.Vinyl’sare anoldmethod
of playingmusicbefore CD’s,alotof people wholistento
indie/alternative musicoftenlike tokeepvinyl’sastheythinkitis
‘cooler’andtheylike tobe a bit differentin comparisonto
especiallypeople wholistentopop/chartmusic. There isalsoa

2. guitarwhichis iconicof the indie rockgenre. There are alsoiconicimagesof Californiaforexample
Palmtreesandthe beach.
The mise enscene establishesalotaboutthe bands Indie style.Firstly
the costume theyare wearingidentifiesthemasindie artists;they
wearblack leatherjacketsandJesse hasalot of tattoosand also
smokesthroughoutthe videowhichisastereotypical signof
rebellion. The settingof the videoisina lotof differentplaces,the
bandmembersare in a car a lotof the time andat a funfair/beach
whichare typical settingsof Californiasothatthe audience can
establishthe setting. The girl isseenina house all the time with
clockssurroundingherwhichgivesnarrative ideaswhichmaysuggest
that time isgoingby extremelyslowlywaitingforthe leadsingerto
arrive home.
The videoisshotin blackand white whichissignificanttothe bandsimage,all their
photographs/videosare in blackand white andinan interview Jesse hasquotedthatthisstyle
signifiesthe band.The endingof the videoisflippedupside down;thisisalsorecognitionof the
banditself astheirlogoisupside down.Their logoisalsofeaturedonthe video.Eachof these
editingtechniquesisusedsothatthe audience recognise the bandandunderstandsome of their
consistenthouse stylingwhichrelatesagainbacktohow the bandwantedto make the videofocus
on themas itwas theirfirstwrittensong.
All of these elements helptocreate an indie image forthe band,I
thinkthisisdone throughthe style howtheywantto make it
extremelypersonaltothemandalsothroughiconographyand
stereotypical connotationsof the indie genre.