The music video for "Let's Dance to Joy Division" by The Wombats is a performance video filmed in a small room. It contains numerous references to British rock bands from the late 1970s and early 1980s like Joy Division. Throughout the video, the lighting, camerawork, and editing mimic the pace of the song. There are also visual references to specific songs and artists, like mimicking Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and featuring a school choir reminiscent of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall." The video concludes with special effects and flying band members in a style evoking 1970s/1980s music videos.

1. Analysis of Music Videos
Music Videos:
The Wombats-Let’s Dance To Joy Division

2. Lets Dance to Joy Division
Lets Dance to Joy Division is a song, by the indie band The Wombats, which is
filled with postmodern references through out: to their own past, but also to
rock music's past, with references to serval British rocks bands of the late 70s
and early 80s, sort of given away in the title “Lets Dance to Joy Division”. The
music video is a performance video. The music videos starts off with the band
setting up their instruments in a small room, shown by starting off with a
tracking shot of the leader singer/guitarist walking to a speaker, followed by a
variety of close ups and mid shots of the band preparing to practice, before we
are led to the song through a jump cut as the music starts playing. A similar
style of camera shots is used during the songs intro, but these are interchanged
at a lot quicker pace, as a reflection of the music starting to pick up. These
shots are of the band members the instruments they’re playing. Different types
of camera shots are also used during the intro, including a pan to the
bands name wrote on the wall-to follow the conventional introduction to music video of including the artists name-and an establishing shot of the band playing the
instruments. Throughout the songs intro, the lighting is flashing at a pace to represent the pace that the song in traveling at, and this a consistent theme throughout
the music video. When the band starts to sing the pace in the music slows down so as does the flashing of the lights, along with the amount of cuts; during the intro
there were lots of cuts and different camera angles from what seemed as being film on a handheld camera-for the same as affect as the lighting in the intro. When the
band starts to sing this all changes, with the song slowing down we are switch to a steadi-cam mid shot at eye level of the leader singer, as he says the first lines “I’m
back in Liverpool, and everything seems the same”. These two lines are references to the bands past; with the first line being a reference to the city in which the band
formed and the second also being a reference to the lack of invest the city the bands from has seen, with over £3 billion of promised investment into the city since the
80s never being seen-which is all the time period most the bands referenced later in the song. As the song continues and the pace of the song picks up again, similar
affects that were seen the intro are mirrored. This then goes that one step further and the flashing and changes in camera angle both increase, as well as the band
going from jumping around the room the flying around it (whilst continuing to sing)-this is once again to mimic the pace of the song. This speed up happens at the
start of the chorus which begins with “Let’s dance to Joy Division, and celebrate the irony”-this part of the song is in fact two references in one. The first clearer
references is to the band Joy Division, who played very dark themed songs yet had a slight dance beat to it, this is why they use the line “celebrate the irony” to
present the irony in dancing to such a gloomy themed music. These lines are also a reference to when the band was first starting out in Liverpool and they would
cover Joy Division in small venues and despite the songs message people use to jump/dance around to these songs-source my cousins in law, who is friends with the
band and use to be signed to the same record label and tour with them.

3. The band then hit the floor at the end of singing the chorus but the lighting continues to speed up with the instrumental that
follows, to the point where the screen blacks-out. This brings use to the next references to another 70/80’s band: with the band
this time mimicking Queens song Bohemian Rhapsody, but instead of Freddy Mercury in the middle of the group singing, there's a
plush toy wombat. When the song picks up again, close to end of this scene the lights start flashing again and then the video jump
cuts back to the room. This scene then continues the similar fast pace cutting and flashing that previously featured, except this
time there is focus on not just a band but a small fan. This small fan is shown blowing the band members back as if it was a
massive fan; this is a piece of irony, a word which the band repeat through out the song. The fan is also shown to blow over a flip
book, in which the picture story in book is of a TNT explosion, in which is timed to the start of the chorus and the videos ‘explodes
into the madness the of flashing/cuts/flying that happened in the previous chorus but this time at a much quicker paces. The band
is grounded at the end of the chorus and everything is slowed down, in which we are also introduced to our first long shot of the
video, when the band start to sing the lines “Let the love us apart, I found a cure for a broken heart”. These lyrics are again a
reference to the band Joy Division; who sang “Love Will Tear Us Apart”-Joy Division were say that love will tear us apart, whilst the
Wombats response is let it. This is scene also contains more references to the time period in which Joy Division were active. The
long shot shows us the whole room, which includes the floor that starts to change colours/pattern and when the song picks in
pace again, instead of black flashes of light, different colours of light flash-this could be scene as a reference to the club scene that
was on the rise at the time of the 70s/80s era which has previously been referenced. This colour changes is not the only reference
is following scene, as another editing technique of cutting not just in the room but also to a choir of school kids in uniform-this
can also be scene as a reference once again to that time period; this time references “Pink Floyds-Another Brick in the Wall pt2”.
The song then picks up in pace again with the band once again during a second instrumental before the final chorus in which it
reverts to the original effects for the chorus but a lot rapid version, which leads to a line across the wall making it look like its
going to split and then it does. Then the band is flying around with special effects that look like they belong in and 70s/80s music
which is final references as the music video comes close to the end.