The music video for Bon Iver references the film Pan's Labyrinth by showing a woman emerging from underground, in keeping with the film's fantasy themes. Folk rock genres often feature nature imagery and focus on traditions/culture through references like myths. This video includes natural imagery like lakes and forests. Costumes are simple to focus on the nature scenes. While the video doesn't overtly sexualize the woman, some shots can be seen as voyeuristic by lingering on her sleeping/waking form in a vulnerable state. Overall the visuals amplify the song's lyrics and meaning through symbolic representations of the relationship discussed in the lyrics.

1. According to Goodwin’s Techniques
Music Video Research
By Hanan Mohamed 13KMH
CALGARY
- BON IVER

2. Intertextuality
 The rising up out of the ground, coming
from a whole hidden world beneath the
earth up to ground level is a reference
to the film Pan’s Labyrinth. Instead of
taking the clips from the actual film
itself which other music videos do
across genres, instead the label has
chosen to recreate the concept of
coming from a word underground and
filmed it again themselves but with their
own model/actors for the music video.
 Pan’s Labyrinth is about a girl who
creates a fantastical world of her own
based on myths and legend, royalty and
tradition. This in keeping with the
common themes of folk rock music
which relates back to history and
culture. Myths and legends are a part of
tradition and culture, stories being
passed down to new generations and so
the film reference is entirely
appropriate for the music video.

3. Genre Characteristics
 Lots of nature is present in this video
throughout: the bed floating in the
lake, the swamp, the lake above
ground, hearts set on fire etc.
 Once again the earth, the actual soil
and walking barefoot without any
barrier is present as a genre
characteristic – this was also seen in
Marling’s Rambling Man. Folk rock
music often shows nature as it’s all
life’s big questions and getting to the
roots of things even literally - and
you can see the roots of the ground
above coming down into the swamp
where the girl’s beg was in the
beginning.
 The actor’s faces are fairly neutral
and blank as in the other folk rock
videos – allowing the viewer to input
their own meaning on the actors
feelings and meanings of the video.
It indicates the actor’s and so by
default the song’s inciting
introspection, reflection.
 Again costume is extremely simple,
here all white in a basic cut – a dress,
a t-shirt and trousers. This allows the
viewer to focus on the nature around
them instead of the usual selling of
the beauty of the actors and dancing
as would be seen in other genre
music videos e.g. Pop.

4. Relationship between Lyrics and Visuals
 The visuals although at first glance may seem
rather abstract, upon listening to the lyrics
carefully are in fact overall amplifying their
meaning.
 Don’t you cherish me to sleep – and on screen a
woman is shown sleeping on a bed. She defies
being ‘cherished’ and wakes up.
 Hair, old, long along/Your neck onto your
shoulder blades’ and we see her hair is quite
long as she lifts her head, illustrating the lyrics.
 ‘Hip, under nothing’ and she falls through the
bed and lands standing in a lake amplifies the
lyrics. Her very foundations are not what she
thought they were, there is nothing there and
so she must go and seek out the cause of her
loss ‘haunt the cause’. This amplifies the lyrics.
 There’s a fire going out’ and we see their hearts
have started burning after floating out onto the
lake, already charred in places. It seems that the
couple have had a tumultuous relationship in
the past and now having come together, come
to peace with themselves and one another and
so have set aflame their ruined relationship and
let go. – oh the demons come they can subside’.

5. Relationship between Music and Visuals
 Cutting pace and action in
video would reflect pace of
track.
 When the music pace
changed and got slightly
faster so did the action in the
video – instead of lying on
the bed moving slowly in
time to the smooth slow
music, the girl got up and
walked to the faster pace
with every hit of the cymbal
on the drum kit.
 As the drums became louder
and the beat got faster so
did she, climbing up above
ground.

6. Demands of the Record Label
 The artist does not appear at
all within the video, defying
the conventions of showing
and focusing upon the artist’s
face and performance in folk
rock videos (i.e. See other
analysis of Marling and Iron &
Wine)
 The costume is very basic, all
white and simple – possibly a
running theme by the label in
order to stick to the genre of
their music so their intended
audience focuses on the
nature and deeper meanings
of the video as opposed to
high fashion costumes, ideals
over material clothes to aim
for. The girl’s make up too is
very subtle and naturalistic,
hardly noticeable at all for
the same reason.

7. Notions of Looking
Voyeuristic Treatment
of the Female Body
 The beginning shows a woman
tossing and turning in a thin
nightgown in bed. Whilst not being
explicitly sexual in depicting the
female body, it is still focusing on the
woman as a very delicate and fragile
thing in a vulnerable state when she
is asleep and unconscious – therefore
still voyeuristic to an extent, seeing
her at a time and in a state that we
normally would not. This is
emphasised by the medium close up
angle at mid level, an angle from
which we would not see her unless
lying in bed next to her indicating a
level of intimacy – and a degree of
voyeurism.
 Moving her legs under the sheets,
running her hand over her thigh
absent minded – all fairly innocent
actions but the camera decides to
linger over her body and bare skin
through the sheet – voyeurism.