The video depicts the members of the boy band The Vamps throwing a house party while their parents are away. It shows them drinking, having fun with friends, and playing music. They receive a text that the parents will return home soon, so they frantically clean up the trashed house. Just as they finish, the lead singer kisses a girl, but their parents arrive and catch them by watching a video of the party online. The video portrays the band members as normal teenage boys to relate to their target audience.

1. Can We Dance – The Vamps
Annabel Street

3. • ‘Can We Dance’ is a pop song and was the first single for the British boy band
‘The Vamps’. Their target audience is teenage girls which is made quite
obvious throughout the video.
• This establishing shot shows the lead singer hanging upside down on a
climbing frame with a dog standing staring at him. The wide angle enables us to
see the background, including a fairly big house, a car covered in multi-
coloured ribbon, a lampshade outside and foam covering the ground, which
already makes us wonder what is happening. This first shot is humorous and
automatically sets the tone of the video—funny and light hearted. The shot also
makes the audience wonder why he’s there, making them want to continue
watching the video.
• He’s wearing casual, but fashionable, clothes that you would expect a teenage
boy to be wearing. This makes him seem relatable to the target audience of
teenage girls. Fans would also enjoy seeing them wearing stereotypical
teenager clothes because it would make them assume that they are normal
boys, not above them and as though the fans have a chance of dating them.
• The location of the video (normal English house) is very ordinary which again
suggests the ordinary life that the artists are trying to portray.
• The colour in this shot, and throughout the video is bright, giving an overall
happy tone. This is also helped by the high key, exterior lighting in this first
shot. High key lighting and bright colours are conventional of pop videos.
• The video has a narrative which is quite stereotypical of boy bands as it keeps
the audience watching.
• There is no music at this point in the song but we do hear diagetic sound of
birds tweeting and lights flickering which adds to the realism of the video.

5. • We then follow (track behind) the lead singer inside the house
where we see him interacting with other band members. The second
band member to be seen is covered in what looks like flour and is
sleeping on the kitchen counter. The lead singer plays a prank on
him making him fall onto the floor. This has been included for comic
effect and fans will enjoy watching them being friendly towards each
other.
• The inside of the house looks very messy with food and ribbon
everywhere which is quite over exaggerated and comical. This,
along with the sleeping members of the band, suggests that it’s the
morning after a party. This again could relate to the teenage
audience and implies that they are normal boys.
• The music starts and the word ‘drinking’ is included in the lyrics
which suggests people drinking alcohol. We also hear ‘all my friends
I know they’re all crazy’ as we are introduced to another band
member which shows their good relationship that fans will enjoy
seeing.

7. • It is very conventional for pop music videos to include
many close ups. This video follows conventions as there
are close up shots of each member of the group. We see
the lead singer up close to show the audience that it is
actually him singing and fans like to see him singing up
close to the camera, as if he is singing directly to them.
The other band members are shown in close up shots as
teenage girls normally each have their favourite member
that they want to see up close, rather than just the lead
singer.

9. • In the background of this shot we see the band performing and people
dancing along in the foreground. This is supposed to be a clip from the night
before. This has been included in the video because it shows their talent as
we see that they can all actually play as a band, with their instruments and
without all the proper set up.
• It again conveys them as normal teenagers having a house party to which
teenage fans will relate. Instead of performing on big stages they play for
their friends at, what’s supposed to be, their own house which will again
appeal to the target audience because teenage fans will want the band to
stay small with a little fan base (as if it’s their secret).
• The low key lighting in this shot helps us understand that it is the night
before as it is dark, compared to the high key lighting of the other shots.
The light over the band emphasises and puts the focus on them so the
audience can easily pick them out in the crowd of people.
• The lyrics ‘another drink’ again suggests the consumption of alcohol.

11. • During the video, we see an extreme close up of one of the boys
receiving a text on their iPhone from their mum telling him that they
will be ‘back in an hour’. This again represents them as normal boys
as most teenagers now own iPhones.
• After we see this text, we see the boys using social media (Twitter)
to contact their friends. The account they send the tweet from is
‘The Vamps’ official Twitter page which makes the situation seem
more realistic. It also relates to the target audience as Twitter is the
way most fans keep up with what the band are doing. The tweet
reads ‘HELP! Epic party guys!... House is trashed!’ which confirms
to the audience that there was a house party the night before.
• This also carries on the storyline because we then see the boys and
their friends struggle to tidy the house before his parents come
back. This keeps the audience watching the story.
• The lyrics ‘just can’t let her slip away’ show that the song is about a
girl at a party that one of the boys (probably the lead singer) wants
to spend time with.

13. • This clip shows all four band members working together
to tidy up, getting the silly string off the drummer. Fans
will enjoy watching this because it shows that the band
members are good friends. The situation they are in is
comical and this is also enhanced by the boy’s facial
expression.
• They all look professionally styled which is conventional
of a boy band video but it is unrealistic because it’s
supposed to be morning after a party.

15. • Close up shots of the instruments are used
throughout to show that they can actually play
and perform as a band.
• However, we only see extremely quick clips of
the instruments because of the fast cuts
throughout. This gives a fast-paced, tense effect
which reflects the rush they are in to get the
house sorted before the parents arrive.

17. • This clip shows the lead singer kissing a girl as
his mum and dad arrive. This instantly makes
the audience feel tense as we know that he is
very close to getting caught. This will also make
fans jealous, wishing they were in that situation.
• The cuts are much slower at the end of the video
when the guests have left and the music slows
down, which shows that it is almost the end of
the story.

19. • This last clips ends the story and, although it seems he
got away with throwing a party while his parents were
away, we see him looking very guilty as his parents
watch a video of the party on YouTube. This is
interesting because YouTube is a website where fans
can continue watching the band and is also how the
band started their career (posting covers of songs
online).
• The song has finished, but we hear the diagetic sound of
the video on the laptop.