This document analyzes a music video using several film and media theories. It summarizes that the video reflects male gaze theory through revealing costumes for women and close-ups focused on their bodies. Several theories are then discussed in more detail, finding that elements like genre characteristics and stereotypical portrayals of gender roles can be seen. The video avoids fully revealing certain details like the main character to build mystery, engaging the audience. Cultural meanings present traditional gender roles of women objectifying themselves for men's pleasure.

1. Music Video Analysis
Theory Analysis

2. Laura Mulvey
Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze Theory (Texts are made for a
male perspective) can be seen throughout this Indie
music video.
Firstly, mise en scene elements such as costume favour
a heterosexual male audience. For example, the video
contains several scenes of nudity and the costume
worn by women in the video is often revealing. In
contrast, men other than the band are rarely shown
and are wearing very casual clothing.
Another micro element, cinematography, highlights a
male perspective in the video. Close-ups of the women
in the video are shown constantly, often of their bodies
and not just their faces. This suggests they are
objectified and there for male pleasure.
Lastly, editing techniques such as long takes focus on
the women for longer, again implying the purpose of
their appearance to be looked at. This is likely to be
due to the Arctic Monkeys target demographic of a
male audience, perhaps meaning women are focused
upon.

3. Propp/ Todorov
There is no flowing narrative, only being able to
identify the night at the club as a significant
event. The equilibrium would have to be the
opening scene, as the men and women are
happily watching the performance.
The most likely Hero, following Propp’s character
theory, is the lead singer Alex Turner, who holds
the attention of the audience for longer than any
other person. Furthermore, the Princess in the
video, despite hardly being shown, is Arabella.
The lyrics help to illustrate this, for example ‘It's
much less picturesque without her catching the
light’, showing her as the reward for the Hero.

4. Andrew Goodwin
Many elements of Andrew Goodwin's theory
can be applied to the video.
Genre characteristics are clearly used, helping
an audience identify the type of music and
style of the band. For example, close ups of
the guitar, drums, microphone are all used in
the bands performance. The performance
itself is also a stereotype and characteristic, as
conventional indie videos contain a lengthy
performance element in the video. The black
and white and retro style footage helps to
associate the band as traditional and ‘old
school’. This is a favourable stance for many
indie bands, liking to associate to the genres
previous success.
Voyeuristic treatment of the female body
takes place in the whole video. The women in
the video are shown seductively, for example
eye contact with the camera. Unsurprisingly,
the male members of the cast are not shown
in the same light, instead they are mostly
irrelevant in the video.

5. Brannon
Brannon believes that Man conforms to traditional
characteristics to be a 'real man', showing strength
and dominance. He believes that there is a pressure
in society in men to show this 'masculinity'. This can
be seen in the video, as the band are shown as the
ones who are entertaining a mixed gender audience.
In the bedroom scene, the men are shown as
dominant with women acting to seduce them-not
the other way round.
Hegemonic masculinity can also be identified in the
video. The men shown are portrayed as dominant
and non-femine. For example, the women are shown
as subordinate in several places, as they are
passengers on the motorbikes controlled by the
men.

6. Effect Theory/Uses and Gratifications
Due to the promiscuous nature of the music
video, young people may be portrayed in a
negative light by a passive audience. They may
she the actions such as revealing costume as a
stereotype for this age range, therefore judging
them. An active audience is likely to
understand the video and its purpose to
illustrate the strange lyrics such as ‘interstellar
gator skin boots’, and the video is in fact a form
and entertain and escapism from real life
situations. The fact that the video has been
produced to look like a 1950s video, further
suggests its purpose of
entertainment/escapism from modern day.
Vernallis
Vernallis has identified a variety of theories to do with music
videos, some can be applied to this video. This video does not run
against the grain, however ‘the music videos reflects gender
stereotypes. There are elements that 'men act and women
appear'. For example, the men are sat on the bed and the women
follow them in. In addition, the band begin to perform and a
female crowd begins to watch. This suggests they act on what men
do. Some cultural stereotypes are also exaggerated, as young
people are shown to be having fun and partying, arguably acting
immaturely.
Another theory which can be applied is that the on screen antics
reflect the lyrics. This is clear as the song is solely based around a
women, emphasized by multiple appearances on the screen
A distinctive editing style can also be seen, as identified by
Vernallis, as many jump cuts occur without real continuity. This
gives the effect of a vintage style production along with the black
and white saturation.

7. Barthes Code Theory-
The Hermeneutic Code- ‘Is the way the story avoids telling the
truth the truth or revealing all the facts, in order to drop clues in
through out to help create mystery’
The character of ‘Arabella’ is hidden throughout the narrative of
the video. At the end of the video, the reflection on the window
reveals part her face. Despite the song being fully based around
this one character, the video does not disclose this, engaging the
audience as the await the reveal of the character.
To similar effect, the Enigma code can be identified as tension is
built and the audience is left guess about what happens next. As
the cinematography is unclear due to the vintage effect, this
further adds a mysterious element to the video.
Under the semantic code, cultural meaning can be seen in the
video. The women in the video as highly objectified and seen as
property of the men. This aligns with traditional gender roles,
often of inequality, with the role of the women to please the
men in the video. In addition, wider knowledge such as the
cultural code, can be applied as it is against modern morality so
it can clearly be viewed in the Indie Genre.