Textual analysis of Music Video's (Number Two)

Let me in - GroupLove

The genre of this music video is a hybrid of indie and pop, which is also the genre of the band ‘Grouplove’. The narrative shown is not of the extra ordinary, it shows two characters, who over time fall in love with each other, the only difference with this story line is that the two characters are both suffers of cancer, which is not normally seen within a love story narrative.

What you could expect from this music video is live playing from the band, and also clips from the movie ‘The fault in our stars’ which show the narrative, and what I would not expect from this music video would be a slow storyline which is negative, because the song itself is upbeat and positive.   

Not from other music videos, but from the film ‘the fault in our stars’ which the song ‘let me in’ was written for.

The narrative shows the band playing through the night, and also showing clips from the film which shows the TODOROV storyline of stages 1-5 as the film clips show how they first met, and works through their struggles of being two cancer patients, to then end up together, meaning that all five stages are shown within the music video.

The characters are recognisable due to the music video showing clips straight from the film ‘the fault in our stars’. The video reflects the lyrics because it is all about waiting for someone and also waiting for their love, ‘I’ll be waiting for a’ which is shown with the male protagonist waiting for the female protagonist.

The representation shown within this music video is the representation of disability, which is shown to have a non-stereotypical view. This non-stereotypical view does not fall under John Hunt's list of of representations of disability, it however challenges point ten in regards to 'sexually abnormal'. The music video does this by showing the two protagonists to be  falling in love, and being desired sexually and emotionally. This is non-stereotypical because people who are disabled are mostly shown to be objects of pity/sympathy and to not be sexually attractive, however within this music video the representation is non-stereotypical as the two disabled protagonists are shown to be sexual normal in regards to social activity.  (Approx. 3:15)

The band are seen to only be preforming, and not involved within the storyline, meaning that the band do not have involvement within the narrative, but are not seen to be anonymous, and are just to be seen as a band.

The band are shown to be performing on a rooftop, whereas the film is seen to be shot in various places, such as the female characters house, a public street and exterior shots of drives ways, and fields. The dominant colours used within this music video is blue, light and dark which shows connotations of loyalty, depth and stability, which reflects the lyrics because the lyrics are all about staying loyal to one person and also holding on to the person that you love. The film clips within this music video are shown to be more vibrant and in high key lighting compared to the band who are shown in low key lighting and in less vibrant colours, which shows connotations of the narrative to be more important than the actual live band footage, meaning that directed Greg Brunkalla meant to do this so the audience were drawn more to the footage rather than the band in order to promote the media product ‘The fault in our stars’.

Most of the angles within this music video are mid shots and close up’s of the band preforming, which allows the audience to be more engaged within the actual narrative and not the use of shots. The band as well are mostly seen with a blur and in fast paced editing, meaning that the audience can still view the band, but again are more drawn to the film clip narrative. The way the camera moves within the film’s narrative is stable and allows the audience to take in the entire narrative, and to also show the difference between the narrative and the band’s footage. The bands footage is seen to be equal between all performers in fast paced editing, which is different to the films footage because it shows connotations of chaos, compared to the steady shots of the film.

When it comes to audiences I would believe this music video to be aimed at mature teens to young adults (15-18+) because the song’s lyrics are not indecent, and there are no scenes that would seem to offend, however there are some scenes within the films narrative of a sexual manor, meaning that it would not be suitable for children under a certain age, hence why I have chosen to put the target audience to young adults and mature teens. I would also think the target audience would be fan of the band, or of the upcoming film ‘The fault in our stars’.

The music video would appeal to this target audience because it shows parts of the films narrative, and also footage of the band, meaning that their fans, and fans of the upcoming film would be engaged within the music video, because they would be seeing clips that had not been released and also listening to the bands new song ‘Let me in’.

This analysis will help me within the future when it comes to creating my own music video as it will allow me to have an advantage of picking out what needs to be in a music video, and also how I should show elements in my music video, for instance if I was to have it, live performers.