Arctic monkeys- Fluorescent Adolescent (Ayoade, 2007)
Andrew
Goodwin, Dancing in the Distraction Factory (1992) carried out research into
mainstream music videos and identified typical conventions. Applying his critical framework to music
videos such as ‘Fluorescent
Adolescent’ by The Arctic Monkeys (Ayoade, 2007) determines to what extent the text is conventional.
Firstly he
stated that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. This video could be categorised as being in
the indie rock genre. Conventions of music videos for this genre usually involve a
large amount of performance-based/meat shots of the artist/band; however there
is no evidence of performance in this video. In terms of costume, due to the
relatively casual nature of the genre, costumes never seem to be particularly
extravagant or important. However in the case of this video costume is vital
for constructing the narrative. For example a combination of clown and
cartoon-style bank robber costumes to create an extremely disjunctive
narrative. The seemingly random storyline that the video depicts seems to have
no correlation with the lyrics, until later on in the video when a composited
line of dialogue, ‘How can it have come to this’, followed by a montage of
characters from the video as children, shows that it has meaning tied in with
the lyrics in that they discuss how life becomes more serious and less fun with
age.
It is quite typical of indie-rock videos to take place in run-down or
industrial settings. This is partly to do with the working class, city
upbringings of many of the artists within the genre. This video is no
exception, with the video taking place in an abandoned warehouse-type location.
In this video, along with others from the genre, the cutting rate generally
tends to be relatively fast due to an often action-packed narrative. The fast
cutting rate is necessary for marrying the excitement of the song with the
fast-paced visuals. Also a fast cutting rate is appropriate for the fast tempo
of many of the songs belonging to this genre.
In accordance with this same
excitement and fast-paced action type of video, a shaky handy-cam style camera
technique is often employed in this video and others like it. It is rare for
post production techniques such as special effects, animation or transitions to
be used for indie-rock videos. More commonly they are left untouched in this
respect, as it corresponds with the ‘all real musical instruments and band
recordings’ style of music, as opposed to a perhaps more technically enhanced
genre such as house or dance. However it
is not uncommon to see certain washes or visual effects, such as the slightly colour-drained
look that is given to this video to add to the melancholic nature of the song.
Other effects such as slow motion (which can be seen for a large part of this
video) are often used within this genre as it contributes to the emotional side
of the meaning of the song. Despite the lack of performance-based content in
this video, other videos for indie-rock songs very often involve a large
proportion of performance shots. Whether it be footage of the band/artist performing
on stage, in the studio or simply lip syncing in a car for example, performance
shots seem almost vital for conveying the authenticity of indie-rock music and
the artists within the genre.
The main way in which this video conforms
to Goodwin’s theory is that the message conveyed by the visuals of the video,
is similar to that conveyed by the song lyrics. Otherwise , this video could be
viewed as relatively unconventional for a indie-rock video, as there is a
distinct lack of performance footage, and the band is entirely absent from the
video, other than one still of each band member as a child, in which it is not
immediately obvious who they are.
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