Comparing the Genres

Textual Analysis of different genres 



Indie Pop/Rock



'Breezeblocks' directed by Ellis Bahl is song by alt-J, who are a indie-pop band the reason I am looking at this video and song in particular is because indie-rock is one of the genres I am interested in looking into as I enjoy the type of music as well as find their types of music videos entertaining, such as this one. The video genre of this music video is narrative. The special thing about this video though is the whole video is actually in reverse, presenting us with a scenario that has already happened (in association to love) however we see it happen backwards an how this situation has been unveiled rather than from beginning to finish. As the meaning at the beginning of the video (the end of the situation) changes from the meaning we become apparent of at the end of the video (the start of the situation). I thought this was an extremely incredible style and concept of music video that not only portrayed the storyline of the narrative well but linked extremely well to the song.

At the start of video we are presented with a dead women in a bath in her own blood and a man sitting with his head in his hands by the bath with a wedding ring on. This is captured using camera due to close ups on the man, the wedding ring and the womans face in dead in the bath. As an audience we automatically and stereotypically think that this women has been killed by her husband. The video then begins to rewind and unveil to us he this scenario has progressed in this way. We then see the man hit the women and the women trying to escape the man running into the bathroom, with the man reaching out to grab her, indicating to us as an audience that the man is the antagonist in this narrative and the  women is in danger. We se them fight in rewind throwing items at each other trying to then hurt one another and as the video progresses in rewind we start to see the women being more violent and the man running from her and how he has instead just turn on her to stop her. Towards the end of the video we then see that this women that we thought was the mans wife is not actually as another character is introduced which is another women who is actually in fact the mans wife and is tied up in a cupboard as the women was in fact trying to kill the man, and the man is actually trying to stop her by pushing her up against the wall and throwing away her knife. As this continues to rewind we find out that actually the man has just arrived home from work and then seen her wife tied up and then untied her, but whilst he is doing so the antagonist women sneaks up behind him and tried to kill him or them. We then realise the purpose and the meaning of the video when it ends with a shot of the man coming into the apartment. This is captured all in reverse to create a change in meaning and create realisation within the audience in what they are watching. This is captured with the use of camera, miss-en-scene and editing.

For example throughout the video we do not see any long shots as the director doesn't want to give away the twist in narrative by allowing us to see the rest of the surrounding and what is really going on or what has happened previously. Instead the video is captured in only ecu's, close ups and at most medium shots. This is because we are being contained in what we are meant to and can see as the director does't want to give the meaning of the video away. This is done because by doing this and only using these types of shots using camera it allows the audience to focus on key aspects like the ring, the knife, the slab, the conflict etc. However we see a change in angles throughout the video. At the start the man is captured at a low angle making him seem villainous, however as the video progresses botht he women and man are seen at the same level, until the women is finally captured over the man at the end (start of the scenario) with a low angle shot, with the man down with his wife tied up and the women standing over the man to suggest dominance or the danger she is planning to inflict on the man, hence why the ecu's on the knife were emphasised as props such as the knife, slab, glass bottles smashing etc are all symbolising danger.

Moreover this links to mise-en-sceen throughout the video. For example the props used throughout the video symbolise danger as well as connoting or representing other themes or ideas. For instance the wedding ring at the start implying both the women and man at the start to be husband and wife. However this idea changes towards he end when another prop is brought in, that being a knife and another women tied up, therefore making us realise that they aren't actually husband and wife and the man is actually married to the women tied up. This is also similar to the glass bottles shattering, the knife and the concrete slab connoting violence. Furthermore the lighting within the video is very cold, with a slight fade over it. This is to work with the style of video having a cold indie style as well as representing the cold feelings being presented within the video. This indie style is also presented due to modern apartment making the style of music video current and about relationships now. Moreover the close up's and ecu's are important to linking into the miss-en-scene due to what they are presenting in the shot. For example the close up's on faces help the audience to feel and see the emotion within the video as well as engage with what is happening. Conflict is also portrayed through the body language with close up's showing the fight between the women and man. Finally at the end when the man is shown entering the apartment low key chiaroscuro lighting is used to show closure as the only light source being outside, so when the door finally shuts this resembles the finalisation of the video as well as completing the sequence of the scenario.

First of all for editing, the entire video is in reverse which is especially different compared to other styles of music videos. Furthermore the reverse is in a slower time, this is done so we can capture everything that is happening. At the start of the video the screen time starts of slow and for a long duration, however the jump cuts begin to increase and making the pace the video quicker towards the middle of the video, however his then begins to slow down after the climax of the video. This change of pace matches the song and the speed of the song. This is done to create reflection and sound match in the visuals. The pace of editing can also reflect on the emotion in the video, it being fast and more dangerous or thrilling and then slower being calmer.


Tom Odell's - 'Another Love' is an indie genre of music video which I thought I could compare with my previous analysis of alt-J's video 'Breezeblocks' and see trends or similarities or differences in this genres type of music video, as this being one of my chosen genre's to explore. This music video however, is very strange compared to all other videos I have seen before. This is because there is only one shot throughout the entire video and the camera does not move at all or change and there are no transitions throughout apart from the slow zoom in and out as well as one overlay transition in the last second the finish the video. This I thought was very captivating as well as very strange as by the sound of it you would think to be bored watching the same shot for approximately 4 minutes. The song is said to be about: "The song is an expose of an individual’s turmoil; wishing to show their affection to their partner, yet weighed down by lingering feelings of distrust and sadness from a previous relationship. It is implied that the relationship suffers from this constant comparison through both the rhyming couplets of the song and the building atmosphere of the music." (source - Wikipedia) This I think which may be someones thoughts or be a legitimate description, however unknown due to the source being Wikipedia, I feel that this description or meaning placed to the video and the song is very fitting due to the lyrics and what is happening in the video.

With the camera as I have said there isn't a lot to talk about as there is only one shot with no transitions between, only remaining with the exact same shot and camera angle and position throughout the video. The camera is placed in the middle of a room with Tom Odell the main actor in the video and artist of the song, sitting and remaining still in a chair, singing. The camera then begins to slowly zoom out and then at (01:34) the camera stops zooming out until it begins to zoom slowly back in at (01:54), after this the camera then keeps switching between zooming in and out, but slowly.

However there is a lot of mise-en-scene in the music video.At the start the lighting is cold and slightly pale, there is a women in white while Tom O dell is sitting down wearing black, this already shows a contrast in the two characters. The women is then walking round him and slowly giving him affection while he sits there ignoring her and singing into the camera. The room they are sitting in is old fashioned with a arm chair, fireplace, old fashioned mirror and flowers and rough brick walls and wooden flooring. This gives the old fashioned and indie style that he would be going for or maybe resembling a traditional type of love with the old fashioned setting. Then at (01:54) more furniture begin to fade in to the same shot this resembling a change of time or a growth in the relationship due to new belongings in the room maybe showing one of them moving in. Women is now in darker clothing, showing she has changed. Then at (02:26) the screen begins to shake because the sound is getting and louder, he's singing louder and the drums have now been introduced. The sound match is being shown through the shaking screen.  Women then starts trying to get his attention again and starts getting angry while he continues to ignore her but singing passionately into the camera. Her body language tells us her frustration and anger, this could also signify the change in their relationship or in the girl.Then at (03:03) the colour and lighting of the screen begins to get darker and darker, nearly black. This is complementing the lighting and what the song is about. Blackness then closes over to an ecu of tom odell where he looks sad and then bows his head to show closure as well as a bad ending.

The editing in the video is strange compared to usual editing thinking of transitional and the pace of the video, because the pace of the video doesn't change as there are no changes in scenes or shots or any cutting. However the screen shakes at one point which is a wobble effect to obviously imply destruction or anger. This the  works along with the colour editing in the way it gets darker to show depression and sadness as well as the finalization of the video. The dark colour editing is done to show change. Furthermore there is also fading, although this is overlaying fading with other items fading into the shot, meaning that its not transitional but just changing the scene in the shot, or making it look like this to show a change in time. However, the only transition is the one right at the end where a black door closing transition comes over the scene, just like a door would, almost like the women has left like when she leaves the screen or the door resembling the end of the relationship or love that is being talked of in the song.