2. Music videos demonstrate gender
characteristics
•
This is very much evident in this video. There are 3 main characters: 2 men and a woman. The video is set
in a private burlesque club, so the women are all just entertainment for the men to watch and ‘play with’.
The men are all lazy and greedy, shown with fat, dull looking characters.
•
We see the women dancing and flirting for the men, showing them just
as sexual objects.
The main man in the club is jealous, greedy and powerful. This is often stereotypical representations of men.

3. Music videos demonstrate genre
characteristics
•
This is typical of an indie music video. It contains a performance part of the band playing to an audience,
interspersed with a narrative. However, it has made it more interesting by incorperating the band
performance into the narrative so as not to break the storyline. Goodwin said a feature of indie music
videos is the performance aspect. The video also had lots of long shots to show the band all performing
together, helping to establish the genre, even without the music.
•
The indie sensibility is also to be 'different' from the mainstream. This can be done through clothing and
style, which in this video is different from an average band music video. By dressing up for the storyline
they have made themselves look different to your average young band.
•
Shots of the bands instruments are often used to remind the audience that this band make their own
music and play their own instruments- pushing themselves apart from most mainstream pop artists.
The main man in the club is jealous, greedy and powerful. This is often stereotypical representations of men.

4. Is there a relationship between the
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lyrics and the visuals.
The video reflects and illustrates the lyrics of the song.
The story of the film shows a love triangle between an obviously powerful man, his burlesque ‘lover’ and her
true lover, and we see the jealously of the two men as she switches between them. The lyrics talk about the
singer’s jealously, apparently towards his lover, as she is with another man. ‘Now they’re going to bed, and my
stomach is sick’. This is a representation of the lyrics, but may not have been what the actual scenario of the
song was. One shot shows the 2 men in conflict, and it fades to a shot of the woman they both love, so the shot
shows their whole relationship.
‘And I just can’t look, it’s killing me’, is reflected in the singer’s inability to do anything, due to being an
employee of the club, in the band.

5. Is there a relationship between the
•
music and the visuals?
The shots cuts often on the beat of the music.
Focuses on a band member when that music
is more prominent. For example, before the
chorus, it cuts to shots of the guitarist and the
drummer. This establishes to the audience
the members of the band.
Although his dancing is mostly reflecting the
lyrics, it’s still to the beat of the music, and the
singer emphasizes the beat through his
movements.
As part of the story in the video, the women dance
for the men. However, this is obviously to the the
music, so links the music and the visuals.

6. The demands of the record label will include the need
for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may
develop motives which recur across their work.
•
There are many close ups of the lead singer in the band. This is as he is an
attractive young male, who would appeal to a female audience, and thus draw in
fans.
Record labels often like bands
to have their own image.
Although his outfit is old
fashioned, in fitting with the
story of the video, it’s also in
fitting with ‘indie style’, with
his slim fitting suit. This will
also appeal him to his fan
base, of indie music lovers.
He is also wearing eyeliner.
This establishes him as an
‘interesting’ person.

7. •
The video opens on a shot of the band. This establishes the band to the viewer. Constant cuts
back to the singer or the band make sure anyone starting to watch the video at any point will
know who the band are.
There are shots of all the members of
the band throughout the video. This is
to make sure they are recognizable too,
and so they can draw in the audience
too if they appealed to anyone.
They are also dressed in a style that
should appeal to the audience.

8. There is frequently reference to the notion of
looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of
the female body.
•
There is definitely objectification of the female. The video is set in a burlesque club, so
women are shown as purely sexual objects. Their dances are very sexual, to please the men
sitting around.
However, the role the band plays in the video shows they are not part of this objectivism. They
are merely musicians so work for the company, and don’t look when the girl’s in front of them
dance. The singer goes even further, and makes himself appear as the opposite of the men in the
club, by truly loving the girl for what she is. This will make him appeal to the female audience.

9. There is often inter-textual
references
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The whole video is a reference to the film ‘Moulin Rouge’ by Baz Luhrmann. It copies the
story of a lowly worker in a burlesque club having a love affair with the star of the show, but
having the main man in the club also being in love with her, and the conflict this brings. It
even brings in the girl collapsing at the end, which may only be understood by those who
have seen the film, as it appears unconnected. However, it changes as in the end of the video
it shows the singer leaving her, as opposed to the film where she dies.