music video analysis for A2 media studies

1. Ellie Monkman

2. Goodwin’s theory states that there are three different ways to promote a song through the visuals. I
believe that this song is using the Amplifying technique, to promote the strong message of freedom and
becoming free throughout the song. For example freedom could be shown in the way that the band
members are riding around on their scooters, or the way that the band gives the quartet their
instruments at the beginning of the song, this could symbolise freedom. At the end of the video when the
band come to collect their instruments, it could symbolise how easy it is to take away the freedom.
“The sun, it rises slowly as you walk
Away from all the fears
And all the faults you've left behind”
Alongside this, the sun glares against the camera as the band are riding away from the camera, showing
they are leaving somewhere behind.
“The harvest left no food for you to eat
You cannibal, you meat-eater, you see
But I have seen the same
I know the shame in your defeat”
At the end of each of these sentences, the shots change to different members of the Asian quartet, and
their expressions relate to the lyrics and what is being sang at them.
Also, at the first chorus, the shots switch between the lead singer of the band singing ad then at the end
of the line, it switches to a member of the quartet to sing the last words of the line. This could show that
others are going through what the song is about.

3. At the beginning of the video before the music begins, we see the band
giving their instruments away, and this could show that they want freedom
from their music for a while.
The scenes of the band are all very similar, as for all of the time the song is
playing, they are on their scooters. Their formation when riding on their
scooters pretty much stays the same for the whole video.
Goodwin’s theory can also be applied here when he talks about star image.
To maintain a good star image and to promote the band, the lead singer is
always at the front of the formation of scooters, and when he is not the shots
shown him riding to the front of the formation. When the band is on screen,
we rarely see other members of the band close up, and when we do the shots
of them are considerably shorter in comparison to the shots of the lead
singer.

4. Goodwin explained in his theory that common narrative should be ignored
when making a music video. The creators of this music video have applied
Goodwin’s theory and have used a lot of repetition to keep the audience
interested in the music video, as it is easy to follow. They have been
successful in lip syncing with both the band and the quartet, and with
mimed actions as the quartet seems to be playing the song, but as we know
it is not them, and indeed is Mumford & Sons. The fact that they have kept
the most important aspect of music video (lip syncing and mimed actions)
makes sure that the authenticity of the music video is kept intact.
Also a way that Goodwin’s theory is applied here is that the lead singer of
the band is participating in the story, which important for the audience as
they get to see the artist.

5. There are reference to Plato’s famed allegory of the cave, wherein a number of people
have been living in a cave, watching shadows cast on a wall by a fire. They then exit the
cave, and see the real world, and realize that everything they’d known was just
shadows.
This is an allusion to St. Francis of Assisi, the saint made famous by his tendency to
preach to birds. Francis' conversion did not happen over night. Francis gradually
started to spend more time in prayer. He went off to a cave and wept for his sins.
Sometimes God’s grace overwhelmed him with joy, but his transformation was to be
more gradual, and more profound.
The man who went into the cave was not the man who came out again… He looked at
the world as differently from other men as if he had come out of that dark hole walking
on his hands. This state can only be represented in symbol; but the symbol of inversion
is true in another way. If a man saw the world upside down, with all the trees and
towers hanging head downwards as in a pool, one effect would be to emphasise the idea
of dependence.
(http://rock.genius.com)