'Girls' is a satirical music video based around the concept of what the band think would be the product if a record label was trying to force conformity on a band. The music video opens on the band in black and white complaining about how the music video wasn't really 'them' and that it should be in black and white. This is confusing for the audience as the video is in black and white like the majority of their videos and intrigues them into what's going to happen in the video, drawing them into the action (Uses and Gratifications: Surveillance). The comedic approach is unconventional in this genre, often artist choose to focus more on the music or darker themes, for this reason it's probably not something we're going to do in our production.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The colour scheme is also unconventional for this genre, it uses lots of different colours instead of sticking to a limited colour palette like the other videos, using bright (0:50, 1:13) colours during the video. This is typical for pop videos which is what they're making fun of and in this context makes sense for the viewer as they're figuring out what the music videos about at this point. This contrasts with the first 13 seconds of footage which is in black and white and features only the band, something typical of their videos, this sudden change perplexes the audience and makes them question the bands image. It also makes them wonder what happened to the iconography of the band and the disappearance of their repeated, recognisable element, disrupting their image (Richard Dyer).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The music video uses typical pop elements for comedic effect, for example pop videos use close ups of the artist with a bright background parodying this the video features close ups of the lead singer (Healy) pulling confused and displeased faces that are amusing to the viewer. The audience derives entertainment from these actions as they've realised what the band is doing in the video, often pop music is an area that is highly criticised and the band parodying these things would likely create more popularity for the video because it does so (Gledhill: differences between genres meant different audiences could be identified and catered to).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The video uses fast paced editing of many different subjects and scenes like a pop video would, they use only straight cuts like the majority of music videos do conventionally. These things create a sense of normality about the video eventhough it's not normal for the band, this is shown by the bands movement and facial expressions. Throughout the entirety of the video the band moves quite unnaturally and are seen to be unhappy and irritated throughout the video, clearly shown during the lead singers complaints(1:20) and the drummers discomfort when a model sits on his lap as he's trying to play his instrument (3:50).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The video features long shots of the band performing their song, a convention of this genre however it becomes unconventional when it's cross cut with the same shots of a female version of the band who also performs the song, however it looks like staged playing. The female version of the band are wearing lingerie for no discernible reason, this could be seen a critique of the use of females as sexual objects in pop videos. Parodying the 'male gaze' approach of popular media/culture (Mulvey). The sexual objectification of women is further made fun of by taking conventional 'sexy' situations/shots and making them funny, at 3:19 we see a female doing sexy poses, however earlier in the video she's seen inside the boot of a car, this is a comical situation in itself and later somebody shuts the boot on her and she waves and smiles (trying to keep the sexy image) despite being shut in there. This is also done earlier at 1:13 where a female is cooking on a BBQ (the food is clearly burnt) but she's too focused on dancing 'sexily' to notice. This overacting suggests the idea that the band see the conventional sexual poses as more ridiculous and funny than actually being appealing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other conventional shots include an extreme close ups on red lips (3:01) red lipstick is often used as an icon of an artist and ilos seen as a sexy image. By including elements like these it helps to increase understanding of the concept and helps the audience to see and recognise what the band is doing. Another conventional element of pop seen in the video is the lead singer being kissed by two different females on each cheek, this creates the idea he's attractive and desired by women making the audience think they should be attracted to him (Dyer: Sexual Magnetism). This is made comical by the lead singers face as he looks bored and uncaring about the women suggesting again the idea that the women aren't that attractive and that it's a ridiculous concept. This is unconventional of this genre as most indie artist choose to take a serious tone when it comes to their music, I think this is something we won't do as it's not conventional and I don't think it would be effective.