Music Video analysis 1 - Arctic Monkeys - Arabella

Before we create our music video, we have to do some research. So i have researched and analysed a song by our chosen band, The Arctic Monkeys. This just helps us with making our music video and gives us the little bit of inspiration we need to be able to produce the best music video we can. 

So the song i analysed was called Arabella by the Arctic Monkeys. This song is off of the AM album and is 4:11 long. Alot of the Arctic Monkeys are quite long but not alot of the songs have a music video, which meant it was a great opportunity for us to choose them as a band. 

I would say that this song was more performance than narrative as there were more snappy shots used to cut between the band to set the pace of the song. This is a really effective editing technique as it's upbeat and just a really good song overall.

As the song is in black and white, this really does make it look dark and gloomy, as that's how the Arctic Monkeys are portrayed, simply because they are a rock band. We are going to include elements of black and white into our music video to emphasise the fact that it's going to be about the protagonists past as we really do think it's an effective technique. But having the use of the black and white, it just gives the video a sense of the song and just sets the mood. 

There was also the use of the fast pace when there's the long shot between the performance of the band. I noticed that the pace speeds up when going from the drummer to the guitarist. This gives off a really nice effect as the pace of the song speeds up at this moment, making the song flow nicely. This is something that we will take into consideration when creating this music video. 

I also noticed that when one of the song lyric drags out, the frame freezes for a couple of seconds then goes back to normal. I really like this this effect as it just extends the lyric and it can clearly be shown through the video.

However, i also noticed alot of close ups with the instruments that have been used without the video. I particularly took notice to how the shot would zoom into the guitarist, freeze and then speed to the next instrument that is been playing. We have decided that we are going to copy this technique of having alot of close ups with the all the instruments yet we don't think we are going to do the freeze frame as it wouldn't match our chosen song.  





As all music videos must have a story line, there are many which are just merely 100% performance and no narrative. However, this music video, Arabella, is about 60% performance and 40% narrative. But there is a story line which is a bit hard to follow but easy once you watch it over and over. This is one of those story lines where it builds up suspense making the video seem a whole lot more realistic. We've decided as a group to have a build up of suspense towards the end of the music video, not only does it build up the suspense, but it makes the audience want to watch it to the end of the video. 



Just like every other music video in the industry, there is a technique used change the shot at the beat of the drums or the guitar. This just really helps to set the mood of the song.  We really like the idea of having the shots change in time with the song, as this is something you see in every music video out there. Its simple but yet really effective.

A really obvious part of this video that i took notice to is that the screen splits into 2 parts, not fully but it splits into the ratio of 95:5. Both the screenings show the same performance, yet it's just making it seem older than it should be, just like the use of the black and white effect.