Obstace 1 interpol
- 1. Music Video Analysis of “Obstacle 1” by Interpol Interpol is an Anglo-American indie rock band who formed in 1997 in New York City. They are one of several bands associated with the New York City indie music scene. The music video for “Obstacle 1” was directed by Floria Sigismondi and is from their first album “Turn On The Bright Lights”. During an interview with a WKQS Radi station, the band stated that they wrote the song after watching a new’s report about a model’s recent death. The music video for “Obstacle 1” is a performance concept video that mainly focuses on the band performing and a woman dancing with water and wires around her. The concept part of the music video is of the woman dancing whilst water and wires are surrounding her. This action could depict the concept of untimely death’s where you are living your life and having fun, then suddenly one moment’s loss of attention could leave you on the floor, dead. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics: Goodwin’s theory states that the music video’s for each genre demonstrate key genre characteristics. The key characteristic of the Indie genre is that band’s tend to always include a performance element in their music video’. On the right is a long shot of the band and their instruments. It is also an establishing shot as the band and the location for the music video is introduced. Also, there is a low angle shot of the band members playing their instruments which is another example of performance. Indie is short for “independent” therefore another characteristic of the indie genre is that the band is independent in how they dress, the sound of their music and the location of the music video. Indie bands usually wear casual clothing with the ever presence of skinny jeans. However, in the music video the band are wearing formal suits which makes them even more independent than other indie bands. Relationship between lyrics and visuals: There is no obvious relationship between the lyrics of the song and the visuals. The relationship between the lyrics and visuals is contradictory where the lyrics do not demonstrate an immediate link with what is on the screen. For example, when the lead singer sings “I wish I could eat the salt off your last faded lips”, the audience only see the lead singer singing the lyrics in the music video. No faded lips, or the person that the lead singer is singing about can be seen. There is a relationship between music and visuals:
- 2. In the music video, there is a strong relationship between the music and visuals. For example, when the lead singer is singing into the microphone, this moment is shown. To the right is an example of when two band members are playing the guitar. Their skills are highlighted through the use of a medium shot. Through the use of a low angle shot, the audience can see the drummer playing his drums. Furthermore, when the band is playing their instruments, the audience can see that it is not mechanical. The passion and their involvement in their music is evident which makes them play their music more naturally and with more flow. Demands of the record label: When a band is first introduced to the music scene, it is important for the record label to introduce each band member in their own unique way. For example in “Obstacle 1”, the lead singer is introduced through a medium shot where one of the band’s guitarists can be seen on the left hand side of the screen. The band’s other guitarist is introduced through the use of a medium close up. However this introduction is brief as a medium close up with a quick cut edit is used to show his guitar and his skills and so forth. The individual introduction of the bands members allows the audience to get to know the band and be introduced to their style and skills. Furthermore, it is also important for a unique style to be adopted by the band in order to create their own image. In this case, in the video the band all where formal suits which establishes them as a an indie band with a twist. Furthermore, most of the band members have a distinctive indie haircut which consists of scruffy hair with a side fringe. This type of haircut is the norm for all indie bands. Notion of looking and the voyeuristic treatment of the female body: In the music video, there is a notion of looking at females however there is no voyeuristic element within the music video. The audience can only see the female dancing to the music in the video alone in a room surrounded by wires on the floor and the water slowly seeping into the room. Most indie band members are all males which means that indie bands have a large female following. To include an element of voyeuristic treatment of the female body would result in the alienation of their female fan base.