Music Video Analysis - You Me At Six

You Me At Six – “Stay With Me”
Genre: Alternative Rock

Dual narrative has been set from first few shots / car driving on roads, band playing music on field. Conforming to Steve Archer's theory that there is a need for a "strong, coherent relationship between narrative and performance in music promos"
Opening Shot / High Angle Shot with fast cuts to zoom in / cuts fits in with fast pace of music, especially using the shots of the drum kit being played as part of this
Location – Field (Roads) / Bare location helps to convey simplicity, which is shown in the performance part of the video. Manage to intertwine narrative and performance from the same location
Low Angle – Fits band member and instrument within shot / concentrates on skills needed to play instruments and complexity involved / gives equal air time on video to all band members
Close Ups – Guitars, Drums, Microphone / Used to draw attention to the music and away from band members. Aesthetically pleasing shots, give ‘purist’ viewers what they want – the music. The instruments that they hear in the video they would like to be shown in the video
Medium Shots – tend to circle the band focuses on lead singer for majority
Cast – Young Adults, Both Sexes / This is their target audience, young people wanting to express themselves. These people may also be represented as fans and therefore the band's followers, so the lyrics within the song may resonate with the people shown in the video. Creating an understanding between fans and the band.
Costume – Band wearing dark clothes contrasting to the cast of young people wearing colourful clothes aswell as the light hues (yellow, golden from fields and sun) / sign of expression
Music Instruments/Kit – On show to audience in back of shot throughout e.g. amplifiers / Showing their (alternative) rock genre, establishing this with the fans through that image
Focus – Parts of video in soft focus
Visuals help to illustrate the lyrics – “time to grow…” watering can is shown as a symbol of growth, Andrew Goodwin's theory suggested visuals would either illustrate,amplify or contradict the lyrics. In this case the visuals illustrate the lyrics and music.
Repeatability Factor - In order to market the video it needs to appeal to the audience. They need to be able to watch it again and again so video has to have something to interest viewers. The narrative cannot be fully understood on the first viewing so therefore the band have achieved a certain repeatability factor, as the audience will want to watch it again to try and piece the narrative together.