JM - Video Analysis - Zorbing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjG4dUlucVw

This video is for the single 'Zorbing', by Oxford Indie Folk band 'Stornoway'. Stornoway have yet to gain mass popularity but have played a few large gigs including an appearance on 'Later... with Jools Holland' and 2 appearances at Glastonbury in 2009 and 2010.

Stornoway are signed to the small independent label '4AD', and therefore do not have large budgets to spend on their music videos. The video for Zorbing is set in a sub-urban area and the lead singer is conveyed as an everyday man doing an everyday job. This helps band in appearing more relateable to their fans and audience. With a mix of narrative and performance, the focus of the video switches back and forth from the band hard at work or driving in the van, to them all grouped together in the work yard playing their song.

The narrative for this video seems to be that the lead singer leaves his house in the morning and throughout the day cannot stop thinking about his girlfriend who is at home while he is out. The way the narrative is positioned in relation to the characters, songs and lyrics suggest that the song is being sung to the girlfriend from the point of view of the lead singer.

The video also features a few location changes, places such as the cafe, driving in the streets and the house. The visuals cut between these locations throughout the video which helps in keeping the attention of the viewer as the on screen visuals continue to change. The varying camera shots and movement give a feeling of verisimilitude as it makes the viewer feel as though they are there rather than actually viewing from third person. This is another way in which the band try to relate to the audience through their music video.

In terms of audience I feel that this video could be consumed through either focused or ambient viewing. The narrative is stuctured, but slightly vague. This makes the video a polysemic text and therefore it has a repeatability factor about it that will make people want to find their own narrative meaning. However the video is avoidable and can be listened to as mere background music as the video is not key to the song.

Its institutional context is that the artist is not mainstream. They have yet to acheive major success and the lo-fi video suggets that the band would have had a big part in the production of the video. However, this video is for the single's re-release and therefore this shows us that the record label would have ordered the production of the video. The original video was far more lo-fi, a video that was made to a minimal cost and effort. Here is that video:

In relation to our coursework, this video is an example of a well made low budget music video, which we as a group can use for ideas and will help us in structuring a video with little to no cost. The video also has a good mix of performance and narrative, which is what our grouped hoped to have in our music video.