RC - Video Analysis of The Kooks, 'Naive'

I chose to analyse The Kooks' video 'Naive' because I felt that the genre of the song resembled the track that we chose for our music video. Although it does not match the genre entirely, being more indie then rock, the video intrigued me. I think that this is because of its simplicity but its ability to sustain enigma at the same time. It is reassuring to know that we can create a video like this, that doesn't appear to need a high budget.

Institution and audience:

I feel that this video could be considered as having a mixture of ambient and focused viewing, as there is a sense of a narrative and a performance. The story of this video engages the reader, however, I feel that it is not gripping enough for a viewer to be focused at all times on the video. It is hard to determine which music channels this song would be played on, but due to its genre, which is of indie origin, I would assume that it would not be likely for it to be played on the mainstream channels. However, I know that at the time this song was very popular, due to the indie culture being a huge trend, so I imagine that it was played on channels such as MTV.
Looking at the video's institutional context, I believe that because of the genre of this band and their songs, the band would have more contribution to their promotional texts rather than their record label, or at least an equal input, this is because of the band being 'indie', in other terms independent. Therefore I feel that the record label's role in creating these promotional texts is more likely to be a minor one.

Genre and narrative:
This video is a combination of performance and narrative, where evidence of this video being a performance is when the lead singer sings in first person mode of address for the most part of this video, and how we follow the actions of the girl is evidence of how the video is part narrative. I feel that the concept behind this video is to portray a girl whose naivety lands her in consequential situations, this is a close reference to the title of the song, 'Naive'. This video appears to be more narrative than either performance or concept,
I believe that this video is an example of (illustration/amplification), as the lyrics seem to link to the visuals, I also think that this video can be considered as commercial, to some degree, because although the band is of indie genre the video is similar to those of popular culture.

Media Language
I think that the 'message' or purpose of the video is, similar to what I mentioned before, to convey an image of a 'youth culture', in this case a young female adult, whose naivety causes her to act in a destructive nature. This is supported by the lyrics of the song, particularly when it says,
"How could this be done
by such a smiling sweetheart.
Ohh and your pretty sweet face,
in such an ugly world".
These lyrics could have a number of interpretations; a girl turned bad because of cheating on her boyfriend; a girl mixing in with the wrong crowd and ending up in trouble; could be both, could be neither.

One social message that seems predominant in this music video is the theme of cheating, which is also illustrated in the lyrics above. I think that the band is trying to portray unfaithfulness in a negative manner, putting the message across that it is not a clever thing to do.

There is nothing that would be considered striking in this video in terms of visual effects, etc., as I said it is very simplistic. However there are many aspects to this video that make it appealing, one being the contrast of light, where the scenes of the club are very dark and dingy presenting an almost dirty atmosphere and the scenes at the flat are light, airy and natural. This contrast gives the video an authentic feel, as it presents a realistic interpretation of life. This supports Dyer's theory of representation, where he states that reality is always being represented.

It seems that whenever the camera is on the lead female the lighting is bright, to me this portrays her as an innocent girl who has just got into the wrong crowd, showing her naivety.
The many meat shots of the lead singer's face allows the audience to gain insight into his thoughts and feelings, putting you in his position. This is supported by the use of first person mode of address, which is breaking down the fourth wall. Most of the time he looks dishevelled, as he obviously cares for this girl but is getting very frustrated with her, this is supported by the lyrics of the song. Here you can see Dyer's theory of media representation coming in again, in the sense of representation being unavoidably selective. This is because the lead singer is being foregrounded by the use of close ups and the rest of the crowd is being seen as just the background.

The club scene seems to be the central location for this video, with the shots of the flat being used as flashbacks so the audience knows the history between the male and female. It could be said that the flashbacks are of brighter lighting because they are representing happier times between the couple.

Representation

Looking at the ideological discourse there are several issues being represented, one being the representation of age/youth, which links closely to the title of this song, where the word 'naive' conjures up images of innocence and childlike behaviour. I am guessing that the people represented in this video are between the age of 18-21, and it appears that the perception of youth rebelling is a dominant value in this media text. In terms of gender, there is a mixture of representations being illustrated, you could argue that the male lead singer is being represented as weak, as he is acting hurt because of being cheated on. This is evident from his NVC throughout, as he is walking with his head down and his arms hanging. However, he is also being portrayed as someone who is trying to protect his girlfriend, this theory is cemented at the very end of this video when the male that he is sitting next to at the bar is obviously checking out the girl when she walks past, and in response the lead male gives him a look and a nod as if to say what are you doing, do not go there.

The lead female character in this film is also being conveyed in two ways, where you could perceive her as being innocent, and childish because of her need of being protected. On the other hand, you can view her as being selfish and malicious, because she is being unfaithful, this is evident towards the end of the video where she is obviously trying to flirt with a person that is not her partner. Therefore the values of gender are being challenged and reinforced.

In terms of star persona, the band is not representing itself in a 'look at me' sort of way, in fact only one member of the band is being shown in the video, which suggests that star persona is being constructed subtly. In relation to Dyer's theory you could argue that the use of subtle star construction is in fact a clever way of gaining more attention; by marketing themselves to a specific target audience.