Visual Codes
The whole video has quite a retro feel, with some of the objects that can be seen being very vintage. This links to the clothing that the main characters are wearing as well as the objects which are from an earlier period. There are quite a lot of bright colours used in the music video to connote the positive atmosphere within the video.
There is typography used in the video, 16 seconds in, this is the title of the song and the name of the band who perform the song.
The font resembles 'junk' which has been made up into words, this references to the garage sale that is happening in the music video, creating a link between both elements of the same product.
The collection of retro and vintage objects which can be seen have nostalgic connotations which reflect the message of the song.
This image of the old style projector is an example of the retro technology which is seen in the video.
Technical Codes
One of the interesting camera shots used in the video is a close up on a tape the male characters find.
The tape reads 'Capital Cities, I Sold My Bed But Not My Stereo' which is the name of this song and the artist singing it. This is a way of breaking the 4th wall which gives the video an interesting dynamic.
This shot shows the characters dancing and singing along to the song. The long shot shows the characters amongst the other vintage items in the garage sale and their attire. At this point the music video becomes more of a performance video than narrative because the aspect changes and the male characters, who were playing anonymous roles, become the stars, as themselves.
The lights for the projector, lamp and stereo all turn on and off in sync with the music, this references to Andrew Goodwin's theory that the visuals on screen possess a connection with the melody of the song.
This is the example of the lamp which was flashing on and off in time with the music.
The editing is very fast paced and cut in time with the change of the music. Some shots last for less than a second due to the rising tempo of the music and the exciting nature of the video. In the second minute of the music video there is a lot of zooming out processes used to create effect. The shot starts off in a close up on the television screen and ends with the shot further back showing all of the older technology.
This is quite an artistic effect and also quite gimmicky, it could be described as a convention for the band because of their nonchalant, fun style of music and attitude within the music video.
Genre
The genre of the video is predominantly indie. Showing the connections with this artist and our artist SBTRKT. However our artist is more Electronic Pop which is also a slightly more mellow song whereas this Indie Pop could be considered happier and a lighter style of music. The genre and style of this version of Indie music requires a light-hearted music video. This means there is no pressing issues featured in the music video just as in the actual song.
Quite expected is the use of the cliché technique that the whole music video has been imagined, almost like a dream sequence. This is very abstract and creates a diverse effect for the whole music video. This could be considered subverted as the music video is on a high, until the realisation that it wasn't real.
Narrative
There isn't a specific narrative to the video because it is mostly performance based, however, the loose narrative shows the two main characters, who are the member of the band are searching through a garage sale and find a tape which has their own song on it. After this, they break into song and performance accompanying their own music in different situations. They begin by performing on the garage floor and then the video shows them in different television and computer screens whilst the setting changes. The setting changes due to the hue in the lighting while it changes from a brighter more inviting colour to a darkish blue.
Organisations
Capital Cities are signed to both Lazy Hooks and Capitol Records meaning they are both independent and mainstream. As artists, they are independent when it comes to their niche market but are distributed worldwide by their mainstream record label. Capitol Records probably provided the big budget which would have been required to shoot this complex video. As well as props like all of the technology used, there is special effects used to display the music video within the music video on an old television screen. The song first came to rise with its commercial success being featured in the German Vodafone advert, then topping the German music charts. Lazy Hooks specialise in music for advertisement, which is how Capital Cities managed to have their song on the advert for Vodafone.
Audience
The audience figures are quite large, due to the 145 million views of the official music video for the song on YouTube. This demonstrates quite a big fan following due to the mainstream record label, Capitol Records. The video would attract an older audience than the song itself. Although the Indie Pop song is aimed for an audience ranging from ages 15-30, the use of vintage technology and olden day appliances in the video could spark interest for older generations. This would lead to the Two-Step Flow, advertising and promoting the video through word of mouth.
Representations
There are no social representations due to the light-hearted nature of the song. However there are representations of the past with the props and settings.
This screenshot shows some of the 80's paraphernalia which incorporates into the video. The pink flamingos and poker cap are both reminiscent of the 80's.
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