Analysis of videos within our genre: The XX - Islands

 

The genre which I would say our chosen song fits best into is indie-electro/post-dubstep, so the XX are a very similar artist in this respect. In addition to this, both of them released their debut albums on Young Turks, meaning they would have been given a similar budget and recording space in which to make their albums.

The image in the backdrop of each of the
shots matches the bands album cover and
logo.

In terms of iconography, there is a huge "X" in the background of each of the shots, along with many other smaller X's, which serves as promotion for the album which the song was released on (as it was the album cover of their debut). This works as subliminal advertising, but also shows that the director is establishing the band as stars, as such references to album artwork are seen much more in pop music videos than they are for more left-field music. However, this could also be mocking the repetitive nature of popular music, as the whole video is the exact same repeated sequence, which everybody grows more and more tired of until the point where it is abandoned, in order to connote how one thing is promoted to the masses, and when the masses grow tired of it, a new bandwagon is jumped upon.

 

The most prominent technical code which is used in the video is the single repeated shot throughout it, which is a close up shot of two people kissing, which eventually tracks back until it is an establishing shot which shows the entire scene. This shot is repeated throughout the video, but has been filmed slightly differently each time, with the characters growing more and more tired as it progresses. In addition to this, the band are seen as growing more and more frustrated, which connotes that bands are manipulated by record labels into producing whatever the label wants.

This could have been done by the director in order to connote the repetive and lifeless nature of making a music video, or could have been done in order to make a larger point about how the entire music industry keeps on repeating itself. Another noticeable technical code is how each of the shots have been framed - each of them has been positioned to show band in the dead centre, again making them seem the most important thing happening in the video, and helping to build more star quality for the artists. The use of low-key lighting throughout the video matches the dark and sinister undertones which the song has, and makes the whole video seem a lot more serious than it would do otherwise.

The song fits into many genres, although the video is clearly a video which has been inspired by the indie genre the most. This is because it is very simple, which means it matches the DIY aesthetic which most indie music video directors try to achieve through their work, as it is a way of reflecting the low budget on which the video would have been produced. Another way in which it fits into the indie genre well is the clear references which distant the band from the mainstream music society, as the majority of the video is actively mocking mainstream music. Finally, the overall aesthetic of the video fits well into the genre, as all of the characters are dressed in black in a dark setting, which is commonly associated with indie as it allows the band to "blend-in" to the background to a certain extent, and to let the music speak for itself.

 

The record company, Young Turks, are an independent record label, meaning it would be assumed that the band and director would be given a relatively small budget to make it with. However, the XX had already reached huge success in the UK by this point, so it is likely that they would have been offered a larger budget, although this has clearly been rejected in order to stay true to their independent roots. The record company are also responsible for the distribution of the video, which in this case comes mainly from putting the video on YouTube and then securing a TV deal afterwards, which is the opposite to how a mainstream company are likely to release the video, as they will wish to make as much profit from the video as they can by releasing it on the most profitable platform first.

The audience age wise for this video is likely to be very mixed, as the music is relatively calm with nothing shocking happening, meaning it is likely to appeal to a more mature audience, although it still is marketed to appeal to a younger audience, as the band were only 19 themselves when they released this album. The video is also most likely to appeal to people within the B, C1 and C2 demographics, as it is fairly reflective music which is likely to appeal more to middle class and upper working class audience members more than anybody else.

Finally, the video has strong represents gender as something which should be equal, as there are seemingly equal numbers of men and women within ththe nauseous, and each of the dancers is facing their opposite character. The video also connotes that conformity is something which should be avoided, as it is what causes the destruction of the wet within the video.