Joshua MillingtonAnalysis of Product Similar to Main Piece

Genre elements Conventions presented Lover of the Light by Mumford & Sons music video.

Performers/Characters There is one, just one human character in this text. The intriguing concept of this video is the character, despite being portrayed by the famous Idris Elba (Prometheus, Thor, The Wire), is very ambiguous and his narrative is very open for opinion. As he has no dialogue and is the only person in the frame, views have no choice but to see him as a positive character. His isolation encourages a degree of sympathy, and his natural happiness engages an extent of joy. A majority of spectators will find this character relatable as he seems to represent an everyday man who has significantly lost something or someone.

Genre Type: Performance, Narrative or Conceptual?

The text is an enigmatic time distorted conceptual narrative. It follows the morning of man who seems lost in his own head. He seems to lose control and perhaps attempt suicide by running, with tear-filled eyes, to a high cliff. However this cliff could mean many things to Elba’s character; one idea about this music video, is that he had a wife who died at the cliff and he tries to carry on with his life, but he just can’t without her. The cliff may also represent the struggle of everyday-people who feel like they can’t cope and ‘on-edge’.

Iconography There is a motif of a lonely stag, which may be a metaphor of Elba’s character. Stag’s have natural sad eyes, yet remain stereotypically as strong independent creatures. The natural sunlight symbolises a state of equilibrium when it appears it seems to calm the character, it is also significant as it is reference in the song title and chorus, Lover of the Light.

Setting- There are four locations in this video, and each one reflects different stages of the narrative: his house, the beach, the forest/woods and the cliff-side. The demographic for this video, would be able to relate to at least two of these settings, if not all. Despite these places looking beautiful, there is fractured aura of unsettlement, via the protagonist. As the character venture further into nature, he ventures further into his natural emotions and seems to only release them, when he has completely disconnected himself with the urban world. This suggests the idea of cover yourself in an urban environment; you cover up your emotions, which is made evident as the character looks very ambiguous and uncomfortable in his home at certain stages.

Joshua MillingtonAnalysis of Product Similar to Main Piece

Technical and audio codes – camera use, editing, lighting, diegetic/non diegetic sound, sfx

Lighting plays a significant part in this text, as it is reference in the chorus and title. There is a lot of use of high-key lighting to highlight the uplifting theme this music video creates. The most popular shots are extreme long shots and close ups, which almost act as an eyeline match to an extent. We see where the character his, then his facial expression reveals how he feels. This is important for the audience to connect with the character, as there is no dialogue. The only time of diegetic sound, is the crashing of the waves, which relates to the motif of natural beauty.

Neale’s ‘Mental Machinery’: How does the text meet audience expectations? How does it conform to convention and/or deviate from convention?

The band once said they hate starring in there own music videos, therefore a form of narrative was expected. It meets the conventions of the predominant genre of the hybrid, of country, having very naturalistic settings. It is a very obscure hybrid; therefore it is difficult to presume what this video would offer.

What ideologies are encoded in the music video?

A YouTube link to the text: http://youtu.be/nMJUbZrNnA8