Monday, 27 September 2010

Video Analysis - The Drums - Forever and Ever Amen


Info on the band: The Drums from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Drums

This video is by The Drums it is entirely performance based with very little storyline. Basically its a band getting ready for a gig at a youth social group. At the end the children rebel and start throwing the furniture and decorations on the wall outside.
They start in a back alley inbetween some buildings then they arrive at the 'Youth Social Group' centre, they prepare and then start to perform here with no crowd apart from one boy, then all the children, they seem to be all boys, come inside to watch the performance. They also have clips when they're on the roof of a building performing and when the band are around a table where it looks like a studio. This range of locations don't all seem to be linked. There don't seem to be in costumes for the band, they are wearing normal casual clothes. The Drums are well known for being a very trendy band. But they do seem to have an 80s look to them and this is also reflected in the locations and the lead singer's dancing. This suggest a theme of looking back to a by gone era - the 80s. The kids in the video seem to be dressed as though they are older, for example the boy with a funky haircut is wearing a leather jacket and dark sunglasses. I think this suggests the children want to be in a band like The Drums and they aspire to be like them. The band have come back to their home roots and tell the children not to give up their dreams but to go on 'forever and ever'. Lead singer, Jonathan Pierce, does his usual unique dancing throughout the video as he would in a live performance. The rest of the band simply play their instruments throughout but sometimes whilst moving as they follow the lead singer who is centered upon by the camera, this shows that the band has most of its focus on the lead singer. The colour of the video seems slightly sepia and old looking demonstrating the retro sound of the band's music. The band themselves wear quite bright clothes. The style is mainly quite cheerful but is very centred on the band's performance and look.

1 comment:

  1. This is another good entry supported by screen shots. I think that there is more to say and some comparisons to draw. I think they are in costume, it may not be an outlandish one but it is a costume which they have chosen to represent themes as a cool, 80's style band. The dancing as well fits this idea. It is all affectation of a bye gone era. This theme, of looking back, is present in both videos. Is it present in a lot of the indie genre in general?

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