Video Analysis - White Lies - Farewell to the Fairground

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ0AFriC7ZM

Information on the band White Lies from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Lies_(band)

Location

The main location in this video looks to be snowey Russia. It looks like it was once an industrialised town but it has now become run down and looks even more miserable because of the bland white landscape. It gives it a very cold feel obviously due to the snow, this links with several lyrics, 'until the ice begins to thaw' and 'a dream thats growing cold' in particular. The initial mood is set by this location and suggests it to be a dark and foreboding story. This illustrates the song and White Lies music in general.

Storyline

The storyline has several different parts to it, the factory scene, the horse, the man working out with the medal, the children exploring the landscape, the dogs, the man and woman at the house and the lead singer of the band walking through the bleak snowey landscape. I believe the whole storyline to be revolved around the lyric 'there's no place like home'. Many cars are driving home in the town from work at the factory, the man is leaving his wife at their house in the town to go to the army, the dogs find their owner, whereas the horse seems to be looking for one, the an in the gym is back home training after it looks like hes won some sort of medal. These various storylines work together amongst the flashes of shots of the band playing in what looks to be a sports hall. Probably a location within the town emphasising further the run down nature of the town. The lights continue to flash throughout the performance.

Costumes

The band are wearing dark clothing, Harry, the lead singer, in particular is wearing all black with a military style, this is a typical convention of Indie music videos, especially The Killers. The other characters in the video are all wearing very working class, cheap looking clothes. This illustrates the run down nature of the town and gives examples of the sorts of people that live there and shows the culture in which they live in.

Colour

The predominant colour in the video is white from all the snow. This would usually suggest a pure connotation, but I think in this instance the white has been used to give a bleak feel where it is a run down place amongst the industrialisation that occupies it. The white background, both land and sky, makes all things in the video look like black silhouettes. The whiteness also gives the town a feel of isolation.

Performance

The band is playing in a sports hall location, this is the opening scene. There are lots of cuts to this throughout the video and particular emphasis is put upon the drummer. All the band are wearing dark clothing, the lights flash on and off all giving a sense of light and dark. The lead singer, Harry McVeigh, is walking down a road it looks to be from the factory back to the town, where he finishes. The cold nature of the town's inhabitants is suggested here as they simply overtake him when he is walking through the snow not offering a lift. Harry mimes the lyrics as he walks, this is a typical convention of Indie music videos.