Arctic Monkeys

Arctic monkeys were formed in Sheffield, Yorkshire in 2002 the band consisted of five members songwriter and guitarist Alex Turner , guitarist Jamie Cook, bassist Andy Nicholson and drummer Matt Helders, along Glyn Jones on vocals although Glyn left the band and Alex took over the vocals. The remaining four built up a following through extensive gigging and releasing demo material on CDs which the fans then shared through the internet. Many say that they were the pioneers of this and the band soon built up a large fan base in a very short space of time.

I love the way Arctic monkeys videos have something gritty and British about them just like their songs. I particularly like the video for their second single "When the sun goes down" which was originally a short film called "Scummy" which based around the song, this was then edited down so it fit to the timing of the song.

Analysis of Arctic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down

When the video first starts we are straight away introduced to the lead female character (Protagonist). She is dressed in baggy hooded clothes and looks though she may be homeless. The shot is a close up which shows the tired and worn look on her face. All the while the non-diagetic lyrics "I said who's that girl there" are played over the shot, as if to ask the question directly to the audience. Then the words "I wonder what went wrong so that she had to roam the streets" accompanied by medium close up shot of her smoking and stood on the balcony of what seems to be on a high rise building typical of that which would be found on a council estate. These words re-enforce the idea of her being homeless. The video uses straight cuts to move from shot to shot this gives the feel of it being raw and sharp also giving it a quicker pace. Also each shot is cut to last the length of the line of lyric. The next shot is a short tracking shot of a man in a car pulling up to the side of the road on a dark street and the female character walking up and putting her head in the car window. There is a straight cut and she is then seen being lead away by another man. The lyrics "She dunt do major credit cards I doubt she does receipts, it's all not quite legitimate" insinuating that she is a prostitute both with the lyrics and the images onscreen, even though we don't actually see anything. In the next shot the camera is looking directly up at a spiral staircase with the female character walking down it, this could be seen as symbolic of her life been a downwards spiral. There is then an elliptical edit as she reaches the bottom of the stairs. We are then introduced to the male character (Antagonist) as he is sat outside of what seems to be an abandoned warehouse. He has his arm around the female as the lyrics say "And what a scummy man" telling the audience that this man is not going to be a nice man. Then "Just give him half a chance I bet he'll rob you if he can" Accompanied by a two shot of the male and female in a greasy spoon cafe, with the male stealing the females food off her plate. The words "can see it in his eyes yeah that he's got a driving ban amongst some other offences" are played over a close up shot of the main male characters face (the scummy man) then a shot of him in the back of a taxi backing up that indeed he may have a driving ban. "And I've seen him with girls of the night and he told Roxanne to put on her red light"