Music Video Analysis: Indie Alternative: The Wombats - Give Me a Try

Performer and Record Label

The Wombats are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool. The band is signed to 14th Floor Records in the United Kingdom and Bright Antenna in the United States.

14th Floor Records is a British subsidiarity record label of Warner Music UK, founded in 2002 by part owner Christian Tattersfield.



Narrative

There isn't one set narrative throughout the music video, however it is based around the concept of dating apps, and the people that use them. Close up shots of people's phones show the app that appears to look similar to apps such as Tinder. Part of the music video shows the people on the app taking their profile pictures, showing that people can be quite different behind what you can see in the picture. Throughout the music video, several dates take place, connecting several of the narratives together, as they have an unsuccessful date and then go on a another date with a new person. I feel that this music video is very successful due to how current it is, due to the fact such a high number of people have used dating sites and dating apps at some point in their life. By using some a popular subject, it means that more people are able to directly relate to the music video, meaning they are more likely to enjoy the music video.

Mise en scene

The music video takes place over many different locations, mainly because the locations tend to be at the different settings of the dates, such as a restaurant. However lots of the different locations tend to occur when different people are shown in the setting of their profile pictures. This has been shown as a montage, as it is a series of different clips, without any diegetic sound. I would say that for this music video, there has been a mixture of filming in a  studio and filming on location. I think that some of the shots of the people that use the app were filmed in a studio, because they would have been easier to set up to look how they imagined, rather than filming on a location where you would probable have to move everything around anyway.

Costume, Make Up and Props

There are a variety of different costumes used throughout the music video that help communicate to the audience the personality of the character. This shows that costume is very important when creating a music video or film, as the dress of the person can help be a judge of character. One of the most important props throughout the music video is a mobile phone, as it could be considered that the mobile phone helps to drive the narrative. Close ups of the screen of the phone allow us as the audience to see the potential dates of each character, and then allows us to see who it is they end up matched with.

Lighting and Colour

I reckon that additional lighting has been used to help light some of the scenes, particularly those of them that take place inside. However, I also think that the final shot of a girl leaving her house to go on a date with a new guy has also had additional used within it to make sure that the shot was bright enough, due to the fact it was filmed during the night time. They have probably used more of a yellow toned light so that it doesn't appear as harsh in the shot as a white light would look.

Camera and Editing

The editing throughout the music video is quite basic, in that time hasn't been shrunk or expanded, and there hasn't been any unusual transitions between shots used. Throughout the music video, a mixture of wide shots and medium close ups have been used in order to show to the audience the different characters that are using the dating site. Wide shots are used to establish the location of the person, and then medium close ups and close ups have been used to show the characteristics of the person, by showing objects relating to them, or different body parts, such as the tattoos of the hand of one man in the music video.