Analysis of Death Cab For Cutie Video "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" 1st Draft

Death Cab For Cutie are an American alternative indie rock/pop band. In their music video, “ I Will Follow You Into The Dark” they use a range of camera techniques, genre conventions and other methods of pulling in the audience, whilst entertaining them.
The video is set in a small studio apartment, throughout the video the character is in the apartment and never leaves. They do this to create the feeling of entrapment and fear, as if he is waiting for something to come. There is one character throughout also, a male who is short, wears glasses and dresses to appeal to the audience. He wears a stylish shirt with a tie as well as khaki coloured trousers and white trainers. This costume appeals to the target audience, the target audience being 16 to 25 interested in alternative music. 
The music video uses many of Goodwin’s theories, from notions of looking to the complete focus on the artist. The first Goodwin theory and the most used one is the complete focus on the artist. Throughout the music video the artist is always in the shots, this is because he is the character in the narrative. Using this theory the director advertises the band/particular singer, making him stand out and seem important. This is very important to the audience as they can recognise with the artist.
The second theory is the notion of looking. The director uses the notion of looking repeatedly throughout the video, starting with the notion of looking through the guitar, using this the director creates ambiguity of what is about to happen. Another time is when the character looks through the hole in the floor boards, this creates more ambiguity to what he is seeing. Also later on when the floor boards fall through then there is a notion of looking coming from there, looking up into the room as if there is someone down in the  darkness. The use of the notion of looking creates ambiguity overall, making the watcher intrigued and interested. 
Another theory of Goodwin’s is the relationship between the lyrics and the images, the director is linking the lyrics about darkness throughout the video, linking it with the dark hole appearing in the middle of the apartment.
The next theory of Goodwin’s is the link between music and images, in the video there is a link between the guitar and the music as well as the singer singing in sync in the video. This idea brings the music and the narrative together.
There are no dominant inter textual references in the video.
The music video uses many of the genre conventions including the use of the acoustic guitar, the acoustic guitar is a generic signifier of the alternative/ indie pop genre. This signifies to the audience straight away that the video is of this genre. 
The director uses many different camera angles and shots, close ups of the character and the focuses as well as over the shoulder shots and angled shots to make the video more artistic.
In the video the director is creating a representation of the band through one character. They are represented as lonely and loyal, through the idea of being confined to one room, and sticking to that concept. The character represents the band as a whole and this then relates to the audience.  The audience use this character as a link, letting the audience put themselves into that position.  
In conclusion I think that the video uses the majority of Goodwin’s theories along with a range of camera techniques and styles. Using both of these has added to the uniqueness and quality of the music video as well as creating ambiguity throughout. The setting and character play a big part in relating to the audience because it may well be that a lot of students or young adults live in studio apartments and feel that the world is keeping them there. The black/darkness then being the way out for them. This could then be a metaphor for escape.

This is what Uk Tribe says about me:

You are an Indie Scenester! You are at the forefront on the indie scene – you know all the major players. You’re always ahead of the game – moving on to the next thing once everyone joins in. You like to look good and your icons go beyond the centrefold of the NME – your current look is James Dean meets Grace Jones. Just wait – everyone will be wearing it in a year’s time.

Costume: Nathan Welles (Chris Healey)

For the character of Nathan I have chosen a brightly coloured checkered shirt with a white under-shirt because I wanted to relate the character to the target audience. The relation being that the target audience wear similar clothes, shirts made casual instead of smart, rolled up and undone with an under-shirt beneath. Casual smart is the style in which the majority of this target audience take an interest in. The trousers are for the same reason, they are part of casual smart style but they are also very "summery". They indicate the time of year, all of the clothes i have chosen do, because they are bright,light and colourful. This adds a happier mood to the video. The shoes are also something that would predominantly be warn in the warmer seasons but they are black which highlights the other lighter colours.

Shot List for Beach Shoot

1. Establishing Shot of the couple running down the hill to the beach.

2. Long Shot of the couple running.

3. Mid-Shot of the couple stopped, about to kiss.

4.Long Shot of Nathan chasing Amelia into the distance.

5. Low Angle Shot of Amelia falling to the ground, while Nathan gets on the floor next to her.

6. Close Up of Nathan giving his necklace to Amelia.

7. Close Up of them kissing.

8. Over the Shoulder Shot of Nathan.

9. Over the Shoulder Shot of Amelia.

10. Over the Shoulder Shot of Nathan.

11. Long Shot of Amelia getting up and running, while Nathan chases after her.

12. Close Up of writing in the sand.

Character: Nathan Welles

Name: Nathan Welles

DOB: 5th August 1990

Occupation: Chef,At Healey Restaurant. 

About: Nathan Welles is a chef at Healey Restaurant, a restaurant owned by his uncle. His ambition has always been to be a chef and his uncle has made that possible for him. His dream is to own a restaurant and live with his girlfriend Amelia, but he fears that Amelia doesn't feel the same. 

Why did I choose this actor?

The actor is Chris Healey, I have chosen him because he is a close friend of mine therefore he is very reliable. His acting abilities are good  for the music videos demands. He fits the character as well as he is a man with a tough exterior but very emotional at the same time, which is just like the character. His appearance also compliments the character with his styled hair and strong jaw line as well as how tall he is. His dress code also fitted the genre and the target audience, so i was easily able to pick out his costume from his wardrobe.

Final Idea

Looking at the Conventions of the Acoustic Genre

This track by Ed Shearing has an interesting video which shows some of the conventions of an acoustic genre music video.  The use of a complex narrative is a feature of the acoustic genre music videos, the narrative is a story built with a meaning or emotion behind it. This is used to play with the audiences feelings, toying with emotions, making the song meaningful and more "real". This is prominent in the video "The A Team" by Ed Shearing, with the homeless girl who sleeps with men for drugs. This is what it is like for those who are like her living contemporary British cities and this is what the genre plays on.This theme is also used in "Trainspotting". The reason for the focus on somebody living rough is to draw the audiences attention to how they have to struggle and suffer to survive, making the audience feel sorry for them, upsetting them somewhat. Often acoustic videos will build up to climax, leading the audience along, an example of this is "Better With You" by Five Times August  In this video the man is in love with a fellow teacher and he gets embarrassed by others throughout, slowly building up to the end where he achieved his goal and got the girl.

Another convention is the use of slow motion and fast forwarding, indicating the speed of time, a video that also uses this is "The Remedy" by Jason Myraz. This technique is used when showing time and boredom or representing how long someone is doing something. It makes the audience think about how time passes so quickly.

An aspect that is prominent is nearly all acoustic songs/music videos is that it is about someone, it is mainly male singers which write and sing about women,girlfriends and bestfriends,people who are close to them. There is always an emotional tie in the lyrics which create a storyline based around women characters. But if it is not about someone special then they are usually about world affairs or events within the artists life.

Location: Kitchen

I have chosen to use a kitchen because I thought that it is a general place to be when at home and could be included in the video.

Location: Back Garden

I have chosen to use a back garden as the location for the singer to sit or stand and play the guitar, I thought that standing under a tree in a peaceful surrounding suited the genre of the music. I thought that it gave the impression of happiness and joyful singing but it also enhanced the sadness behind the story.

Location: Sea Palling Beach

Sea Palling beach is the beach that  I have chosen to use because it's quiet and romantic, there aren't many people around and the beaches aren't ruined by litter. This beach will make it easier to film at as well as there will be no interruptions.