BOY WITH A COIN – IRON & WINE

Hanan Mohamed 13KMHMusic Video Research

Genre Characteristics

There is a common theme of birds, many different aspects of nature are used and a particular common theme of birds is used; here when the main lady dances she flicks feathers up out of the tail of her dress, as if she has become a living bird herself – truly at one with nature, which is what the intention of listening to the music is to get you to feel like.

The lead singer sitting on a chair playing the guitar and performing alone

The lead singer here is also quite solemn faced as are all of the dancers – it is rare to see anybody smiling in a folk indie rock video.

Relationship between lyrics and visuals

The main lady dancing on her own at the end seems to be tracing ghostly dark circles on the wooden floor with her dress as she dances – the ‘coin’ perhaps. ‘A boy with a coin he found in the weeds’

The choreography does have a lot of twirling the whole body around in circles as well as moving the hands like birds and circles. ‘A girl with a bird she found in the snow, Then flew up her gown and that’s how she knows’.

Relationship between music and visuals

The dancers move in time to the music, their moves always very smooth and sharp, the style of the dancing matching the olden days style of the tune that Beam is playing.

Whenever anyone does move who isn’t dancing, it’s still in the time to the music e.g. When the class of dancers look to the side in unison to see the feathers coming out of the dress.

Demands of the record label Whether or not this is how he is

normally dressed, how Samuel Beam has been styled for the music video is typical of folk rock videos. His hair is thick and long and natural; his moustache and beard are also both unusually long like a ‘hippie’. A simple dark red shirt and wide leg jeans are also in keeping with the simplicity of the video; letting the focus be on the dancing and the song itself, instead of flashy gadgets, it stays in the nature of the song of humility.

There are a fair amount of close ups which linger for a time on Beam’s face as he sings too, letting the viewer take in his face although he does not once turn to look at and sing into the camera. He is absorbed in his music instead of selling himself personally to us, into telling the story – and that is what sells the viewer and what draws them in.

Notions of LookingVoyeuristic treatment of the female body

The use of the dancers watching their own performance within the video is an effective way of referencing the notions of looking – hinting that they are aware of the audience, and they are performing for them.

The windows too add to the notion of looking as they present the idea of seeing in and sunlight is shining behind them.

A mid level medium close up shot is used to emphasise the perfect shape of the woman’s body and focusing on her backside, emphasising her sensuality as she walks.

A slightly more subtle way of viewing the female body voyeuristically in the medium close up shots of the singer’s face we can see the main dancer’s bust behind him emphasised further by how her head has been cut out of the shot.