Music video analysisThe xx - Islands

Louise Fisher - 6081

William Goodwin’s theory applied to the genre of indie

William Goodwin identified 7 key ideas that we should look for to identify, he said:

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band.)

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. (either illustrative, amplifying and contradicting.)

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. (either illustrative, amplifying and contradicting.)

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style.)

5. There is frequent reference to notion of looking (screens within screen, telescopes, etc.) and particularly voyeuristic (sexual) treatment of the female body.

6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc.)

7. Whether the video is primarily performance based, narrative based or concept based and how elements of each is used in it.

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band.)

The XX are an English Indie band – their music conveys this by using genre characteristics normally associated with indie music. Goodwin states that each genre has a particular characteristic that help make it a genre, in this case , it is most common for Indie music to usually use a performance element in their music videos and close ups/shots of band members to establish the band’s image.The music video for ‘Islands’ is a largely performance based which helps to clarify the band’s genre as indie. The use of the Dolly Zoom throughout the music video is repeated several times which establishes the setting of the music video and the mood of the music, it also allows the audience to see the dancers as well as band singing along to the song. Mise-en-scene such as a dim room with bright lights is used to add a dramatic effect which helps to engage the audience as well as keeps in time with the rhythm of the music, this is done create a connection between the music and visuals.

Unlike other popular indie music videos ,close ups of instruments are not uses because in the video the band aren’t playing their instruments, they are just posing in the video with the vocal singer singing the words. It is important for indie bands to be seen with their instruments because it shows the audience that part of their skill is playing good music live which would persuade the audience to go to their gigs. However, even though The XX deviate from this typical characteristic in their music video the main vocalist is still singing along with the song which still sells their band as an indie band.

2. Relationship between lyrics and visuals. (either illustrative, amplifying and contradicting.)According to Goodwin there is a relationship between lyrics and visuals within a music video which is either illustrative, amplifying or contradictive. However in the music video for ‘Islands’ the relationship between visuals and lyrics are mostly contradicting because they shown little relationship. However the lyrics in the music video are extremely repetitive which is emphasised by the continuous repetitiveness of the camera shot, the dolly zoom used throughout the video. It can be argued that one particular part of the lyrics in the song ‘Islands’ is illustrative because the vocalist sings “so now I’ll never explore” at the end of every verse, it is clear that the director of the music video has picked up upon this repeated line which is a reason for limiting the use of shots and not using a variation of different camera angles and movements – it is emphasising the fact that she can ‘never explore’, this highlights that the singer is always in the same situation and can never discover new things.

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. (either illustrative, amplifying and contradicting.)

Goodwin also stated that there should be a relationship between music and visuals, either illustrative, amplifying or contradictive. In the music video it is clear to see a very strong relationship between the music and the visuals.

Firstly there are a lot of dancers in the music video whose moves are quick and sharp which match the speed and beat of the music. Their moves are repeated several times throughout the music video in sync with the repetitiveness of the beat of the music. All of the visuals onscreen are very harmonized and in time which really suits the music well and helps to keep the audience connected to both the music and visuals at once. However when the tempo and beat of the music begin to change so do the facial expressions and poses of the dancers and band members, this is shown particularly at the end of the music video when the music completely changes and the audience are left with a girl dancing alone in a burning room. This is done to break up the repetitiveness of the lyrics and music to make both the music and visuals more attention-grabbing for the audience.

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style.)

Goodwin’s theory states that the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist in order to introduce the band to the audience. The music video for ‘Islands’ uses no close ups , there is only one continuous zooming shot which is repeated over and over again throughout the entire music video.The reason why the director of this music video has gone against this need for close ups to establish their visual style is because The XX’s style is already defined as quite dark and simplistic with little focus on the band’s physical appearance but more on the dramatic lighting in one dim room which seems to match the dual vocalist’s monotonous voices well.

5. There is frequent reference to notion of looking (screens within screen, telescopes, etc.) and particularly voyeuristic (sexual) treatment of the female body.

There is no reference to notion of looking or voyeuristic treatment of the female body in this music video , especially because of the vocalists is a female herself and by having voyeuristic behaviours in their music video could push away and alienate a large proportion of the female fans that listen to their music. To back this up, I have gathered evidence from the statistics on YouTube which shows what age group and gender the music video is most popular with:

Top demographicsFemale, 13-17 yearsFemale, 18-24 yearsMale, 25-34 years

The XX are a band who have established their style by focusing upon their unique sounds which are particularly emphasized by the dramatic lighting in their music videos rather than having voyeuristic behaviour or frequent reference to notion of looking.

6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc.)

There is no intertextual reference to films, TV programmes or other music videos in the video ‘Islands’. The main reason for this could be the fact that the band want the audience to be completely focused on their own song and music which is made apparent because the logo of the band is printed everywhere on the walls in the visuals for the music video, this helps to emphasize their individuality as a unique band.

This is also quite a key principle of indie music, to not have these intertextual references. This helps to show the audience that this band are essentially true to their roots and they’re trying not to be mainstream.

7. Whether the video is primarily performance based, narrative based or concept based and how elements of each is used in it.

The music video is primarily performance based which is a typical characteristic of indie music. The reason for this is because all indie bands want to show their audience that their main skills are being able to play live music really well which will make it easier for them to sell tickets when they are on tour. The performance in the music video really lights up the screen, especially with mise-en-scene, the lighting is particularly effective in this case because it sets a calm atmosphere for the audience. All of the elements used for the mise-en-scene are utilised to their full potential to grab the attention of their audience – this is why the band The XX have been so successful in such a short space of time, ever since they released their debut album in August 2009.