‘Holocene’ is a song by the American indie folk band called Bon Iver. The music video is directed by Nabil Elderkin and was filmed in Iceland using a red camera.This music video is about a young boy who wakes up in the morning and realises that something may be wrong in his life or perhaps he is missing something. He then decides to go on a long journey in which he walking through fields and across mountains. This emphasises on the fact that Indie Folk music video’s tend to be about ‘journeys’ and achieving something, being able to reach the unreachable.

Camera (Shots, movement and angels)

The use of the wide angel shot allows the audience to be introduced to the young boys bedroom. This

allows the audience to feel closer and more intimate towards him and therefore may feel like they are following him on a journey throughout the music

video. Additionally, the use of close-up shot on the little boy emphasises on how sweet and angelic he

looks which therefore makes the audience feel attached towards him.

The extreme wide shot of the little boy standing between the view of the mountains depicts the

contrast between him and the mountains. Mountains usually represent endurance, strength

and courage . The fact that the young boy is walking through the mountains portrays the fact that he is going on a long journey as he may be searching for

something missing.

Sound

The sound used throughout the music video overall is

very calm and relaxing. This has a big effect on the music video as a whole as it would allow the audience to focus more on the actual lyrics.

The lyrics are very affectionate and talk about how someone is special or not, therefore the fact that there is less non-diegetic

sound throughout the video makes it more realistic.

The pace throughout the video slows down and increases depending on

the scene. For example, the pace of the music started slowing down

when their was slow motion throughout the music video and the young boy was twisting around with the stick. As soon as the young boy started running down the slope, the pace of the music picked up and was much faster. This emphasises on the different thoughts that are going on inside this boys head and portrays

the fact that he confused due to the fluctuations in the pace of the music.

In my music video that I will produce, I have decided to follow one of the main conventions that I have seen common in this indie folk video which is the fluctuation in the pace of the music depending on what is going on in the scene. This will enable

my target audience to stay focused and keep on track with the little details that will be going on in my video. Fluctuations in the pace and the sound will encourage my

audience to be captivated, as the visuals on the screen will also vary depending on the pace and the beats.

Editing

The use of the continuous jump cuts may be used in this music video to highlight the confusion this boy is going through and how he is unable to make his mind up on whether to leave the house or not and go on his ‘journey’.

In addition, the jump cuts emphasise on the level of decisiveness of the young boy, as it is typical of any young boy at his age to be unable to make his own decisions. By doing so, the audience is able to relate to this young

boy and sympathise with him.

The editing technique added in of the fade out and fade in is very

effective as even though we are being introduced to the boys back, we can still see his emotions and

feelings through the slow fade out of the boys face which grabs the

audience is attention and keeps them hooked. Furthermore, we can see that although the young boy is looking out of the window to see

where he is going next, his mind and thoughts are still at home.

As I have decided to follow most of the conventions of indie folk music video’s, I have decided to use a lot of jump cuts in

my music video as it will emphasise on the struggle the young girl is gong through in

my music video . In addition, I will use fade in’s and fade out’s to highlight the contrast in events that occur in the young girls life.

This will be useful in my music video as most of the music video will be

surrounding the theme of ‘appearance v. Reality’, highlighting the young girls true feelings when she is not around people.

Mis-en-sceneThe scenery throughout this music video has a massive impact on the music video as a whole due to the high use of nature, the mountains

and the greenery. Mountains usually represent strength and positivity which

emphasises on the fact that the young boy has decided to change his life and do something

different.

Throughout the music video the colour blue has been present a lot due to the emphasis on the

sky and the water. The colour blue usually represents harmony and calmness which may

portray the fact that the young boy has chosen to go through another pathway in his life and

feels positive.

In my music video I have decided to include a lot of natural imagery including a big park and a forest. I feel like nature occurs a lot in music videos that are within the Indie Folk

genre and therefore the genre of my music video will be clear that it is Indie Folk. We have decided to film during the Autumn season as we feel like the warm and motley colours

are very typical of the Indie Folk genre.

The representations in this music video subvert the common representations in the media. This is due to the fact that the young boy in this music video is portrayed as very independent, due to the fact that he is living alone and decided to go on a long journey alone. Normally in the media, young boys tend to be represented as part of a family, so by depicting this young boy in this music video as alone and independent it enables the audience to sympathise with the young boy and become more captivated, wondering where this boy is going.

In addition, this music video has gone against the ideologies of how young children should be bought up, portraying the young boy being alone. However, there has been on several movies in the past that have presented young children as smart, independent and able to rely on themselves. This has been portrayed in movies like, ‘Matilda’ for example. By portraying young kids as independent and wise, it allows the audience to see children in a different light and not constantly under estimate their abilities and what they are capable of. I feel that through this representation that has been portrayed in this music video, it sends a very unique message to the audience that we don’t tend to see through music video’s in general.

Representation & Dominant Ideologies

The audience reception is highly vital when it comes to music videos as without them, the music video would not be successful. This ‘Holocene’ music video by Bon Iver can lead to many interpretations as it allows the audience to be captivated into a magical scene. This has been purposely done by the director of this music video, Nabil Elderkin who’s selected Iceland’s glacial landscapes to visually showcase the magnificence of the setting, as well as emphasise on the lyrics of the song. The song and the music video is all about knowing that we are all something small that is part of something really big. By using wide shots and extreme long shots to capture the monstrosity of the mountains surrounding the small boy, the audience can automatically visualise what the lyrics mean and the message the band is trying to communicate.

Audience reception and Stuart Hall’s theory

I believe that according to Stuart Hall’s theory on oppositional reading, this music video attracts various and different audiences which therefore all have different readings. For example, an audience that may include teenagers may have an oppositional reading towards the music video as a younger audience may be experiencing various feelings and emotions which would enable them to think deeper into the music video. This is because the narrative behind the music video is quiet ambiguous and therefore the video is more interesting and offers a variety of interpretations.

Binary Opposition

Levi Straus was an anthropologist that believed that everyone should look at a word more differently than just in it s normal definition.

His theory of binary opposition states that the audience can understand the word and its opposite. Binary opposition tends to make a music video more interesting to watch as it encourages the audience to watch the product more.

An example of a binary opposite would be Good and evil , happy and sad, black vs. White, or even political groups that have contrasting values and ideologies.

This theory that Levi Strauss advocated of ‘Binary Opposition’ constructs two characters in the audiences mind with the stereotypical portrayal of the archetypal character types.

A evident example of Binary Opposites in this music video could be small and big. The music video clearly depicts the opposites of the small boy and the big mountains in Iceland. This enables the audience to construct their views on who they think is more superior. For example, some people may believe that the young boy should not be left alone as he is simply a kid and others may believe that this child is powerful and growing in order to become as superior as the mountains.

Binary Oppositions in the video (Levi Strauss theory)

Moreover, another example of a binary opposite in this music video would be dark and bright. The music video starts of with dark and dull colours of the inside of the small hut, and then the young boy takes a stick and walks out of the hut, into the bright and ablaze colours of nature. The contrast in colours makes the binary opposition clear to the audience. The fact that the young boy walked out into brightness may highlight the fact that he is starting something new in his life, as the brightness may represent the positivity and excitement of whatever he decides to do on his journey.