‘Big Sur’The ThrillsReleased: 9 June 2003Label: Virgin RecordsGenre: Alternative RockFrom their debut album: ‘So Much for the City’https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1fGNCvZL_w

Key Frame 1

Key Frame 1

The first frame relates to one of Andrew Goodwin’s six features of a Music Video in the sense that there is a relationship between lyrics and visuals.

During the line “Hey, hey you’re The Monkees, and people said you monkeyed around”, lead vocalist Conor Deasy is kicked into a swimming pool, which therefore represents the band messing around, as the lyric suggests. As a result, not only does it help the audience identify with the casual mood and atmosphere of the song, but it also establishes the group as ‘the bad boys of music’, creating an almost fun brand image that will sell to audiences.

Key Frame 2

Key Frame 2 This frame conforms to one of Goodwin’s features that there is frequently reference to notions of looking, which are particularly voyeuristic images of the female body showing their curves. As a result, this attracts primarily a male audience to the video, helped by the actresses little amount of clothing.

It also establishes a sense of narrative. As the band are looking on, we get this shot of the girl looking back, suggesting perhaps the lead vocalist is remembering a former passion, one that leads him to sing the opening line of the chorus: ‘Just don’t go back to Big Sur’.

The audience can at least infer of the location as the big sur because of the long stretch of beach. Furthermore, the use of the golden camera filter is effective for conveying the summer sunshine of California which therefore enhances the realism of the video.

Key Frame 3

Key Frame 3Another aspect of Goodwin’s six features is that the demands of the record label will include the need for numerous close-ups of the artist, which allows the label to promote a set image for the band that audiences will recognise across their material. Moreover, in this case the close-up of the lead vocalist is highly effective for appealing to the female audience because the good-looks of the band members are presented clearly. Therefore, with the combination of Frame 2 and Frame 3, The Thrills have clearly attempted to attract both genders to their video to increase sales.

With regard to the ‘star image’ as part of Goodwin’s analysis methods, Deasy is presented as ‘cool’ and laid back, yet he performs with a slight melancholy nature most likely because he s thinking about his former love which we are presented various flashbacks of. It is important that audiences sympathise with Deasy as a method of promoting the record.

Key Frame 4

Key Frame 4

The Music Video for Big Sur falls primarily into the ‘performance’ category of Goodwin’s three types of video, with a hint of ‘narrative’ aswell.

The fourth key frame depicts pianist Kevin Horan and guitarist Daniel Ryan playing their respective instruments and miming along to the song, conforming to a stereotypical ‘performance’ of a band’s record.

The frame also shows one of Goodwin’s six features, ‘Genre characteristics’. This is because of Ryan’s use of an electric guitar, which is a highly common instrument in rock songs due to it’s heavy sound and fast pace.

Key Frame 5

Key Frame 5The use of editing within the Mise-en-scene is effective here through the use of transparency. Not only can we infer that the lead singer is remembering the ‘girl’ we have seen before, but due to their positioning in frame it looks as if they are facing each other and as a result, this relates to Goodwin’s ‘Relations of visuals to the song’ and the sense that this frame is ‘illustrating’ the band’s motif in this single, helping the audience identify with the narrative.

It is also ‘amplifying’ the relaxed mood of the song and being creative with that tone to convey the band’s desire of exploring the meaning behind the record they are selling.

Key Frame 6

Key Frame 6The final key frame relates to the narrative and performance aspect of Goodwin’s analysis methods in the sense that it gives us the ‘general gist’ of what is going on without going in to too much depth – since it is a music video, not a film. With the message clearly conveyed this gives the video, therefore a coherent repeatability where the artist acts as both narrator and participant, telling us the story whilst also appearing to be fondly remembering the subject involved. This helps mainstream audiences appreciate the authenticity of the video.

The prop of the jeep gives a fitting conclusion to the story as we assume the lover has finally left the lead singer, disappearing frame right. The pace of the car continues the fast-pace of the song and links to the appealing tone and atmosphere.