GOODWIN'S THEORYMusic Video Deconstruction ~ London Grammar - Strong

MUSIC VIDEO REPRESENTS GENRE CHARACTERISTICS

Similar to the typical indie genre, this video comes across as being more low budget and intimate compared to other bands who may be more popular so can therefore have more money spent on them, it’s easy to see this as the video is based in one prime location, and from what we can see it is either in the city or on the outskirts, another typical convention of the indie genre. !Like other indie music videos, instead of the artist being the main focus of the video, there is commonly a narrative or a story to follow whilst listening to the song and watching the video itself, which makes the video seem a lot more personal and meaningful to both the artist and listener. In this particular video the storyline shows the day out in which a father and his daughter have left the city to bond together through experimenting, expressing the importance of a father/daughter relationship and the love that is involved in keeping this strong. !From what I’ve found at looking at both this video and other indie styles is that within the video is that there are very few shots of the artist themselves actually singing the song, showing a very selfless side to the artist in the way that they want the video to portray what the song means instead of them being the focal point. !

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LYRICS AND VISUALS

I believe that there are a few occasions where the lyrics and visuals have things in common, although I don’t think there are as many as you would find in a different genre of music’s video, due to indie being more of a storyline.

During the beginning, there is a shot of the man shorting placing his hands over his daughters and also another of him clutching her as he carries her, showing how much he cares and his love for her, and the lyrics that you hear are “Yeah, I might seem so strong…I’ve never been so wrong”, suggesting that maybe his daughter is ill, or that he is ill and that he is trying to hold it together but just can’t for much longer, which could suggest why he wants to spend time alone with her.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC AND VISUALS~ The slow motion clips throughout the entire video go with the tempo of the music, they are also edited on beat with the music which helps to make them fit to the track well.

~ During the video, as her voice gets louder throughout the track, there is a scene where the fireworks/explosives that the man is using go off, representing the strength of her voice and the power that she has - a strong yet subtle reference.

CLOSE UP OF ARTIST AND THEIR MOTIFS

As I have previously said about the conventions of indie music videos is that there is limited shots of the artist themselves, due to the narrative behind their videos - this applies to this music video as the majority of the video is of the man and his daughter, who create the story.

The majority of the shots of the band are very limited, but when they are shown, the focus is the girl of the group, and the other members are always seen to be in the background of the shot - this could maybe represent that each of the members bring something separate and different to the band to make the song what it is.

FREQUENT REFERENCE TO THE NOTION OF LOOKING, VOYEURISM, ESPECIALLY OF WOMEN

~ Throughout the video, I mainly notice that the man playing the father is constantly looking around him, to me it seems as if he is either making sure that he and his daughter are alone to spend time together or that he is lost and looking for help from someone, showing that maybe he isn't as strong as he thinks, just as the song suggests.

~ Another time when looking is involved is during the beginning where the man is looking at the daughter through the car window, suggesting that he is there to protect and care for her as his duty as her father, showing a ‘strong’ relationship between the two of them. even though she can’t see him looking, she knows that he will be there for her when he needs her - not everything needs to be visible.