Analysing "VCR" (The xx)

The genre characteristics that are evident in this video are what they are wearing. You can tell that its of an indie genre because of their clothes and the fact the video is set in what looks like a derelict scenery, which is what i want to try and create. The relationship between the lyrics and the visuals is disjuncture. The meaning of the song "VCR" is completely ignored. The visual style of the song is very indie, so there tends to be more of a need to have quite few close-ups of the band or the lead vocalist. This video is an indie, quite depressing video.



This part of the song has a lot of off beat editing. The beat of the song in the first few seconds is quite sow, and the editing is just that little bit faster. The lengths of the shots are quite short, and the genre is reflected through the mise-en-scene and the props. The mise-en-scene and the fact that the video is in black and white maybe represents how the characters are feeling.



In this part of the video there is a heavy use of tracking dollies and long shots. The camera work in this part of the video is very varied. In contains close-ups, long shots and mid shots whilst also containing tracking shots. At this point the video is starting to create some sort of storyline/narrative although it still seems to be quite random. The editing also starts to become a little more synchronised with the action.



At this point in the video, colours start to come into things. Before the whole thing was in black and white. The story has now become a little clearer, and i think its a boy girl split up, and then get back together story. I think the black and white was used to represent their unhappiness when apart, then when they make up things become more clearer and bright and start to become a little more colourful. The camera work in this part is still varied and they have used quite alot of different angles.



Near the end of the video, the story becomes even more random when they start to bring animals into it. Overall this video doesn't really make any sense to me, but i think that's why i like it so much. Its a very abstract video as there is no clear narrative and no lip syncing. The lyrics establish more of a general feeling rather than a meaning. I think this part of the video gives off that the mise-en-scene is reflecting their feelings, which is why the animals were involved. This part as well as the whole of the video really has off beat editing and it isn't really syncronised with the action either.