Music Video Analysis | You Me at Six - Give

The music video for Give by You Me At Six is a heavily performance based piece of visual media. The whole video depicts the band performing the song on stage however there is no sign of an audience. Given the genre of the band and their music (indie rock), this could represent the idea that they don’t really care about whether they get famous or whether they have thousands and thousands of fans. They simply just enjoy making the music that they make and playing it. Whether they’re performing to a hundred people or none, they just like to perform. However there is an element of narrative within the video that is driven along with a combination of the lyrics and some visuals. Looking closer at the lyrics, I have come to realise that it is telling a story about what presumably was a breakup between a man and woman, in which the man is being played by the lead vocalist. After looking around the different communities within the indie rock genre, a lot of those songs tend to have a story behind them, being told through the lyrics, and they are mostly sad stories about themes such as breakups, deaths, etc.

In the music video there is a relationship between the visuals and some of the lyrics. For example, "I've been wasting all these nights" - at this point in the video the whole hall/room is dark except for what the stage lights are illuminating. The fact that the lights used at this point are flashing blue-ish/white and warm white could represent all the nights that he has wasted. Creating a montage type feel of each night having a different moon. "Trying to keep you off my mind" - However, these flashing lights could also represent the idea that, although he is trying to keep this girl of his mind, all of the memories he has of her are constantly bouncing around his head. The lights help create the idea of disorientation that the character is feeling. There are also elements of a relationship between the visuals and the actual music as well. The obvious one is that the band are clearly performing the song that we are hearing. As the music is introduced at the beginning of the video, the lights on stage fade in revealing the band on stage The lead vocalist is the first individual member of the band to be seen, they do this using a mid-shot, and as the vocals begin there is a medium close-up of the singer. This tends to be a requirement by the record label for music videos, given that music videos are basically and advert for the band, or artist(s). It helps create a brand that the record label can help push along within the industry. Also, during the video there seems to be more focus on the lead vocalist, for example, he always has his head facing upwards, whilst the other members of the band have their head pointing downwards. Whilst this could be dismissed as it being just musical technique, being that the vocalist should have the head facing upwards so they can project their voice correctly and the other members not needing to do this, I believe that this is a plan by the record label in order to create more focus on the lead vocalist. The lead vocalist is the front line man within the band, so the record label are going to want him to have the majority of the attention from fans, that way it is easier for them to put a single face to a brand. The lead guitarist is introduced during the hand-off from vocals to guitar in the song using a mid-shot. The same happens with the bass guitarist. The drummer is then introduced visually as the drums are introduced in the song. We see him first by the use of mid shot however it is looking at him from the back. This implies the idea that the is the 'backing' of the band/song. There is also a specific relationship between the lights and the drums at times throughout the video. With the fade out of the first crash cymbal, the surrounding lights dim. Also, during the four-to-the-floor section of the song, the stage lights begin to pulse to the beat of the kick drum. The video e ds with a fade into white light. This could represent the idea that, in this story, the end of the song is symbolising that the male character (vocalist) as reached a state of equilibrium. Meaning that he has finally got her off his mind. This is due to the colour white carrying the connotations of peacefulness and serenity.

Another element that some music videos tend to have are intertextual references. This means that one piece of media text will include references from other pieces of media text. There are some intertextual references within this music video however the main one is the lighting setup on stage. In the music video for Swear (You Me At Six), there are some shots of them on stage using the exact same lighting setup as shown in this music video. The selection of spot lights and two strips of red lights. The only other intertextual references within this music video are the fact that the band members are wearing the same sort of clothes and have similar hair styles as shown in their other music videos. Again this helps create a brand for the band as they create their own individual style in which their fans can relate to.

Andrew Goodwin identified six key aspects of a music videos:

• Music videos have genre characteristics

• Relationship between visuals and lyrics

• Relationship between visuals and music

• Star power

• Notions of looking

• Intertextual references
  

You Me At Six's music video for Give includes all six of these key aspects, including the notions of looking. For example, the whole video has been shot as though the band members aren’t aware that they are being filmed. This is known as indirect address. There are multiple shots throughout the video from what seems to be from behind the stage looking at the back of the performers looking out to where the audience would be. There are also some low angle shots of performers looking up at them from what would be an audience members perspective. So, this music video is extremely conventional to Goodwin's theory.