Metronomy – The Look

The Look is an indie single by English band Metronomy who also sing other genres such as Nu-disco and wonky pop. The song came out on YouTube in 2011 and now has over 15 million views. The video has a simple layout with quirky touches that make it different to other videos.

Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. (e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip

Hop). Different genres of music demonstrate different characteristics throughout their videos. Metronomy has the different genres of, nu-disco and wonky pop so they have quite an indie style when it comes to their music. When it comes to Metronomy's videos they tend to go for something quite simple, as in The Look they use a simple white background which helps the video to look quite classic and it also goes with the style that they want to put across to their audience. The instruments don't have any wires showing so it helps to make the whole scene look tidy and a lot more neat. They also don’t use microphones so it just looks plain and simple and looks as if you are just hearing their natural voices instead of something that has been edited. They will then add something quite quirky to make it different, like the birds that they have used in this video, doing different things such as riding in the little cars which isn't something that you would actually see. They also use all different angles to make the shots look a lot more interesting so that they aren't just the simple and normal angles you would see in every music video. They use angles such as from the sides, the back and the top so that you can see every member of the band in a different way. They use the angle from the top to show the lead singer playing the keyboard for the main tune in the whole song. The 1975 who was also of a very similar style and are also quite an indie band, film some of their videos in the same way. Such as their song Girls, they used a plain white background but they decide to have the wires showing to make it look more natural but they also don't use microphones just like Metronomy so that again it looked like they were singing naturally.

There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images. (either illustrative, amplifying,

contradicting).

In many music videos they try to have a relationship between the lyrics and what is happening in the video so that the lyrics are almost telling a story. Throughout the video of ‘The Look’ there are constant conisations of looking. They used many different angles in the video to show the band members looking in many different directions, either past the camera, into the camera, left of the camera or right so it looks as if they could almost be looking anywhere at any point in the video so there are many different angles used. The lyrics of the song are ‘And now you giving me the look, look’ and throughout the whole video they are symbolising this line by ‘looking’. The birds in the video also have wide open eyes throughout the whole song, and always seem to be looking around or looking for each other so by them doing this they are also showing the same thing, and the same line in the song. As you watch the birds in the video, the one bird is always looking and watching out for what the other bird is doing so this again symbolises the lyrics. You know straight away from the title hat the song is going to briefly be about as the name of the song is ‘the look’. There are many things that could link with that title and the whole song leaves you wondering what they are actually looking at, weather it is someone or something.

There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music. (either

illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

There are many relationships between the music and the visuals in the song and video. At the start of the video there is a bird walking across the screen and it is stepping in time with the rhythm of the music and slightly bobbing its head too, I think that this is quite affective as its quite quirky and really brings you into the video as it is very different. As the video goes on the main singer in the band is tapping his foot in time with the music while sitting at his key board waiting for the song to kick in, this is also really affective as it shows the band starting to enjoy the song and it helps to make you keep wanting to watch it then shows the female drummer sitting at her drums waiting to play and slightly tapping her foot in time with the music also. It then goes on to the two men playing the guitar and bass and slightly swaying or nodding their heads in time with the music which again shows that they are enjoying it and it also shows the rhythm and beat of the music without you even having to hear it. Throughout the whole of the video the birds are always walking along in time with the music, every part where you see the birds and they are walking or moving, they are always in time with either the beat or rhythm of the music. The two boys on the base and guitar are also always in time with the beat and don't stop moving the whole way through the video which is very affective as it makes the video look a lot more interesting.

The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs

which recur across their work.There is a very high demand in every record label for there to be lots of close ups of the artists in their music videos. In Metronomy’s video there are different close ups on all of the different people in the band but mainly on the lead singer playing the key board, they also use many different angles of the close up not just straight on where he is looking into the camera. The straight on angle is the most affective as it gives the artist the opportunity to look straight into the camera which helps to connect them to the audience and bring them in to the song and the video, but it can also get very repetitive if you use the same angle in every close up. They also do close-ups from the side and from above which helps to mix it up a bit and add something different. The angle from above allows you to see the lead singer playing the key board and it almost makes it feel as if that it is you playing the key board and not him as its like it is from your point of view. Metronomy have been around since 1999 and are now becoming quite big, so the record label will have quite a large demand for them to be shown in their music videos and not really anything else. They only have sort parts in their video where the focus is on the birds, but this also helps to stop the video from becoming boring and repetitive as if the video was just full of close ups on the artists face then it would be very boring. They also use close-ups on the other members of the band so that it is not always focused on the lead singer, when they are doing the harmonies they included close ups of the two other men and of the woman on the drums. The other three members of the band wont have as high demand to be seen as the singer as they wont be as known as he is as he is really the face of the band but they will still need to be shown but he will be shown a lot more than they do. So throughout the video you will see more of the lead singer than of anyone else, the person you see the least is the lady on the drums and when they are all together in one shot then she is usually further towards the back than everyone else. This also happens in another video of theirs called The Bay and she is placed in the back of everyone else as she is probably on the least demand than everyone else in the band.

There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly

voyeuristic treatment of the female body.Throughout Metronomy's video of The Look they use many different angles but even when the camera is to the side of them, they wont be looking into it they will be looking past it at something else and they will never turn their heads. This makes the audience wonder what they are looking at but it also helps to make the video a lot more interesting as you don't always have everyone looking directly into the camera. There are points in the video where the camera is face on with the band members but mainly with the lead singer and when he is singing he will be looking into the camera which helps to connect with the audience throughout the video as it feels as if he is directly looking at you and not just into the camera like he actually is. By doing this it can make you feel as if you were there with them, in the music video. There are also points though the video where everyone is looking into the camera at the same time so its as if the whole band are looking at you which again helps them to connect to their audience.

The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (a visual style).

The Bay - 2011

The look - 2011

Reservoir - 2014

Many different artists and bands develop motifs that they will repeat and will recur across their work all the time. Metronomy in most of their videos show them all playing the music at some point throughout the video, in The Look the majority of the video is them either sitting down or standing up while playing the instrument they play for the band, also in The bay, the same thing happens and you see them sitting playing even if it is for a short time. One thing that has stayed the same in many videos of theirs is the lead singer playing the key board, he is shown playing in both The Look and The bay and also even in their newer song Reservoir, which is a completely drawn video but it still shows him at the same angle as The Look playing the key board. So from 2011 when The Look video was published on YouTube, to 2014 when Reservoir was published they still do similar things in their videos years later. Another thing that is similar in The Look video and Reservoir, there are also the same birds. At the start of the Reservoir video you see a drawing of the same bird that is in The Look many times. Their style and the way they dress also hasn't really changed from when they started to create music, they always have a similar type of clothing in their videos which is usually shirts, even for the girl. In the Reservoir video, even though it is drawn, their style is still the same as always so that it looks like them. All of their videos, they always look the same or do similar things, just in different places.

There are often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc).

In some music videos they share qualities that re similar or may reference to other music videos, films or to TV programme’s. I think that Metronomy’s video of The Look shares similar qualities to TV programme and film, Wallace and Gromit. In Metronomy's video you see birds doing human things such as riding in cars which is not something that you would ever see in real life. I think that this links to Wallace and Gromit as thought the films and TV series you see Gromit, the dog doing things that only humans would do such as, drinking tea, reading the news paper, driving a motor bike and many other things. They share very similar qualities in which the animals are doing human things which they would never do. This helps put an interesting twist on Metronomy's music video as it isn't something that you would ever see on a daily basis. However they are also quite different as you see Gromit even walking around like a person, so he is just like a person in a dogs skin but the birds walk and act like a normal bird would apart from being able to drive the cars.