The Futureheads

Skip To The End

The band and the storyline…

The Futureheads are a British band from Sunderland that primarily produce Indie/rock songs. The song and video to “Skip To The End” was released in 2006 and is primarily based upon the idea of being unsure in a relationship, deciding whether or not they should finish it.

Camera• Throughout the video there is an absence of close ups, with most shots

primarily being medium, medium long and long shots. As the song is about the apparent breakdown of a relationship, this idea is created through the idea of “distance”, shown through the long shots and medium long shots of people. As there are no close ups, this suggests the video is not personal or emotion, the exact opposite of a song about break ups. The shots are all set without a high or low angle, giving the video a more realistic edge; i.e. it is set in the eyes of somebody.

Sound• The song has a fairly easy beat,

one that is not overly fast or overly slow. Because of this, the shots are of medium frequency and are consistent, never becoming jumpy or infrequent to match the timing of the music. This could also be to compliment the idea of a story, one that the music song lyrics leans towards. The band members, in time to the music, sing/mime the lyrics allowing the audience to establish who are the video’s characters, and who are the band members. Each time the music takes a beat, the shot changes, complimenting the pace and style of the video. Often, the lyrics are timed in relation to certain images. For example, when the band sings “a happy ending” the shot is changed to that of the groom. Yet when the band sing “or a broken heart” the shot is switched to the bride suggesting it is she who has relationship style issues.

Mise-en-Scene• The general Mise-en-scene is made up of

images designed to give a spooky feel to the video. For example, images of a darkened woods, ghosts and strange images of a bride, groom and pram. All of these spooky images are designed to show the vulnerability and fear that could be associated with a relationship. The establishing shot, is that of the main characters, a bride and a groom being hypnotised into this strange setting. This links in with the meaning and title of the video, by which this potential man and women are seeing what sort of future they could have together. This is related to the end where both man and wife jump through a door, back to the start by which the images presented are contrasted against the title, because they skip to the start – not the end. Random “props” are also presented as symbolism of progression into the said, symbolic relationship. For example, images of a pram and frightening looking children hint to the idea of future children whilst demonstrating fear, as children and babies have often been used in horror themed products to promote further fear. The setting itself, woods, is a typical spooky setting designed to give the idea of “unknowing” and fear.

Lighting and Editing• EditingIn terms of editing, there is a

defined absence probably because the whole video has a retro feel to it. At one point, CGI is used to create the image of ghosts, aswell as the apparent door with a portal. Both of these images are used to further create the idea of spookiness, and the “unknown”.

• LightingThrough the video, the lighting

is predominately dark, giving both the video a dark feel to present more serious emotions.