The Neighbourhood- Sweater Weather

Music Video Analysis

The opening shot uses a text card to show the band name, it then cuts to a panning movement of a ceiling; the camera moves down and shows a long shot of the band standing in a room. The camera tracks into the group. A fast cut then briefly shows a car driving and a POV shot of a palm tree, it then cuts back to the room. It focuses on one male that is stood up as the rest of the group are seated. It cuts fast to a record player and then back to the shot of the male, this occurs again with a shot of a silhouette shadow of the band.

Opening Shot

Shots of objects as opposed to people are used during this video, they are shown for a brief time period and are edited together with a fast pace. A shot of a water fountain is denoted in a medium long shot, a record player is denoted in an extreme close up. A pocket watch swinging is denoted in a medium close up and turning pages of a book are denoted via a close up. Blurred lights are shown in a close up and then the camera fades to black before cutting to the next shot; the camera remains still in all of these shots. More shots of objects such as a fan, a guitar neck, a fish pond and a globe.

Object Shots

A long shot denotes the band in a room, the band are the focus of the shot however this is used as an establishing shot. Multiple shots of inside of the room are shown, a medium shot of a couple kissing on the sofa is shown. There are multiple shots of a car, this shows that the car is driving on the road and that the band are travelling; this is denoted using a medium long shot, long shots and medium shots. Shots of only locations are used, a medium close up of the sky is used. This denotes the sun and palm trees, connoting the video was shot in California. Moving long shots of a diner, a forest and a fish pond are used. A extreme long shot of a city scape at night is used as well as a long shot of a fairground, with the band as the focus of the shot.

Location Shots

It is seen as a traditional boy meets girl story but with a more

complicated background. The male actor finds himself thinking about the female but has not developed feelings for her, he enjoys spending time with her and he can not escape her from his mind. This is shown by the

quick cuts and flashes of shots of the female. She is seen as a love interest to the man, however he does not know if it is love or lust; the

emotions of the female aren’t portrayed as dominantly. The female acts as a metaphor for the sweater, explaining why the word is mentioned in

the song multiple times although the woman is only shown for short periods of time. The male enjoys spending time with his friends and

travelling as we see multiple shots of them on the road, as well as shots of different locations. Including POV shots of the sky. The lyrics “I hate the beach” and “lets have an adventure” denotes his feelings for the woman, explaining that he still wants to spend time with her but does not want to

become close to her.

Narrative

Multiple different unique editing techniques are used within this video, one being the use of black and white. Every shot is in black and white and it portrays the video to appear more vintage. The fast paced cuts and editing allows the video to show more object shots and portray more of the story, this is used throughout the music video. Multiple focus pulls are used throughout the video, a medium close up denotes a focus pull from the sofa to holding hands. Another, denotes the focus of an arrow sign and then the focus to the lights of the sign. The camera then does a 180 degree flip and the shots are shown upside down, an overlay of two shots are also used. A symbol of a house is shown on top of a multiple shots, including a car driving and locations.

Editing

A close up of a man smoking a cigarette in a car is denoted and then it cuts to an upside down shot. A medium shot of the sky is shown, palm trees and the setting are revealed here. It then cuts to a shot of the camera behind a wall, it pans to the left and shows the band in a medium shot. A long shot of the band standing in a room is denoted, this is a very similar shot to the shot that was used to begin the music video. It then quickly cuts to a close up of the female actor and cuts back to the same long shot of the band. A fade in shot of a logo is used, this is the same logo used previously in the video. The final shot denotes the logo on a white background.

Ending Shot