Music Video Analysis: Arctic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down

The first video which I have chose to analyse is Arctic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down. The Arctic Monkeys are a prime example of a very successful band from the indie rock genre. Who are signed onto their own 'Bang Bang' label.




 'When The Sun Goes Down' was the second song released by Arctic Monkeys, on the 16th November 2005.  The song follows the story of a prostitute from Sheffield, narrated by a man who the prostitute once approached. He then describes a 'scummy man' who is implied to be her pimp or possibly a previous client.

Beginning
On the official video of the song the opening involves no music, however it is a woman speaking with what would be seen as a 'common' dialect. The lines are short however immediately suggest a woman wanting an intimate relationship with a man, due to the lines such as, 'I'll treat you nice' and 'I won't bite' Which instantly foreshadows what the theme could be for the rest of the song.  The first shot is of text saying 'Right behind us are the ones hidden by the night' I think this is suggesting that there are many people around us who we do not see both sides of. Many people may appear good however are different  behind closed doors. I think this line is describing the 'scummy man' which the song refers to. After the text has gone the first shot is a mid - close up of a woman stood with lots of layers on and her hood up. You can see snow in the background obviously showing its winter and really cold. This is when the music comes in and the woman stands still, looking blankly into the camera.

Verse 1
In the first verse there are immediate suggestions that the woman is a prostitute and is the only thing you do to make money. As the narrator is coming from a bystander it also suggests a possibility that that is who is talking about the woman. We are also introduced to the 'scummy man' who is described throughout the video. The video shows the man talking to the woman, you can see that they have quite a close relationship as they are together in a house eating food. However by the woman facial expressions you can see she isn't enthusiastic about the relationship.

You can also see that he handles her aggressively when he drags her into the car, showing that he has some power over her. This suggests to the audience that he is possibly her pimp. As the music increases  in tempo the video matches. The video is edited so that the shots are faster making them not in focus. This shows the fast change from day to night. There is a close up of the woman's face as she stands still from a with the background moving fast portraying the busy city. This relates back to her life as it shows that her life as a prostitute is not going anywhere and she isn't moving forward.

As the verse continues you see her approaching a man who refuses her. This man seems to be the narrator as the lyrics are in first person. 'She made a subtle proposition, I'm sorry love I'll have to turn you down' From here you can see the possibilities that the narrator lives locally and has interacted with her before.

Chorus 
When the chorus comes on there is a mid shot of the back of someone. It is a new character in the video and you can easily see that he is practicing magic tricks. When he is practicing the magic tricks you can see on one of them he burns himself suggesting he isn't one of the best magicians. The magician appears from the place which he is practicing to find the woman sat outside. A straight cut is then used to the woman wearing a pink sequined dress over her usual tracksuit bottoms and a hoody. Suggesting that she is now going to help the magician and become his assistant.

 Verse 2 
In the second verse the 'scummy man' finds the magician in what looks like a hotel room and acts violently towards him. Obviously showing that he isn't happy that the woman has found possibly other work, a place to live and possibly a new relationship with another man. Matching the lyrics of 'Bet she's delighted when she sees him' and 'because she must be fucking freezing'

Repeated Final Chorus
The second chorus follows what looks like a taxi journey home, possibly picking her up from wherever the magician was. He looks like he is telling her off or giving her a lecture as his hand gestures show him raising a fist and also grabbing her face. She then seems angry and starts throwing furniture around. Similar to the first chorus there is also the quick, out of focus shots, of the traffic zooming around the busy city. I think this relates back as in verse 2 it seemed that she was about to move forward, but the loop back to the same shots in the first chorus could mean she has gone back a step and is now in the same situation as before.

The magician is also showing the same attitude and seems upset about what has happened and that the girl can no longer be part of his magic act. When the 'scummy man' drags the woman through the magicians door the magician seems hopeful that she has come back until the woman then starts to throw abuse at him.

Final Verse
The final verse has the same slow tempo as the first verse bringing a close to the video. The final few shots are of the woman and the man showing no change from the beginning of the song. The final shot is a close up of the woman as she stands still looking blankly into the camera. Showing her life continues to follow the same routine and she hasn't made any progress.

This video shows true colours of some people who live in areas such as this and exactly what they're life is like. The song also relates to people in real life situations. The main line in the chorus, and also the title, 'they say it changes when the sun goes down' reflects how in these cases there life doesn't change and once in hard situations which the woman is obviously in, they're hard to get out of it.


Editing
This video follows a lot of conventions throughout it. The video uses a range of close shots ranging from close ups to long shots, as you can see from the image above the close ups show the emotions of the girl who is in the video. This follows Pete Fraser's theory in that close ups allow the audience to feel intimacy with the actors in the video. This video also reflects the tempo of the music, at the beginning the jump cuts which are used are slower then as the tempo increases the pace of the jump cuts increases. This also follows Pete Fraser's theory as he suggests that slower cuts are used to set a mood for the video and obviously in this one it makes the audience feel sorry for the woman who is in it.