Context:

Breezeblocks, created and performed by Alt-J is the name of the song for which the music video I will be analysing is made for. The director of the music video is Ellis Bahl, who has also worked on Gold by Sir Sly, both of which he took a narrative approach towards. The music itself belongs in the indie rock genre, however unlike the performance based music videos, the characteristics of indie rock are more difficult to pick out.

 

Rather than taking a linear approach to creating narrative, Bahl chooses to shoot the video and play it in reverse to create a forced perspective for the audience from conceptions and stereotypes, however as the video progresses the viewers perspective is likely to change. Therefore, the establishing shot is the last shot of the video and the events leading up to that are unknown to the viewer, leading to a variety of assumptions early on.

 

The initial idea presented to the viewer is that the man in the video has killed the woman after invading her home, however as there is no clear outline of the story, the video is very open to interpretation especially after the video reaches its conclusion.

 

Camera Angles, Movements and Transitions:

The video opens with a shot of a woman, clothed and drowned, lying in a bath held down with a breezeblock. This then cuts to a man with his head in his hands, and as the music picks up goes in for an extreme close up of his hands showing a wedding ring. The importance of the wedding ring is revealed as the video progresses. 

 

Following this the next shot establishes that the video is shot in reverse with a focus on water from the bath rising upwards and into the tap. The slow motion footage is a vital part of the video as it remains constant with the consistent pace of the music therefore creating a strong link between the visuals and sound. The camera cuts back to the mans hand, focusing with a close up on his weddding ring then cutting to a shot of the womans hand, who lacks a ring. This visual cue forms a basis for the plot of the video as it shows the two are not together, and makes the audience question the relationship between these two characters. 

 

The song then begins to pick up with a series of quick cuts, matching the delivery of the lyrics 'love, love, love'. With this increased pace comes action within the video as a medium shot is used to show the man using the breezeblock to hit the woman, confirming how the woman was killed, however the events leading up to this are still unknown. Again the camera cuts to a shot of the water rising into the tap to emphasise the fact the video is playing in reverse. The camera then cuts to a shot of the woman trying to run from the man who chases her with the breezeblock, following this with a close up of the mans face to show his rage.

 

Before this happens, if the video were to play forwards, we see the man attempt to hit the woman with the breezeblock. A medium shot of the woman is then used to show her fear as she backs away from the man after fighting him for posession of the weapon used to kill her. The struggle for the breezeblock is shot with a close up of the block with the woman to the left and the man to the right both holding onto it, the close up alternates between this and a shot of their feet sliding as they pull and fight for the block. 

 

Focus pull is used to show the man taking the breezeblock from a makeshift table, focusing on the block only when it is back to forming one half of the tables support. The next shot shows a bottle reforming after having been thrown by the woman at the man, during this sequence a series of close and long shots alternate between the bottle reforming and the bottle flying back to the womans hands. This is followed by a medium shot of the woman before and during throwing the bottle where an expression of rage is seen on her face. As one of the longer shots in the video it also follows her movements to the point she picks up, or puts down the bottle as it is show in the video. 

 

With the camera close to the ground, there is a sense of desparation from the woman who clutches to the mans leg, in the same shot, the woman slides to the left and we see the man taking her place with his face pressed to the ground. The low angle of the camera, showing the two characters on the ground, presents them as equally vulnerable at this point in the video, which has changed from earlier on where the man is in a position of power. The next shot follows the two characters as they wrestle over a kitchen counter and onto a sofa and out of shot, the camera itself remains focused on the empty corner of the room as the music lingers on a note, then snapping to the next shot as it continues. 

 

Here we see more fighting between the two, as the woman is pushed against a bookshelf, cutting to shots of books moving from the impact of her hitting the booshelf and a series of extreme close up shots of a newly instroduced woman who is shown screaming. The introduction of the woman creates more questions for the viewer as they wonder what her relationship to the other woman and man is. 

 

There is a short cut to a knife moving slightly on the ground before more of a focus is given to the new character. Another series of close ups of the womans face and hands reveals a glimpse of her identity as a ring on her finger creates a link and the idea that she is married to the man. The camera also switches back to the two fighting characters showing books rising back onto the bookshelf and the knife flying into the womans hands. This shot generates the idea that the man was purely defending himself rather than attacking the woman, as she was the one with a weapon. The man is then seen to be turning away from the woman and kneeling down to face his wife. A focus pull here draws the attention away from the woman behind him, blurring her and drawing attention to his face. 

 

The woman with the knife is then seen to be backing away out of view from a mid shot. The camera goes back to focusing on the man and his wife, the latter of who looks distraught and is seen to be staring directly at where the other woman stands. This is again followed by a focused close up of the mans face, with the background blurred where the woman stands. A series of close ups of the man and his wife follows, with one last shot of the other woman backing out of view. 

 

At this point the video switches between shots seen earlier of the bathroom and close ups of the man and the more recent shots of his wife, emphaising her as a major plot point. Whilst additional shots of the drowned woman are shown.

 

The man is then seen to be putting a piece of tape over his wifes mouth, and walking backwards to the door. A mid shot of his silhouette caused by light from the hallway tracks him as he backs up to the door and leaves the room, only being interrupted by close ups of keys flying to his hand and another close up of him turning the apartment lights off. With one final mid shot of the mans silhouette, surrounded by a slightly lit blue wall behind him, he closes the door and the video ends in darkness.

 

Editing:

The fact the video is shot in reverse is highly important as it presents it as a recollection, or a memory, ending where the events began to unfold. This idea is enforced by the behaviour of the man with his head in his hands, who seems full of regret, and holds his head as if trying to remember or forget what happened. 

 

Whilst there is little editing in terms of cross fades, fades and other transitions, with the  video there is little need for excessive transitions. Instead making use of short sharp cuts as they are more effective for presenting the action within the video.

 

Practical effects are used rather than digital effects in post-production within the video, such as the bottle thrown at the wall, which adds a greater sense of realism.

 

As mentioned above, very little editing is used within the video, as the main aim is generating realism and enabling the viewer to put themself in this situation. Two of the most identifiable pieces of editing are the fact that the video is played in reverse, and the colour grading of the overall video, which gives a blueish hue and adds to the generation of a dark atmosphere, working with the dark theme of the video.