Textual Analysis - Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys - When the Sun goes down



The video's story line is based upon a woman's relationship with a man, where the woman is a sex worker and the man is a drug dealer. Both main characters are of the lower class as there are connotations of this from the locations used in the video such as alley's, warehouses and an estate. The accent of the characters at the start of the video also show this. The structure starts with an Equilibrium, then goes into disruption and ends with Recognition.

The theme of the video is based upon "Relationships". The video raises the issue of the  stereotypical lower classes and their way of life.

At the start of the video, fancy typography is used which juxtaposes it from the video which is about everyday situations for the lower class.


Most of the video is shot with a handheld camera, which again links in well with the lower classed theme and also works well with the story line  as if one of the main characters friends is filming it rather than a professional camera man. There are also many long shots used to show the locations the video is shot in, linking in again with how the director wants the characters to be perceived.

 Faced paced cuts are used consistently throughout the video to show how rushed and tired the characters feel about both their lives and their relationships.

The dominant colours throughout this video consists of mostly greys and blacks, connoting themes of depression and gloom.




We also did this textual analysis in class to see how setting can effect a music videos theme and mood. We also looked at this particular video to see the generic conventions of the genre and how the director wanted the video to look.