Textual Analysis- The Kooks

Do You Wanna- The Kooks

Music Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owF4gO3XbNE

   I particularly liked the montage effects in this video and thought that the fast-paced editing created enigma and an excitable yet confusing atmosphere. The slow paced sound of the song’s verses juxtaposed against the fast chorus well and the editing and jump cuts mirrored this effectively. Canted angles and the constant change between daytime and night also add to the busyness and confusion of the scene.  As with the album cover and advertisements, neon lights and signs are used throughout the video repetitively creating a montage and suggesting an urban location, which supports stereotypes and helps to explain the lack of empathy in the song’s lyrics. Parts of the video also use hand-held and point-of-view shots and these help the viewer to associate with the characters more effectively. One can also see a man speaking the lyrics of the song at different stages through the narrative- particularly during the chorus. During the daytime scenes he is on his own and appears lonely, the lyrics support this and suggest that perhaps he is desperate of company as much as he is a partner. A tracking shot is used as a point-of-view shot following a woman down a street implying that what he is looking for is a sexual partner, this is again supported by the song’s repetitive lyrics of “do you wanna’ make love to me?” Interestingly, and contrastingly to the daytime scenes of the narrative, during the night scenes the man is surrounded by people. Maybe the message of this is not that he simply needs sex but that he has not found the one. I get this impression because the daytime stereotypically symbolizes the truth and honesty and these scenes show him being lonely even when surrounded by crowds.

   In our production I think that we should use montage editing and fast paced editing because I liked the atmosphere created by these effects in this video. Also, the handheld shots and basic camerawork made the narrative seem more genuine and helped me, as a viewer to associate with the characters.

Digi-Pack (Album)


Front Cover:

Here, the front cover uses much of the imagery from the accompanying video. Neon lighting above a dark doorway is much like the location in which the lonely man is standing throughout the video. Nonetheless, it is shot in a dark scene- one presumes at night- and three other similarly aged men accompany him; this also mirrors the suggestion that with nightfall comes company and an end to the loneliness. “Konk”- the name of the album- is embedded in the image and is the text in the neon sign above the door, henceforth, the only text on the image is the band name, which accompanies the low-angle shot in showing their obvious importance. Simplicity is also an effective technique used on this album cover as it leaves the meanings and narratives behind the album to the audience’s imagination, which encourages people to buy it.

Back Cover:

The back cover shows the image that we can only assume was taken from behind where the band is positioned on the front-cover. By choosing to use a wide-shot, the photographer is suggesting that this is going to be an important location for the piece of media. Stairways also are representational of movement up (or down) suggesting improvement and positivity (or negativity) and journeys- perhaps these are symbolic connotations to do with the meanings behind the songs, artists, or creation of the album.

Magazine Adverts (Album)

   Analysis of these two advertisements is very much similar to that of the album cover. Again, simplicity is used and only the necessary additions are added- the date of release on the first advert and the retailer on the second. The only difference between the image above and the image on the album is the colour of the neon lettering- here it is blue where previously it was red. Using the colour red had connotations of passion, romance, desire, arrogance and danger- all of which I think could be explored and interpreted as the meaning being shown in the music being advertised. For example, the desire for romance is shown through both the lyrics of the song, and the point-of-view-tracking shots used in the video to follow the man’s line of vision as he watches people walk past and down the street. Arrogance is shown in simply the assumption that somebody will “wanna make love to [him]”. Contrastingly, the colour blue has associations with wisdom, loyalty, intelligence and tranquility- all of which contrast hugely to those of red. Whether or not it was the conscious decision made by the production team in creating these posters, this creates a whole new meaning for the song and changes the way in which one hears the lyrics.