Music Video Analysis- Maximo Park- Books From Boxes

This video starts with a close up of the top of a guitar and the pans down it to show the persons hand playing it. There is a bright blue light in the top right hand corner which tells us that it is a performance. We can also see that it has been edited so the video is in a smaller, boxed screen which is normally used in film. There is then a cut to what looks like a cinema, with a woman sitting down facing the screen, the only light is that which is coming from the screen onto her face however we can see the red wall behind her which is normally associated with a cinema.

The main singer comes in and there is a close up shot in which he is singing to her however she is not aware of him, this is intended. This video uses Steve Archer’s theory which says that music videos cut between a narrative and a performance to show a connection with the music. It cuts back to the performance for two seconds and then back to the cinema where it is very dark and the audience cannot see what is going on until the cinema screen lights up to show their faces. The close up on the woman’s face shows that there is no emotion and as the song is about breaking up with someone, the audience can assume that it was her that broke up from him. She then stands up to leave and it cuts back to the performance for a few seconds. In a new location he is still singing to her, however the reaction shots show that she looks upset and it looks as though a green screen has been used for the background. In another new location, the depth of field is still equal, however we can only figure out walls and where the doors are while they walk along and he is singing to her. In the next scene we can see that it has been set in a cemetery because of the mise en scene; grave stones, a memorial statue, wild flowers and ivy growing everywhere. This could represent the end of their relationship, also, she looks as though she has been green screened in as she is floating however he is walking behind her which makes them look separated. She is the main focus at one point during this shot as she is in the foreground close up and he is walking behind her singing however we only see his legs, this shows that her reaction at this point is more important. For the first time in this video he is not looking at the camera, it is a medium shot and the camera tracks him, the audience is not connected with anyone in this scene. The next shot has a lot of enhance natural light and there is a close up of his face to put emphasis on the lyrics, it then cuts back to the band performing. We then see them both in the shot next to each other however she looks closer to us and as though she has been edited in. There is then a night time landscape of a city and the two people standing one in front of the other, we can only see their faces and the rest of their body is silhouetted. In the next scene of the band performing a blue light has been lasered across to make it look more like a performance. When the woman is walking across the bridge the camera tracks her and again she looks as though she is floating and he is walking behind her, she always looks forward but not into the camera so the audience cannot connect with her. For the chorus the band performs again for the longest time we see them so far. We then cut back to the pair of them walking in town at night where a slight blue tint has been used to enhance the moonlight and the reflection of the water. In the final scene the two of them are standing side by side however their eye lines are in different directions, there is then a close up to emphasise the lyric and then a medium shot in which she walks away. For the last line he is left alone and he walks towards the camera where the light is only on his face and finally it fades out.
This video does not follow a story however it does slightly relate to the lyrics as there is a man and a woman and the woman is ignoring the man as if they have broken up.