The 1975 - "Settle Down" Music Video Analysis

Seeing as The 1975 are both a reputable band within the indie genre, and the band who have provided the song that we will be using within our video, I have decided to analyse a music video of one of their songs - "Settle Down". The song is fifth single from the band's (consisting of vocalist/guitarist Matthew Healy, guitarist Adam Hann, drummer George Daniel and bass guitarist Ross MacDonald - all from Cheshire, England) self-titled debut album. The song runs at 3:59 minutes, with the video itself running longer at 4:28 minutes. The video was released on the 29th of January, 2014, and is directed by Nadia Marquard Otzen. About the video, band frontman Healy states "I think I was slightly obsessed with how certain, bleak areas of Northern England contained my history and the soul of my family, my psyche - I always felt connected and disconnected at the same time.", as well as "I've always been quite fascinated with the potency of same sex relationships, plutonic or otherwise. I was brought up in a very open minded environment, somewhere I felt that, whoever I was, I would be accepted. With this understanding I was also very aware of others, school friends, acquaintances - whom, due to where we lived, probably didn't have such a comfortable place to grow up, we were unaffected and affected by taboos and the small minded at the same time."

The video, filmed entirely in black-and-white, tells the story of two young boys living in what looks to be a working-class town in the North East of England. Both boys are hinted to have feelings for one another throughout the video through a number of ways. At the beginning of the video, both boys are seen to be taking part in activities that are seen as "traditionally male", such as football and training for boxing, with authority figures such as their parents looking negatively at them whilst they are taking part in these activities - implying that the parents of these boys are disgusted at their sexuality and so force them to take part in "traditionally male" activities as a way to combat their feelings. Additionally, the boys are shown to be seen in certain locations but separated by barriers that stop them being together - for example, both boys are shown to be in a caravan park but one is trapped, looking out at the other one from inside a caravan, or both boys being in the back of separate cars, looking at each other sorrowfully as they pass each other. This reinforces the idea that they are living in a place that does not approve of the feelings that they have for each other. This can be seen to be backed up by the lyric "you know I can't be found with you". This reflects the theme of the video, as both boys know that they are not allowed to be seen together but can't help their feelings. Another way in which this theme is referenced within the video would be various shots showing adult figures in a church, preaching and praying. This could be a reference that many modern day Christians believe that homosexuality is a sin, again reinforcing that the two boys feelings for each other are seen to be negative within the place that they live. The video ends with the two boys escaping their homes and meeting up with each other, with them placing their hands to each other and creating a light between them. The light is seen to make their parents and all of the adults in the church fall unconscious, and soar high in to the sky. The light can be seen as the boys excepting their feelings for one another and no longer caring about the prejudice that they are facing from their authority figures. The main narrative plotline is interspersed with clips of the band frontman Healy walking through the town that the video is set, visiting the different locations that the boys were seen in throughout the video. Because of his facial expressions of sorrow throughout the video and the fact that he lights up at the climax of the video, this could imply that Healy is in fact one of the boys in the future visiting the town.

The video uses a variety of camera angles throughout - however, close-ups and mid-shots are mainly used to show the facial expressions of the characters or the actions that they are taking part in. However, the video both starts and ends with angled long-shots to establish the video and end it on a note of equilibrium. Many of the video's shots are in slow motion, however, to show the sadness of the main characters at their inability to be together. When the two boys finally escape and meet up together, the shots speed up to show the urgency of the two characters needing each other.
The average shot length of the video is no more than 6 seconds, with several cuts made in the video that follow the beat of the song. Each cut is a straight cut, not using any dissolving transitions, making each clip shown flow sharply and consistently.

The target audience for this video and song is most likely to be young adults, as the themes resonate with many viewers who have or are experiencing the same thing. Additionally, the song is very relaxed and calm yet contains a sense of adrenaline, making this a song that the audience could enjoy and listen to regularly.