Sway The Video

Watching The Kooks ‘Sway’ has showed me how they band technically construct their music videos.

1)By opening the video with a reasonably long still shot of a beach the mood and scene for the rest of the video is set.

2) Emphasis is particularly put on lead singer, Luke Pritchard.

3) Other shots of importance appear to be close ups of faces to bring through emotions.

4) The fast cuts contrast with the slow beat yet make the video flow well as they are in sync with the track and the facial expressions of the band.

5) Towards the end the (approx 10 secs ) shot of Luke walking whilst singing the songs chorus whilst debris falls down around him brings forwards the meaning of the lyrics.

‘Sway’ from The Kooks second album ‘Konk’ was a big risk for the band because when compared with previous hits like ‘Oh La’ and ‘She moves in her own way’ it is much more emotive and serious,however the codes and the conventions expected from the India genre are still used.

The technical structure of the song starts off with a calm melody that builds up in the last chorus to represent the eruption of emotions with light bulbs fusing and walls crumbling to represent the sudden mood change. Indie music videos often show singers peak in emotion when the song climaxes in this case anger.

The video is heavily weighted by the narrative story that follows lead singer, Luke Pritchard expressing his intense emotions for what we as the audience perceive to be his girlfriend. The monotone colourisation connotes how lonely he feels without her and emphasises the intensity of his emotions.

The location of a ‘seaside resort’ is effective because the beach is used to convey the emotions in the lyrics whereas the arcade is a clever way of introduced the rest of the band into the narrative. Together they are having a good time drinking and doing everyday things such as watching telly and playing cards. This puts forward the use and although it is obviously staged it shows the close relationship of The Kooks as they were one of the few Indie bands who were friends before a mainstream band.

Many camera angles are used to add diversity and show scenes from different perspectives. An effective shot is the ‘camera in hand’ combined with fast cuts to show the singers emotions and ultimately relate to the audience with the feeling of adolescent relationships they may have had.
Costume is fairly stereotypical with various links to the Indie genre allowing the audience to recognise the genre such as skinny jeans, plain white t-shirts and messy hair (an all together at ease look.