Analysing a music video

Say You Don't Want It by One Night Only

The genre of this song is indie rock which can also be perceived through the costumes worn by the band members. The setting of the video is New York, which is revealed straight away due to the various fast pace shots of the city that match the beat of the song, this shows a close relationship between the music and the visuals. Before the narrative storyline is revealed, shots of the band playing on a roof are shown. This reveals who is in the band, who are the stars, along with well-known actress Emma Watson, of this video.

Following those shots is a sequence showing the back streets of New York and the people in it. Then the narrative storyline begins. It is a love story which has similar features to the Disney film, 'The Lady and the Tramp'. The full meaning of the story is not realised until the end when it is revealed that the two characters are both dogs. Then the story begins to add up, for example, when they have a pretzel thrown at them and when he is chased out of the shop.

The video itself uses a wide range of shots such as establishing shots and medium close ups. Most of the cuts are straight cuts and there is not much of a relationship between the music and visuals. There are close ups of the artist who plays a predominant character within the video. He lip sings during the shots of the band playing on the roof but not during the narrative shots. The video uses a sort of misty effect in order to not make the colour so bold.