Contextual Research - Case Study 2 - Vampire Weekend

 This Life - Vampire Weekend

Director: Emmet Malloy

    Emmet and his brother (publicly known as the Malloy Brothers), both work together in directing a range of products from adverts to music videos and documentaries.

The brothers are self taught and never went to film school. This could be a signifier as to why their work (although changing to fit their clients needs) uses intimate camera work to create a sense of community, engagement and shared experience - they aim to create meaningfulness in their projects.

Notable works: Adverts for Nike, The NBA and Samsung. Music Videos for Vampire Weekend, The white Stripes and Blink-182. Features/Documentaries for Biggie Smalls, Shaun White and Oasis.

The brother's website: http://malloybrothers.com/

Artist: Vampire Weekend (VW)

The band is characterised as an alternative/indie rock band.

The song is from the bands fourth album - Father of the Bride. The grammy award winning album comes after the bands 6 year hiatus, and is a story of the relatability of life in all its ups and downs.

The bands style is ever changing (being a distinctive style each album) and FOTB uses lots of experimentation. They blend many styles incorporating african influences with layering, harmony and technological almost electronic sounds  

The band were originally perceived as preppy schoolboys fuelled by trust funds but the band have moved on from this persona with fans understanding their irony in their songs and image becoming cult classics.

The song blends humour with sincerity detailing the acceptance to mistakes but saying it doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things. This accurate portrayal of life is relatable to audiences drawing interest to the song and maintains the bands brand identity with their often ironic messages.

Narrative:

The videos narrative follows a driver (Wade) picking up people (in a sort of taxi-like way) taking them to a dinner.

Video features celebrities many of which are jewish and many of which played a role in the creation of the FOTB album.

Malloy starts the video with an introduction to the driver (arguably the main character if the video), Wade. He uses diegetic sound of camera clicks and speech to instantly create an intimate, documentary style feel. The speech instantly states the meaning of the song "I'm a people person". The audience are given an understanding that the songs message is to be about friendship and community - positive messages.

Two passengers get into the car (Danielle Haim from the alternative pop/rock group HAIM, who is credited on a few of the songs on the album). The car starts and the text 'Vampire Weekend presents" enters the screen. The shot followed is a close up of Wade turning up his stereo as the crisp guitar starts. The songs title is spread across the screen. The mix of audio and visual codes connote to the audience that the song is meant to be turned up loudly to spread the joy of the music. (Goodwin)

The video also features performance sections - Ezra playing guitar and singing to camera as the frontrunner of the band with the other band members paying their instruments. This enables the band to show their joy in performing reflecting how the song is aiming to make people feel - happy and care free reflecting the lyrics about bittersweet acceptance - 'you've been cheating on me, i've been cheating on you, but we've been cheating through this life'.

The video ends with friends (picked up along the way) at dinner detailing the idea of shared joy and shared experience of people. Furthermore, Wade being at the dinner adds to the intended messages of friendship and community.

Mise-en-scène:

The use of black and white lighting presents a simplicity to the video. Malloy uses light and dark to highlight the video creating an intimate atmosphere for the audience. The natural light of the narrative video contrasts the studio lights of the band performative sections clearly separating the two.

        Malloy uses many almost photographic shots, this coupled with the calmness of black and white brings a beauty to the video suggesting time and care. The shots done on film add to this idea as well as the timeless documentary style feel.

The mise-en-scène creates a feel of happiness and group enjoyment through the use of many different eclectic shots. The mix of shots all follow the videos conventions (black and white and intimate) whether of the narrative or one the band.

The video creates a feeling of happiness for audiences, almost nostalgic joy. Through a mix of eclectic shots like a hand tapping on the car, turning up the radio, laughing and smiling close ups, running through gardens and waving hands in the air. This reflects into the audience and portrays the positive, friendly messages of the song. Wade crying at the end adds to the sense of nostalgia and the mix of emotion  people feel - love, joy, gratitude etc - reflecting the songs ideas of out of control acceptance of hardship.

The video uses text and lyrics throughout. In terms of the lyrics in this video, they are small and understated as not to draw too much attention away from the beautiful shots of the video. 

Camerawork:

Malloy uses a combination of still shots with shaky camera shots. This blend create a tone of art with familiarity. Precision and detail. This combination crates a feeling of sincerity and vulnerableness - slight 'imperfections' (use of a handheld camera to film Ezra and shots on old film) can create audience inclusion - some shots are as if a friend is filming the video for fun.

During the performative sections of the songs with the lead member of the band, Ezra, the camera constantly moves around him. This suggests that he is not constrained, he is freely enjoying and expressing the way the the song makes him feel.

The mix of close up shots with full body shots creates an intimacy to the video. It is almost documentary style (in keeping with Malloys style). For example, the growing closeness of shots on the mans face for him to eventually smile creates a warm friendly tone to the video. This added to a shot of him and Wade dancing round garden slightly hidden behind trees creates the feel of pure joy as if the audience are being given an insight into peoples lives. 

Representation/brand identity: 

The end of the video gathers friends round a table for traditional Jewish passover meal - Seder. Ezra (the main lead of the band) and many of the artists featured in the video are Jewish or have Jewish heritage - Danielle Haim (backing vocals), Mark Ronson and Ariel Rechtshaid. The video acts as representation for an under represented group in the media. The use of intimate shots of Ronson laying the table and lighting candles connotes care and respect. Furthermore, the shots of the band setting up their instruments adds to the idea of time and care - creative precision and pride.

The use of celebrities (Danielle Haim and Kyle Field of Little Wing) acts as celebrity endorsement but all people featured in the video had a part to play in the making of the FOTB album. In this way the song acts as a celebratory song for the group - the success and happiness of the bands creation of the album can be seen in the video and shared with the audience.

The video also keeps to VW's brand identity. The video resembles the video for 'Step' from their second album. The use of black and white photographic shots keeps the continuity of beauty and simplicity in the everyday
. The text used for the introductions in this video is the same font used on the bands album covers as well as their music videos. The font is bold and visible - easy to read for audiences and can be identified as Vampire Weekend. 

The video ends with the image of VW's logo for the new album. The final image stays in the audiences mind and act as promotion for the band. The image of a hand in a hand summarises the videos feelings of friendship, care, and peace (it could be a reference to the Hamsa - an eye in the hand as a defence to the evil eye (in Buddhism) - support will help you). This coupled with the closing speech by Wade, "I'm kind of a loner but i'm also sort of a people person" summarises the video perfectly. (The logo is also somewhat blurry in keeping with the conventions of the video).

Overall 

• Use of camera angles - cohesive mix of documentary style and artistic, photographic shots 
• Contrast of "action" shots (such as waving hands in the air) to still shot of people looking at the camera creates an understanding of pride people have taken in their work 
• also allows for the audience to feel included - they are acknowledged with a direct mode of address