Video analysis - Beirut - Elephant Gun

Beirut's video for the track 'Elephant Gun is typical of an indie music video, with artistic and quirky elements including dance performances from men and women with plastic elephant noses strapped to their faces and the image of a man (the lead singer) playing trumpet whilst standing in the sea.

The most likely method of consumption for this video would probably be via the internet, using websites like youtube. Truly independent (this song falls into the category of indie folk) music has little representation on music channels like MTV, and this sort of song is not popular with as large an amount of people as those who prefer, say, Tinchy Stryder or U2. The fan base for this style of music and band would generally be of the more arty type, so you would expect more focused viewing of the video (especially owing to the fact that the main body of people watching it will have searched for it on youtube with intention to watch the video and not simply leave it on and view it ambiently whilst doing something else).

In terms of the institutional context of the video, Beirut are signed to Ba Da Bing Records who would appear to be quite a low-key record company, of whose current signings Beirut would seem to be the most successful. Therefore, it is to be expected that free-to-utilise services like iTunes and Youtube would be the biggest source of marketing and advertising for the band. Beirut also has a website, on which it lists news and releases. These would probably be paid for and upheld by the band themselves.

Looking at the video, the synaesthetic effect of listening to the music would produce something similar in nature to what has been created. However, the video does still serve to amplify the meaning considerably, using images which come as a surprise (the wall falling away to reveal the sea behind) and are not what we would expect, thereby adding meaning. There is little in the way of any disjunctive effect created by the video - the singer looks like the sort of person to have that sort of voice, the location looks suitable for the setting of the party, and the performance is suitably crazy and 'arty'. The only references to the title/lyrics I can find in the video are the uses of a rifle wielded by a man who seems to be shooting at the people dressed as elephants (hence the title; 'Elephant Gun') and the reference to alcohol ('As did I, we drink to die, we drink tonight'). The whole video is less of an illustration and more of an amplification of the original meaning of the song.

Therefore, I would be inclined to suggest that this video be considered more artistic. Obviously, the main aim is to publicise and advertise the band and its music, but the use of performance and created environments lends it a more arty side than most other videos.

The band image within the video is represented not only by the two musicians (the singer and the ukulele player) in the video but also the people who they are with -  the dancers and party guests are not merely window dressing for the band, they are a statement of their social stature and a denotation of the social life that band have. Even though we cannot see the other three band members, we can assume that they look similar and act in a similar manner to the two who are in the video purely because this is the image that they have set up in the video. The main visual techniques in use are obviously the mise-en-scene of the costumes worn, the 'Grain of Voice' embodied by the lead singer and the camerawork, which frames the main character in a way that makes us feel as if we are looking at him on an eye level.

To conclude, this is a music video which deviates from the accepted norms of music videos, but not so far that it becomes obsolete as a publicity tool. It is intended as art, but not without vestiges of a sense of band promotion.