HB: Promo Pack Analysis - Mumford and Sons

Mumford and Sons - Lover Of The Light

• Our group has chosen to use a Mumford and Sons track for our music video so I have chosen to use a video from their second album Babel - Lover Of The Light
• This will help me gain a better understanding of the conventions used within a narrative video and using this research together with my other group members we should be able to gain a far better understanding of the bands meta narrative and come up with more ideas for our video.
  
  
• Applying Goodwin's theory one of his key aspects is immediately notable and that is the narrative basis for the video. This is helpful to our group as we intend for much of our video to be narrative based, however, we are considering including a performance aspect also which this video does not. 
• Since there isn't a performance aspect in this video not all the conventions of the folk genre are present, such as the instruments and clothing, however, the location moves to the woods and nature seems to be a continuously used theme within their music videos. 
• The narrative of the video has an amplified relationship between itself and the lyrics. It displays a man who has recently lost his wife and is meant to be attending her funeral but instead he changes his mind and plans on throwing himself off the cliff - running towards 'the light' to be with his wife. 
• Although the band themselves do not physically appear in this video this can still help construct their meta narrative as, applying Goodwin's theory, the narrative aspect of this video helps to establish them as story tellers causing the audience to associate them with having meaningful songs. 
• Goodwin's theory has shown me that an amplified relationship between the lyrics and video is important to the indie folk genre as the story and meaning of the songs are key to the genre.
  
  
• Barthes enigma/hermeneutic code can be applied to this concept as it is never shown that this is what happened but linking it to the lyrics and signs within the video, such as the black suit, making to breakfasts when it's just him, helps the viewer to build a fuller picture. 
• Another key symbol within the video is the man's cane. The significance of the cane is highlighted by the length of time the focus is on it. I think that this is to symbolise his realization that his wife is no longer with him to act as a 'seeing eye' and this is the turning point for the narrative of the video.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Todorov's narrative theory can also be applied to this video. The stable equilibrium is present at the start of the video where the man is lying in bed and everything is calm.
  
  
  
  
  
• This is followed by the disruption evidenced by the man's conflict with the cane.
  
• Next the disruption is recognised when he is running through the woods frantically
  
  
  
  
• Then the deer, which could be seen as his wife's spirit is seen halting and the man comes to realise that his wife will always be with him - acting against the disruption
  
  
  
  
• Finally, a new state of equilibrium is formed when the man screams out at the edge of the cliff as he is releasing his anger and sadness
  
  
  

Analysis of album artwork - Babel