Arctic Monkeys - The View From The Afternoon
This music video for the song 'The View From The Afternoon' by Arctic Monkeys is based in one location throughout, a deserted council estate with the only common feature throughout is a drummer situated in the middle of this deserted council estate. Firstly the opening shot is a long shot of a man walking through a deserted scene establishing the themes that will continue throughout the music video as a whole, the black and white colours used also add to the sense of emptiness. The first recognition of the drummer in the video also perhaps establishes what genre of music the song is in, as the drum kit and the way the man playing the drums looks has a relevance to rock music, which is ofcourse the genre that Arctic Monkeys are a part of.
There is also the use of a black and white cut-away a few times, I interpret this to be showing the drummer zoning out before he prepares to play the drums which would make sense as he is playing the drums non-stop for such a long period of time. Most importantly for this music video the drummer hitting the kit is in time with the music, there are several long shots of the drummer and his kit emphasising a sense of isolation. The switch between night and day time makes it clear that he is playing the drums for a long period of time and that he is very dedicated, perhaps reflecting the bands ideology towards their music. In this music video they show the drummer from several different angles (e.g close up, long shot, from behind, overhead) and they also use lots of different shots to establish the council estate location (long shots of buildings, close ups of signs + people on their balconies).
The shot of the three men tormenting and throwing things at the drummer adds comedic value and also shows how focused the drummer is, also as if he is addicted to playing the drums and nothing can distract him. The music video ends on an uncertain ending leaving the viewer wanting to know what happens next.
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