The song was released in July 2008 and reached number 63 in the UK Singles Chart.
The first shot is a close up shot of a window from the inside of a house, the camera then tracks out to show a cat asleep on a bed. The mise-en-scene such as the cat and the flower pot in the window make it clear that the music video is set in a house. The house is the only setting used in the music video, it has a quirky feel to it because of the bright floral wallpaper - this quirkiness is expected with indie music videos.
This mid shot is the first shot that properly introduces the main singer of the band. The lighting for this shot is very dark which still doesn't make the artists identity clear to the audience. The singer is shown lip syncing to the song while the camera slowly tracks in towards the artist.
The music video features some ducks which don't have an apparent purpose for being in the video, this
element of mise-en-scene makes it clear that the video is supposed to be light hearted and fun to watch. The lead singer is shown dancing in a silly manner, this also contributes to the atmosphere of the video. This distinct feel to the music video emphasises that the genre of it is Indie. One feature of a typical Indie music video is to have a random element to it, towards the end of the video the floors start to become flooded by water and the band perform in the flooded setting, this gives the video its random feel.
Linking to Andrew Goodwin's theory of genre conventions of the music video, this music video does use some of the conventions of the theory.
1) Different genres of music demonstrate their own music video conventions - The genre of this song is Indie Pop. Usually in a Indie Pop video there is a mix of narrative and performance based shots.This music video contains both of these conventions, however there isn't much of a storyline to the video.
2) There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals - There isn't really a present relationship between the lyrics and visuals apart from the lyrics "But you still read", the shot accompanying these lyrics is of a bookcase. The lyrics "Shine On" are repeated a lot throughout the song which could link to the lighting in the video - the lighting in the shots tend to look quite dull which contrasts with the bright lighting in some shots coming from lamps. The lyrics could be linked to the lights shining.
3) There is a relationship between music and visuals - The song has a laid back, simple feel to it which is shown through the visuals. For example - there isn't a complicated story that accompanies the song, it's simply the lead singer singing about a girl and looking at her. The music video is easy and pleasant to watch, just as the song is to listen to.
4) Many close ups of the artist to emphasise the image of the star - There are many close up shots of the lead singer, however I don't feel that the purpose of this is to place emphasis on the star. With Indie Pop bands there isn't the need for the band/artist to look good or look like a star as the focus is mainly on the music that the band produce.
5) Frequent reference to the notion of looking, and voyeuristic treatment of the female body - There is some reference to the notion of looking as the lead singer is often seen looking at the female in the music video. However there is no voyeuristic treatment of the female body at all, the female in the video is seen throughout but she is seen innocently sleeping throughout the majority of the music video - this is completely opposite to what Goodwin's theory suggests.
6) There are often intertextual references to films, other music videos etc - There are no intertextual references.
Here is the official music video -
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