Textual Analysis of "Blue Song" by Mint Royale

It was directed by Edgar Wright, who has directed mainly films such as "The Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy", "Hot Fuzz" and "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World". It features three well known actors; Julian Barratt, Noel Fielding, Nick Frost and the lesser known Michael Smiley.

The video is narrative based, as it shows the story of four men robbing a bank; one of which staying in the car for their quick escape when the others get back, and what he  comes across whilst doing so. There are also scenes at the beginning and end of the characters dialogue, creating a much stronger narrative, than it just being a music promo.

It also includes elements of a performance video, as Noel Fielding “sings” or mimes to the song, but as it his not him actually singing on the track, and he isn’t on a stage or somewhere usual for a performance, it isn’t entirely a performance video.

There are also many cuts on the beat, as it is a sampled and remixed track, which is quite conventional of the genre of the song, linking to one of Goodwin's Six of the video matching the genre of the music. Many tracking shots are used, which is quite unusual as they move around Noel, while he stays in one place, however it does create a strong sense of movement, which sort of mirrors Noel as he is dancing, the viewer feel they are moving in a similar way. Many mid shots that zoom to a close up are also used, possibly trying to make it seem like the viewer is there with Noel. However, most of these shots are through the windscreen, with only very few from the side (giving the impression that the viewer is in the car) creating quite an obvious separation between the audience and Noel.

Quite high key lighting it used throughout, with very few shadows, giving the video a fresh feel. The fairly muted colour palette of light blues, greens and greys also adds to the fresh feeling of the video, whilst also producing a seemingly calm atmosphere, which contrasts with what is happening in the bank, and with the red alarm going off at the end of the video.

One of Goodwin’s Six is the idea of voyeurism, and there are many notions of looking throughout the music video, especially using mirrors to demonstrate this idea; the sunglasses Noel also wears sunglasses, which add to the idea being able to see other people or things, without them being able to tell.

Another of Goodwin’s 6 is featured, which is the music and visuals being linked which happens at certain points in the song. For example at 2:25 Noel notices a pigeon outside, and whilst paying attention to this the music reaches a bridge, until 2:48 when Noel gets back in the car after cleaning his bonnet, and the music comes to a slight crescendo and into a kind of remixed instrumental break. Also throughout he dances to the music, changing as different notes and rhythms are heard, again linking the music to the visuals.

Also there are many close-ups of Noel which is one of the ‘record labels demands’ however, he isn’t the artist, so this may not necessarily count as one of Goodwin's 6.

I particularly like the video as the narrative is quite interesting, and compliments the song quite well which can sometimes be a difficult task, when the song is fairly ambiguous as "Blue Song" is. I also like it due to the fairly well known actors that star in it; which was probably the idea, that people would watch the video - thus hear the song more - as they liked the famous people in it.