Mistaken For Strangers

THE NATIONAL

The National are a Brooklyn based rock band that originally formed in 1999 in Ohio. “Mistaken For Strangers” is the first single to be released from their album “Boxer”. The music video for this song went back to the basics completely. The video was filmed in a band member’s apartment and was released in May 2007. In a 2007 interview with “The Scenestar”, the lead singer Matt Berninger explained the video as being "very low-budget, without any narrative. No applied story to it. We're really happy with it. That kind of stuff, when it comes to videos, we'd much rather be Cinéma vérité and just shooting the band as the band. Not the band on a desert or on a spaceship. That's usually more interesting I think”. The term Cinéma vérité essentially means “truthful cinema”; Berninger has chosen to go back to basics and filmed the band as being a normal band who love singing, relaxing, recording and just having fun. The indie rock genre itself has a very “Do It Yourself” attitude and their music video at home epitomises the characteristics of the genre.

THE NATIONAL

Goodwin’s theory states that each genre has key genre characteristics makes the genre unique. The main characteristics of the indie genre is the presence of performance in a music video. In “Mistaken For Strangers” the band are seen at various times performing together. The medium shot of the band performing shows the band’s drummer, guitarists and lead singer all in one frame which suggests unity. Also, a low angle medium shot is used to focus on the guitarist’s skills. Another key characteristic of the indie genre which is not followed most of the time is the “Do It Yourself” attitude. In this music video, the band are playing their own instruments in their own apartment and have used their own equipment to make their music video which takes the audience back to the beginning of the indie genre where indie bands used their own resources to make themselves known. The use of their own equipment in making their music video makes them stand out more as not all indie bands direct their own videos anymore.

GENRE CHARACTERISTICS

There is no direct relationship between the lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are very contradictory to the visuals on the screen. Most of the time you see the band performing with their instruments and jumping on their beds with headphones on, lost in the music. This action could be to echo what the band want their audience to feel-passionately lost in the music. The lead singer of the band himself stated that the music video has no narrative which could mean that lyrics were written without a narrative to fit the music video which is very basic and mainly performance driven.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LYRICS AND VISUALS

Medium close up of the band member jumping on the bed with headphones on.

Medium shot of the band performing with their instruments.

There is a very strong relationship between the music and visuals in this music video. For example when the bass guitar kicks a medium shot is used to demonstrate the guitar being played. A close up of the guitar is also used to show how it is being played by a member of the band. A slightly low angle medium shot is used to show the lead singer singing into his microphone, this helps establish his role in the band. The fact that there is no narrative in this music video what so ever makes it easier for the band to establish a relationship between their music and visuals. The music video is not telling a story; it’s just portraying the band doing what they do best- playing their music.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC AND VISUALS

“The National” are not mainstream at all and are a relatively small band and are signed to a relatively small record label but this does not stop them from trying their best to appeal to their target audience. The typical indie record label demands for bands to form a link with their target audience. Through this music video, they have joined a link with their target audience as they have gone back to the basics with the indie genre and have made a music video that will appeal to hard core indie fans who appreciate a band that use no tricks or spectacular effects to increase the importance and glamour of their music videos- they appreciate a band who just create good music accompanied with simple, yet appealing music videos. Also, as with any other record label, indie record labels demand that band members be introduced individually. However, the fact that this video is home made by the band means that they had the power to do what they want therefore they just went with the flow and did whatever came to their mind.

DEMANDS OF THE RECORD LABEL

No screens within screens are used in this video and there is no voyeuristic treatment of the female body evident in the music video. The music video is very simple and just features the band playing their instruments and some band members jumping on a bed with headphones on. This could be due to the fact that the band members did not want to do anything complicated and out of touch from their own music. As the lead singer stated in an interview, the band wanted to do something that was “truthful cinema”- something that was pure and showed nothing else but the band.

INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES

There are no intertextual references in this music video. This could be due to the band wanting to keep everything simple and wanting the audience to focus on themselves and their music. To include an intertextual reference to a TV programme or a film would take the audiences away from the band’s music.

NOTION OF LOOKING