Music Video Analysis - Two Door Cinema Club

Two Door Cinema Club - Changing Of The Seasons

The first thing about this video is the fact that it is entirely in black and white, and it seems to be set in the 70's as a lot of the people within in the video are dressed in this fashion. This black and white, 1970's style connotes a sense of remembering and nostalgia. This links with the lyrics of the song in that it talks about the breaking apart, and end of, a relationship. However the narrative to the video itself is a lot more impressionistic, not addressing the lyrical narrative of the break-up directly.

For example, the video starts with a short piece of footage, before the song plays, of the band walking up the stairs to an interview and laughing and joking with each other. The shot then swings round to bring into view a man looking impatiently at his watch then at the band with distaste as they enter the room, this implies that the band don't take what they do, or their success, too seriously and that they just enjoy creating their music. Then the band are seated at a press conference and asked questions. One man stands up and asks the band if they are 'surprised by their level of success, considering...' then gestures towards them in a demeaning and condescending fashion. Implying that he doesn't really take the band seriously and that he is shocked at their success considering their attitudes and behaviour. However the question is never answered and at this point the song starts.

As the song starts it immediately cuts to a shot of the lead singer walking down a hallway, this relates to Andrew Goodwin's conventions in the record label's demands for close ups of the artist and also follows the convention that the lead singer of a group or band often gets the most screen time in music video's due to the fact that they're the ones singing the lyrics.

It then cuts back to the press conference and the members of the press start to argue, standing up and starting to push and shove and cause chaos. Over these shot's the lyrics sung are 'did you ever, get to know me? 'Cause it has never, been so plain to see.' We assume when a song is about a relationship or the break down of a relationship that it is between a couple, two people, but the lyrics here could refer to the bands relationship with the press. The fact that they start arguing about the band(even though it is not clear exactly what about) and the band is still sat at the table, the lyrics fit as the lead singer sings into a microphone at the rabble of press members, literally asking them if they really know the band and its members. This could also be a play on the idea that the press and the media are often biased and can twist things.

The shot then cuts to a hotel room containing the band, press photographers and multiple women. The shot is edited to be very blurred at the edged and this could indicate a drunken haze as the people in the room are drinking. The band are lounging around, the bassist lying on the floor with his bass guitar next to a woman, and the photographers are taking pictures of the women posing in a reserved but slightly sexual manner. This relates to Andrew Goodwin's convention of the voyeuristic treatment of women and the male gaze in that the women are posing in suggestive and slightly sexual ways despite the fact that they are moderately clothed. The entire atmosphere of this setting relates to this sort of famous lifestyle stereotype with the band members simply lounging around while the press buzz around them furiously.

Then we cut to a shot of the guitarist finishing a bottle of, what is presumably, alcohol and throwing it backwards over his head. The sequence of shots to follow then fit with the beat of the song as it then cuts to a shot of the bottle flying across the room and the press staring at it with shocked expressions on their faces but in slow motion. This fits with the song because it sort of slows down at this moment and falls into an electronic repetition of the last word of the previous verse as the bottle flys across the shot. It then cuts to a shot of the bottle smashing against the adjacent wall and stays there as a man who by this point we can assume is the band's 'manager' comes in holding a member of the hotel staff in a headlock. (This does link as previously the hotel room shot is interspersed with shots of the manager in the hallway starting to argue with a member of hotel staff). This fits with the lyrics as at the moment the manager walks into the room holding the man in a headlock the lyrics sung are 'The door is open..' which makes a very literal connection between the song and video.

This then links back to the press conference as the hotel room also descends into chaos. However again we have the lead singer simply sat on a sofa in the hotel room as if he outside of everything that is happening in the room. The video then cuts again to a third setting with the band on stage. This adds a live performance element to the video. It also shows shots of the band members laughing and joking as they play on stage which again supports the idea that the band don't take themselves too seriously and just enjoy performing and creating their music despite their success.

We then cut back to the press conference again and it is clear that the entire room has descended into complete anarchy at this point, however the band are not involved and instead lying behind the two upturned table they were previously sat at at the start of the conference. This image relates to an image of conflict with the tables acting as barricades between the band and the press and could again relate to the band's 'relationship' with the press.

Again we have the band and in particular the lead singer just sat in the middle of the chaos, the shots cutting between both the press conference and the hotel room. The fact that the lead singer is sat in the middle of everything singing but not interacting with what is happening could be a symbol of the band's detachment to the mainstream music industry.

The band then flee the hotel and run outside towards a car, indicating for it to leave promptly. Obviously they are running from the chaos ensuing in the video possibly relating to them running away from the press and the opinions they hold and the industry. But as they leave the car is crowded by a horde of screaming girls and before they can leave the lead singer is pulled out of the car. This shows the girls in a very feeble way, the way they're screaming and chasing after the band as if they can't control themselves, putting the band above them. However the way the lead singer is pulled out of the car could show how they can't escape the life they have due to their fame and their success and in turn can't escape the press of the industry.

The final shot is of the band on stage(from behind) bowing to the audience, moving back to the live band aspect of the video. They walk forward and bow as they music slows down and sort of faded out towards the end of the song, as if the band are bowing because they've finished the song the artist just heard as if they'd just played it live.

Additionally I also found this interview that has the band talking about the video for Changing of the seasons and its meaning. 

Two Door Cinema Club- Sleep Alone

The video starts by zooming in through a door to a bedroom where the band members lie sleeping. As the song starts the lead singer, lying on the bed, awakens and gets out of the bed, the other two band members still asleep on a chair and on the floor. It then cuts to a shot of the guitarist lying on the floor, his guitar next to him. This is a sign of the bands style. Even though the video is more interpretive their physical instruments are still there.

The lighting is hazy and dim giving the video a dream like quality. This fits with the lyrics of the song as they talk about someone sleeping alone. The whole set being a bedroom is a very literal link to the song itself. Then the video shows items in the room, such as a hoodie and a cushion, coming to life, and starting to move towards the lead singer. The lighting then changes when the tv turns itself on, and several white lights start shining through the door and window, as the camera swings back around the scene shows that the rest of the band members are suddenly awake and on the tv screen is the band, just visible through the static, playing the song. The TV having the band playing on it is something we can apply Andrew Goodwin's conventions of music videos to, with the concept of screens within screens and looking. The TV screen is a screen within the screen of the video, and the audience's eyes are automatically attracted to it.

The video then cuts to a shot of a sleeping bag opening up and flying in front of the lead singer and the other band members, the tv screen is now almost melting out of the screen. All this represents a supernatural element to the video, as if the room is haunted. This fits with the lyrics in the chorus that reads 'Cause he knows, that they're just ghosts, and they can't hurt him, if he can't see them' as the video is representing these 'ghosts' in the unusual and paranormal activity in the room. It also literally represents the part saying that 'they can't hurt him if he can't see them' because the band members or the audience can't actually see what is causing the unusual things to happen.

However the shot then cuts as the lead singer backs onto the bed and falls onto it. However as he does the lighting changes again and he is back in the room as it was at the start, nothing paranormal happening and the other band members still asleep. This suggests that the lead singer is having a dream or that he dreamed what just happened previously. This is a literal link to the title of the song and the lyrics in the concept of sleep. As the song is called Sleep Alone and sleep is a theme throughout. 

The shot then cuts to the TV static and zooms out of the tv to reveal the band playing in the same room, except on the TV. The shot then cuts from being a shot of the TV to as if we are simply watching what is going on on the TV through the entire screen. So basically eliminating the screen within the screen. The video is slightly blurred and is regularly interrupted by static, this confirms to the audience that they are intact watching the TV screen within the video. This also adds a live performance element to the music video, which correlates with their other video’s. For example, I examined the music video for Changing of the Seasons and this is the same in the aspect of live performance. The band are clearly seen throughout the video playing their instruments to the song, however this is not the main focus or style throughout the video, it is broken up with narrative or interpretive video. This is a theme throughout many of Two Door Cinema Club’s videos. 

The video then moves on to change again. The lead singer is on the bed as it falls from a skyscraper and then into the ground down what seems like a bottomless hole. This again adds to the dream and sleep theme of the video and links to the lyrics of the song as it frequently talks about sleep. The way the bed is falling through the hole is very similar to Alice falling down the rabbit hole and falling for a long time, we can apply Andrew Goodwin’s theory of the frequent use of intertextuality to this part as it is very representative of Alice in Wonderland. This again links to dreaming and notion of the supernatural or paranormal.