Posted by Nick
'Nothing to Worry about' by Peter, Bjorn & John
Genre & Narrative
In the music video for ‘Nothing to Worry about’, the audience follows a day in the life of one of Japan’s Rockabilly members, preparing for a day out, and then, later, meeting with friends to perform.
There are a variety of forms and conventions which make the video easily identifiable with the ‘Indie’ genre. Firstly, by using Andrew Goodwin’s ideas about the basic structure of all music video’s, we can see that the video is both narrative and concept based. We see the main character dressing in dark and mostly leather clothing, connoting that he is part of a ‘rock’ subculture. As the music changes from the slower beginning verse (highlighted by lingering shots and the characters doing very mundane things, such as eating and getting dressed), to the chorus, a more lively and energetic piece of music, the visuals change, showing the men all dancing frantically to the music. This then repeats for the next verse and chorus, giving the video its narrative. The video is also concept based, as the lyrics have no reference to Japan or its subcultures, thus showing that the producers have decided to go for the artistic route for the music video (previously chosen for other music videos by the band), and give the video its ‘repeatability’ factor.
When analysing the video, one could argue that the Rockabilly’s are perhaps the performers in the video, displaying various dance moves and giving an insight into their everyday lives, whilst keeping with the visual style of the video, (having a documentary feel, shot with handheld cameras, depicting a normal person’s life in a culture that seems alien to British audiences). There is no reference to the notion of looking (apart from on a couple of occasions in the beginning verse when the character looks at himself in the mirror whilst getting ready). I believe that the director has chosen not to include many of these shot’s as the band are not included in the video at all, and using them would break the visual style.
The video has many intertextual references, mainly associated with Asian cinema combined with the American high school movies such as those by John Hughes, hence the rebellion motif of the men in their leather suits, not conforming to Japan’s tendency to maintain an image of the ‘squeaky clean’ individual. The dance sequences and MS shots were characters are on motorbikes or in bar’s are all neatly choreographed and thus similar to the dance and fight scenes in Asian cinema.
The music video is an example of ‘disjuncture’, as there is no relevant relationship between the lyrics and visuals, (however the lyrics of the chorus read ‘I’ve got nothing to worry about’, and thus the characters are seen dancing in their own individual styles in their unique clothing, perhaps illustrating that these people truly do have ‘nothing to worry about’ as they can do what they want. This is highlighted through the narrative depicting the character waking up, washing, doing weights and going out with friends, perhaps seen to be self-indulgent, meeting friends and performing dance moves, and thus illustrating the lyric’s, but not in a direct way).
The video is very postmodern, with an attention-grabbing look which makes the audience want to watch the video in a focused manner. It present’s the Japanese ‘hillbilly’ culture in a suburban area, not normally depicted in music videos, giving it it’s postmodern feel (along with the costumes and hairstyles), with both interior and exterior shot’s detailing the bleak feel of the place, with the MS in the bar, with the character dressed in black against a black and grey cluttered background, filled with posters and stickers of rock star’s, not being able to stand out, as well as the high angle shot above the group as they walk forward conveying they are distant from any other’s in the city, and this is all changed when the chorus begins and the men lose themselves in dance. The video embraces bricolage, taking styles from American fashion and European dance, challenging them separately and combining them to give the video an extremely different look, remaining non-commercialised and artistic, amongst mainstream videos highly influenced by the record companies need for the artist to be sold as a ‘product’.
Media Language
All of the shots in the opening part of the music are MS, MCU or CU; used to allow the audience to identify with the main character directly and thus identify with his story and potentially see the world through his eyes. Analysing mise-en –scene, we can see in the MCU pan shot of the group their hairstyles and dress sense, and in LS of the interior of the main characters bedroom, we see his Harley Davidson motorbike, as well as his grooming products, leathers, as well as bags of washing and rubbish, immediately offering the audience an insight into their lives and thus presenting para-social intimacy. As the first chorus begins, the shots suddenly cut to the lively dancing, with tilt and pan shots following, showing other group members clapping in time to their friends dancing, supporting them, highlighting the idea of a close group. Many of the group are seen smoking and riding bicycles, reinforcing the ‘biker’ image, and are in keeping with the hetero-normative discourse. The shot sizes and movements are very limited, (mostly CU or MCU shots, with either pan or tilt being used, shot with either steadicam or handycam), and this adds to the style of the video, shot lo-fi, with a documentary feel. The editing pace is relatively slow, shots drawn-out, and detailing the groups activities in acute detail. However when the chorus begins the cuts are much more rapid, giving the song an energetic feel, the fast edit in the chorus reflecting the lively music, and the longer shots used in the more subdued verses. Analysing the mise-en-scene, we can see how the group do not come from a wealthy background, the harshly lit apartments in which they live and the heavy greys of the buildings which they walk past, connoting a cheaply built, non-elaborate building. The lighting is all mostly natural, using natural sunlight to coincide with the documentary feel, the only artificial lighting being that in the interior shots, to draw emphasis onto the character inside the buildings rather than they’re surroundings. No special effects are used in the video as it would not be in keeping with the visual style and would thus increase the budget, and the lo-fi feel would not cater for large special effects when the majority of shots are from hand held cameras, filming normal people on a day out.
The video was obviously shot with the idea of avant-garde and pastiche in mind, as the director has borrowed from cultures recognisable in the western world (the rockers in their leathers riding motorcycles), and applied it to a completely different setting; Japan, and thus the outcome is a truly out of the ordinary piece which encourages repeatability as well as using semiotics of the rock culture and Japan, the tattoos, hairstyles and people within the video, to offer the audience a chance to identify with the characters and recognise what they do.
As there are no shot’s of the band themselves in the video, there is no need for meat shots or CU, normally used to let the audience familiarise themselves with themselves with the artist and thus buy into the ‘product’ that the producers have created. However, the video is very artistic and in keeping with the band’s previous videos. This adds to the bands meta-narrative as the audience have bought into the bands artistic videos and expect them to produce videos challenging conventions. All of the band’s previous outlets have been artistic, employing different methods of production for each one, ranging from animation in ‘Young Folks’ to a documentary style video for ‘Nothing to Worry about’, and thus there is no narrative to the bands videos but they are all similar in the fact that they push boundaries and offer an alternative view to the music video.
Representation
In the first verse, we see the main character dressing, preparing his hair and weightlifting, followed by LS’ of him checking himself in the mirror and putting his clothes on, and from this we can see how the sub culture of the Rockabilly group members take a lot of pride in what they wear and do, (going against ideologies reinforced in the media that the majority of Japanese are all very pristine and well kept, images of the government in the news shows them dressed extremely neatly along with the majority of the country, highlighted in the video when the onlookers to the group dancing are all in vibrant clothing, starkly opposite to the Rockabilly members who in the video represent the majority, but in real life, are a small minority of people). We see the characters bedroom, a messy and cluttered area, a MS pan right shows a cluttered table with many grooming products, this preceded by three separate shots of the man applying new products to his hair and then drying it, thus summing up the culture perfectly; whilst the men take every effort to look the best they can, they still maintain a scruffy ‘rock star’ image. The video goes against the idea of ‘the cult of youth and beauty’ as it depicts middle aged men still enjoying meeting friends, and dancing together.
The ideology of capitalism certifies that to be successful and happy, one must be rich, highlighted in traditional hip-hop videos where rappers are shown lavished in jewellery and expensive luxuries, connoting wealth. In Peter, Bjorn & John’s video, this ideological discourse is challenged as we see the group waking up in their small apartments, drinking in cluttered bars and then dancing on a crowded street, no luxuries immediately recognisable, but thus they are all seen to be having a good time. The steadicam shot following the main character walking from his apartment shows the place in which he lives, a block of flats lit by harsh, cheap lighting, connoting that the living accommodations for the group are not of the highest standard. All the characters are middle aged and thus the traditional belief that those in their teenage years often have the most fun is challenged. When watching the video, with its documentary feel, one gets the feeling that everything the group does is secret, going against the strict regimes set out by those above them, the jerky handy cam shots and the lo-fi feel gives the idea that someone is documenting the Rockabilly’s lifestyle, bringing light onto the group’s different lives.
Institution & Audience
As the video is extremely different from mainstream music videos, it would be shown on channels associated with the genre specifically, such as channel NME as they specialise in the ‘Indie’ and ‘Rock’ genres in which the video falls under. Due to the video’s lo-fi appearance the video could be viewed both in an ambient or focused manner. Due to its postmodern look and feel as well as its ‘documentary’ appearance being different from any other, audiences would view the video and then want to watch it again to truly understand the story being displayed in the visuals, adding to its repeatability, as well as the idea of ‘narrative fuzz’ being created as the video is cut so that glimpses of what is to come in the latter part’s of the video (the group standing in a circle, creating an enigma as to what they are about to do), are shown and thus the audience wants to watch more to see what will happen. Audiences could also watch the video in an ambient manner as we see the group dancing together with choreographed dance moves, similar to all other mainstream performance based videos.
Due to the video obviously being shot on a low budget, the record label would have had little input into the production of the video as the video is postmodern and artistic, with the artist not appearing in the video and thus no star persona being created. The video is really about promoting the music rather than the band, and thus whilst the video is lo-fi and can be consumed in an ambient manner, the music really stands out, the enjoyment for the audience coming from the music rather than the visuals. ‘Social currency’ evident in the video would be copying the dance moves and perhaps the hair and clothes styles of the Rockabilly’s, however as we immediately understand that these people are from another country and lead a truly separate way of life to the rest of their country, it would be difficult for a European or American audience to truly appreciate the styles and thus copy them for themselves.
