9 Frame analysis: Maximo Park – Our Velocity

The video begins shortly before the music does. The video shows the band members walking towards the camera. However the camera is upside down giving the illusion they are walking on the ceiling. The camera rotates 180 degrees clockwise so it is the correct way up to show the band in a completely white room also revealing all the bands instruments such as a piano, drum kit and guitars.

The band then begins to play their song as you would expect because a lot of music videos tend to feature the band in a various location playing their instruments. Originally it was a white room they where in but as the song progresses the room slowly gets a blue fade to it. A lot of the early camera shots are close ups of the instruments being played to emphasize what instruments are used.

As the video progresses the viewer begins to realize that all is not as it seems. As the camera passes a band member they are then duplicated. This is first made clear when we see two Paul Smiths singing simultaneously. Also another thing the viewer notices is that the shot doesn’t change. Meaning the video is one consecutive shot and doesn’t change to another camera throughout the video.

Gradually the colour of the room becomes a light blue/ teal colour as appose to the white earlier in the video. However the colour still transitions between teal and white throughout the course of the video. The video then shows a close up of lead vocalist Paul Smith as he begins to sing the opening lines of the song and to emphasize his facial expressions whilst doing so. The camera still pans between all the band members as well.

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9 Frame analysis: Maximo Park – Our Velocity

The duplication of the band has now been made abundantly clear, as we can see a few of most band members on the stage. However the audience will begin to realize that the colour of the background begins to fade between the light blue colour shown throughout the start of the video and a dark red colour. Therefore changing the mood of the video as this is seen as a less vibrant colour the light blue previously shown.

This then becomes one of the more hectic points in the video as it pans across the stage revealing an army of Maximo Park band members all playing the song. This is representative of the growth that this particular song had given the band, as this is one of their more popular singles that had been releases. Duplicating them being symbolic of their rapid expansion in the recent months prior to this single being released.

The song and the video finally return to from the anarchy that takes place prior to this. Going back to the calm light blue background with just the bass player and the drummer on screen, as these are the only two who feature in the musical portion of the song as well. The colours are representative of the tone of the song, light blue showing a more calm and peaceful tone where as the flashes of red show it becoming a higher tempo.

The changes in colour between the red and light blue now are coming more frequent as we reach the conclusion of the video. During this period the camera tends to focus a lot on Paul Smiths as this portion of the video features a strong vocal performance from him. Throughout the duration of the video it has still remained one continuous shot.

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9 Frame analysis: Maximo Park – Our Velocity

As the video draws to a close the red background has become very intense to what it was prior to this. It ends on a close up of the singer as he stares directly into the camera. After the song has finished the video continues to play for a few seconds with emphasis on Paul Smith and the red background.

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9 Frame analysis: Maximo Park – Our Velocity

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