Franz Ferdinand Walk Away Video Analysis .........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1qPnSZDrAQ
Franz Ferdinand - Walk Away Video

The song's video seems to be the recreation of a 1950s video and it makes sure that there is distance between the audience and the song by doing it in the way it is not an everyday occurrence that the audience would be used to. The video also has a link between the lead singer and the girl who is in the filmic part of the video. There is surprisingly little performance element to the video which is unusual for the more alternative genre of the music. Again there are also times when the lyrics link with what is happening on the screen in this sense it makes it seem as though in the video the lead singer is not only one of the characters but he is also the narrator.

0:01-0:16 The video opens with an extreme close up on an eye lid and as the eye opens and the pupil dilates the camera spins round in a circle coming further away to show a mid shot of the lead singer. What this creates is a surreal atmosphere and also a confusing one. What also happens is that the edit feels kind of retro which helps set the scene of the 1950s.

0:31 At this point in the video the band are in a 1950s setting which is a house and they are wearing quite vintage clothing like woollen cardigans which could add to the sense of looking back and maybe that the video is about regret he can't understand why he let the girl go. There is a heavy sense of realism created with all the props being very vintage but this realism is broken as the band are shown with their electric instruments which would not yet have been around at the time. There are profiles of the individual band mates which are mid shots but then there is a long shot which shows the whole band in one shot.

0:41 The lead singer is at a window looking out and there are wheels behind him which are turning which the audience assumes is the song being recorded as he looks out the window the camera follows his gaze and zooms out into the window and the world created behind the window which is dark and gloomy and the colour of the film changes to black an white.

0:49 Here the camera moves to the inside of a moving car which shows the lead singer and the girl in the 1950s movie in an over the shoulder shot which creates a sense of intrigue it is also unusual because it seems to be a more romantic setting but it is still very dark and black.

0:54 An interesting feature of the video is that it shows aerial shots which are quite uncommon in music videos and it shows the car going round a bend this is a moment where there is distance created between the band and the audience as it was quite an intimate shot with the audience inside the car with the band but then they are suddenly away from what is happening.

0:57 Here the camera is in front of the car and the headlights are on which blocks out any action going on in the back of the scene.

0:58 There are a combination of profiles of the two main characters in the car with a background that seems to be moving around independently not really what it would look like to be traveling around in a car

0:59 There is now a close up on the girl and she has bright blonde hair perhaps showing that there is an element of innocence around her the young girl who is sweet and kind yet she falls for a dark and brooding man but it also shows the time as that hair reminds the audience of people like Marilyn Monroe

1:11 To continue the film element of the video a chase sequence begins as through the mirror the lead singer sees a car that is chasing them

1:20 Then there is another aerial shot which shows a train approaching as the lead singer drives over in enough time to separate himself from the villains without getting hit by the train. Another window is shown this time a train window where the lead singer and the lead girl are in the train still on the run from the trench coat wearing villains.

1:43 The whole band are shown now all in the same shot and they are walking on a brick wall but their shadows are projected onto the wall and they are moving independently to what the band is doing

1:52 There is another window which means another shot transition as the windows in this video are used to show that.

Then the image changes back to colour

2:03 The two characters are back in the house

2:14 The lyrics of the song are "mascara bleeds into my eye" and there is a close up on the women who is crying and her mascara is dripping which shows that the lead singer is like a narrator in his own story

2:20 Here both of the characters walk out of the house and there is a transition back to black and white.

2:28 The door that the two walked out of is shown but it is standing alone in a foggy haze and there are buildings behind the door

2:34 The lead singer walks down the stairs and goes back to rejoin the band

2:39 A sense of doom is created as the band walk into a cemetery

2:48 "My headstone crumbles down" is sung by the singer and again a narrative feel as the camera shows a variety of  different headstones that start to crumble

3:15 The cemetery turns into a small model inside the original house from the first scene

3:22 The lead singer then appears to be on some kind of set as he picks up a dagger and his bandmates shine different coloured lights onto him

3:40 The video ends with the singer dropping the knife into the ground

The video could have used the opening of the eye and the models and the sets to show that the main idea was as if waking from a dream that keeps happening or it could have an element of regret about a lost love.