Kings Of Leon - Sex On Fire

The music genre presented here is Indie Folk. The artist uses various choices of imagery to promote the music genre, through costume, location, camera angles and the positioning of the band.

To begin with, before the song has even started, the audience is presented with a still image of a falling leaf against a plain black background. This creates a sharp contrast against the flickering of light, which already indicates that the location of this music video will take place in perhaps a dark and sinister setting. Once the music has began playing, the audience is introduced to an extreme-close up shot of the artist, which is a generic technique often featuring in certain music videos, such as Razorlight “America” and The Kooks “Naive.” Close up shots are significant aspect of a music video as it enables their fan base to familiarise themselves with their identity, therefore the viewers are able to recognise members of the band when they release a new album or go on tour.

Repetition of match on action close up shots of a bucket of reflective water and the shot of the artist face is continually switching throughout the beginning sequence, with the fast cut editing. This connotes the speed and energetic beat of the song. The affect of these shots is that not only do they indicate a fast beat, yet the bucket of reflective water acts a key symbol here in allowing the audience to guess what location the band is playing in. The bucket of water therefore symbolises perhaps a stable where animals are kept as that’s what they drink from, and this is reinforced by the following sequence shots of the other band members in an open stable with dripping water and flying birds. This choice of imagery and location tells us that the genre is very unique, and can be presented in many forms as Indie Folk is a genre which experiments with choices of imagery often. Examples include where The Kooks filmed a vast majority of their music video “She Moves In Her Own Way,” on a bus ride where they chase after a female protagonist.

Particular camera angles used throughout the beginning sequence are formed mainly of low angle shots, allowing the audience to gain identity of the dimly lit location, alongside repetition of a close up of a bird, which exaggerates the dirty and sinister location; which is a reflection of the genre of the band.

The costumes of the band are also typical of the Indie culture which although used to be a unique genre in the 80s, is now simply a reflection popular culture amongst young adults. The costume which the band members are wearing consists of skinny jeans, (a generic convention) scruffy shirts, brogue shoes and messy hair, in an attempt to attract a female audience.

Throughout the music video, the link between lyrics and the visuals is strongly represented through the obvious lighting to connote fire, to link with the dominant lyrics “Sex On Fire.” Throughout the chorus where these lyrics are belted out, the camera specifically focuses on images of instrumental sections where the band are playing in the stable. The purpose of this technique is that because Kings of Leon are heavily associated with the instruments they play, it allows their fans to watch visuals of the band playing so they can engage in the action themselves, whilst also acting as form of escapism, whereby the fans can fully engage in the music video and forget about the reality of where they are. The lyrics of “Sex On Fire” is also amplified by mid-shots of the lead guitarist and vocalist portrayed on a bed, and having to be constrained by his fellow band members, which connotes frustration and illustrates that the lead guitarist feels as if his insides are burning up, which is an obvious link with the lyrics.

The lighting used in the music video is a significant aspect of the visuals, as in order to connote the symbol of a fire, the produces have cleverly juxtaposed dark and light together, in order to present fire looking fierce and dominant. The darkness is also typical of the location they have decided to shoot in, and a stable is often linked with aspects of dirt and sinister.

However, the culture presented isn’t culturally specific, yet the mise en scene used of a stable yard does indicate a very Westernised culture, alongside the costume and props of the band. For example, stables are often symbolic of England or the USA, as stables are usually located on a farm in the countryside and in urban settings, which is more typical of England and the US, as in Europe or Non-Western cultures farms aren’t as typical. Moreover, the props of the instruments, a bed and a book which are heavily used images in this music video indicate British or American culture, as expensive band equipment combined with the Indie Folk genre is stereotypically associated with England and the USA as the Indies originated in the United States and England in the 80s, with bands such as The Smiths, The Stone Roses and Mary Chain. Therefore, the instruments used and images of the band playing in a slightly odd setting conforms to the generic blue print. For example, the mid shots of instrumental sequences when the chorus begins to play is a typical generic signifier, which was often used in music videos by The Smiths, Mary Chain and the modern day equivalent of the Indie band The Kooks. The purpose of including footage of the band playing is that the audience can emerge themselves in the music video, and gain an identity with the band.

The mid shot also allows us to see the generic Indie costumes, especially the iconic symbol of the skinny jeans, which men who used to dare to wear skinny jeans in the 80s were considered to be laughing stock and queer; where –as now walking through a British city a vast amount of the population of teenagers now copy this style. In terms of the music video juxtaposing the idea of reality with illusions (the reality of the stable setting contrasted against the illusion of fire) shares very similar traits to The Stone Roses music video “Begging you,” as throughout their music video the producer also juxtaposes light with darkness.

 As a whole, the music video is performance based, combined with concept-based ideas on the burning sensation that the lead guitarist and vocalist is fighting against throughout the music video. However, the appeal of this is that there is no complicated narrative structure for an audience to follow, yet the combination if images creates an easy flow of sequence which is fairly clear to understand, as it’s easy to guess that the lead guitarist/vocalist is fighting back the burning sensation throughout his body, which is an obvious link to the lyrics of the song.

The type of world being presented here is quite threatening, in terms of the references of fire combined with sexual connotations in terms of the lyrics used in the song. Therefore, the world is fairly sophisticated and exciting, yet un-realistic in terms of settings used and symbols and ideas portrayed in the music video. In order to strengthen the promotion of the artist, a wide majority of the shots are close ups of the bands faces, in order to strengthen their identity and so their fans can becomes familiar with their brand Indie Folk style. Therefore, the close ups will help with selling their tracks as the band is heavily used in terms of images of them being frequently portrayed, in contrast with purely a narrative based structure whereby no members of the band are actually present throughout. The shots of the band playing however idolise them, as by featuring sequences of them playing their instruments, their fans will aspire to be like them and therefore copy their ability to perform well. However, due to the lyrics used and the symbol of the bed, the artist implies sexual activity and display, which reinforce the notion of males perhaps being the more dominant sex than females. However, because there are no references to females in any sexual way, the music video can’t be interpreted as being crude, as the sexual indications are very weak and are more associated with the connotation of fire.

This music video also references Goodwins theory, by stating that it is essential for there to be a link between lyrics and the visuals, alongside being a link between music and the visuals. This music relates to these aspects of Goodwins theory due to the fact there is a strong link between the lyrics "Sexes on Fire" and the beat.

Overall, the music video would appeal to their fans largely due to effective illusions of dark and light, combined with footage of the band playing, which make a good quality music video which is typical of the Indie Folk genre. Therefore, the music video doesn’t present any realistic value, because the visuals used simply connect to the lyrics of the song, yet don’t connote any views such as feminism or green issues, and don’t join together to make a clear, structural narrative.

The expected target audience who would be interested in watching this music video will be within a demographic of 17-22year old males, and this is apparent through features of the music video which would especially appeal to males more than females. For example, the dark and sinister setting, the theme of fire alongside the subject matter of sex. This is a typical music video representing the wide scale Indie genre, as not only are there generic conventions in term of costume, there is footage of band performance which is often a regular feature in Indie music videos such, as The Smiths "How Soon Is Now."