alt-J (∆) Breezeblocks

Breezeblock by Alt-j (2012)

Narrative behind the video:

If you play the music video forward, you will see that this it is actually a morbid story of an abusive male drowning a woman in the bath, while another woman is tied up in the cupboard. As an audience, we don't know any more than this but as a viewer, my initial thought is that the woman the man is drowning could be his wife and the girl in the cupboard could be his daughter or maybe even a friend. The name 'breezeblock' is referred to in the song, as he put a breezeblock on the woman to weigh her down, to drown her.

What is it's purpose? 

The purpose of this music video is to tell a story. It doesn't advertise the band, only their music as it does not show the band at all, throughout the entire video. There is an intense narrative in this music video though, showing a man arguing with a woman, and eventually killing here by drowning her in the bath using a breezeblock to weigh her down, hence the name of the song. The effect of the video backwards, adds a twist to a normal "alternative' music video, and entices the audience to watch the video all the way through, to find out why the woman is lying in a blood stained bath in the establishing shot. The overall purpose of this music video is the advertise the bands music.

How do they objectify women/men?

There are two main characters in this music video, a man and a woman. There is third woman in this video, but she is rarely seen until the end, which because the video is played in reverse, it actually the beginning. Its clear from the narrative that they are arguing and eventually the man kills the woman. The woman in this video is shown as weak compared to the male. In one of the scenes of this video, the woman is seen to be being dragged by the man, showing the man as more dominant. She is also seen to be chucked around by him. Although she does fight back, it is apparent that the man is stronger than her, and he is going to win.

How are the stars objectified? 

The actual band, "Alt-j", are not shown in this video, and as a fan, I know that they are hardly ever in their music videos. They do this because they want to be recognised for their music alone, not for what they look like.

How do they reflect their genre of music?

The band, "Alt-j" are known as "Indie rock" or "Alternative".  This is shown through many elements of the video. One of the main elements is the lighting, the lights are slightly tinted blue, giving it a slightly sad and cold feeling. The colour of lighting could also relate to the very beginning of the music video, where the woman is lying in the bath. The blue lighting could show the bath as being cold and adds to the idea of the sad feeling. The lighting in this video is also very dark, representing how sinister and twisted the storyline of this music video is.
The idea of the video being played backwards, adds the the idea of the band being "alternative" because it adds a twist to a normal, modern music video.

Does this video fit the criteria of a successful music video?

I love this video and feel that on a whole, this music video fits the criteria to be a successful music video. The reason I like this video is because it's so different, the narrative is different and so is the way they have presented it. The idea of playing it backwards and the blue lighting, adds the morbid feel. Also having it in reverse makes the audience even more interested because they see the end before the beginning and want to know what the previous  events where leading up to the present. Although they didn't use many camera angles, I feel that because it was in reverse, they didn't need as many.