The Kooks released this video on the 23rd of October 2006. The Kooks are an English indie pop band formed in Brighton, East Sussex, in 2004. Formed by Luke Pritchard (vocals/guitar), Hugh Harris (lead guitar), Paul Garred (drums), and Max Rafferty (bass guitar), the lineup of the band remained constant until 2008 and the departure of Rafferty. Dan Logan was drafted in as a temporary replacement, until Peter Denton joined the band on a permanent basis in October 2008.
Their musical influences are The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Chris de Burgh which they believe have gradually helped developed both their song writing style and musical presentation. Ooh la peaked in the uk at number 20, however even though it is not one of their highest rated songs, it is one of the most well known. They are signed to Virgin records and its parent company is EMI (one of the big four production companies. Some examples of other bands that are also represented by this label are Thirty Seconds To Mars, Gorillaz and The Spice Girls.
As the Kooks are an indie band, even if their video was expensive to make, it would not seem as though it was, for example they would not wear expensive clothes and have flashy cars in their videos. It is expected that an indie bands music video would have some sort of narrative to it most probably easily relating to the lyrics.
The the target audience for The Kooks would most likely be middle class mainstreamers, both males and females, who would be between the ages of 16- early twenties, who want to fit into the group of people who like indie music.
The female target audience is represented in this video to be just normal people as the band is shown to also be, this makes the female target audience see the band as more reachable and in most cases probably more dateable. The male target audience would see how the band members are just normal guys and would therefore be more inclined to follow the bands clothing style and overall appearance.
The fact that the video is shot in France would appeal to the target audience as of the age they are, they will most likely be wanting independance and wanting to travel.
The close ups of the band members overall create a closeness with the audience and again through these shots it makes the band seem more reachable.
Some shot analysis of the video:
The number countdown in the sense of the story of the video, is purely just the countdown to the talk show starting. However the real reason for it being used is so that it creates a feeling of a count down to something huge and important. This creates a sense of wonder in the viewer to know what it is counting down to and why it is so important. Thus suggesting that the song and video is about their band/ someone else, being something big, new and exciting and trying to make it big in the world.
The foreign woman interviewing them shows they are important and well known enough to get interviewed by people in different countries.
This is also signifying the fact that they are making it big in other countries. This makes it seem as though they are huge stars, however how they are acting in the interview shows that they are just down to earth guys, not huge superstars.
One of the band members being topless attracts the female viewers, which will probably make them more interested in the band and that member in particularly because he is good looking.
Long shot of Eiffel tower makes the audience wonder why the video is set in France and not in for instance Hollywood, which is more linked with becoming famous. This connects with the title of ‘Ooh la’ which is an abbreviation of a French exclamation of surprise with strong sexual connotations ‘Ooh la la’. This ties in with the story of the video about a girl who was very beautiful and went out into Hollywood to become famous, but didn’t achieve fame as the world ‘chewed her up and spat her out’.
The main singer of the band holding an acoustic guitar and wearing ‘indie’ atire makes it clear that they are an ‘indie band, it also makes them seem approachable as they don’t wear expensive clothing like most stars, this thought is what the whole video is saying about the band, ‘they are just ordinary people’.
The canted angle conveys that even though they are famous, they do not exactly fit in with the stereotype of famous people. It also in a way conveys that how we see famous people’s lives is skewed and isn’t how there lives truly are.
With the lyrics ‘love it here’ then cutting to a shot of a sight in France, shows that he believes, the girl in the story of the video, should not try to make it big in Hollywood and she should just stick to where she is already. It is said that this video and song relates to the main singers past relationship with another singer, who he didn’t want to make it big in America as he knew she would forget him, however this is not clear in the video, but to super fans of the band it could be a lot clearer.
The band sitting together implies they are good friends in real life as well as them being in a band together. Which isn’t common in today’s times when most people in bands do not get along. This also suggests they are genuinely nice people who haven’t let fame change them or how they feel about each other.
Also with them joking around together proposes they are close and do not change their personalities because they are in the public eye.
The fact that it is mostly all in black and white conveys the meaning that fame and people can be clouded by money and expensive things, but they are not and they are stripped down to black and white where they are truly themselves and not changed by fame and money.
Whilst looking through cameras and washing machine windows and at developed photos the viewer is more aware that they are looking through a camera, which creates an awareness that the band is constantly in the media.
The fact that the couple on the bed being interviewed mirrors john lennon and yoko ono in bed being interviewed when they were protesting for peace which shows the band are harmonious people.
Having them infront of other filming, this signifies they are different from how they are seen through the eyes of the media, even if it is similar it is still slightly different.
Being so close to the band through the shots gives the viewer a view they would never get at a concert or anywhere else. Which makes them feel more intimate, and closer to the band.
The shot of the girl on the bike tells the audience she is trying to go somewhere in her life which goes with the lyrics, of how she is trying to go somewhere else to become better at what she does. The line ‘itch in your petticoat’ however suggests that she is somehow out of place in Hollywood and would be better off staying where she was.
The lyrics are saying that fame changes you, and its not it is all cracked up to be, which again gives out the message that the public sees fame as this amazing thing, however when you are the famous one you realise how hard it is to be constantly looked at and judged all the time.
When the slow-mo of her on the bike is shown, it makes the audience realise something important is going to happen. Then when it says ‘fin’ it is clear she has died, this is metaphorical for the lyrics as she hasn’t really died, she has just been ‘chewed up by the world and spat out’. But for the story of the video she is shown to have died.
The band is only in colour when they are supposed to be on TV, this is because this is supposed to convey how they are seen in the light of the media is different to how they are in real life.
The guy holding a cage with a bird in it shows a free animal that wants to be free but has been made to stay in a cage, which relates to people wanting to be famous but not knowing what they are signing up for.
Then at the end of the video with the balloons symbolises that fame is made out to be glamorous and a party but behind closed doors it isn’t that way at all.
Jenna logging off
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