Research & Planning: Applying Music Video Theory To Wolf Alice 'Beautifully Unconventional'

In the music video to ‘Beautifully Unconventional’, the band Wolf Alice went down the performance path (which is completely different to their other music videos, according to the fans of the artists) with rather minimalistic set design and approach to editing and mise-en-scene. The camera focuses mostly on the vocalist, who is the only female that can be seen in all of the shots; she’s dressed to resemble Marilyn Monroe, who, contrary to the title, was the ideal of conventional beauty back in the 1950s (additionally, the fact she’s made to look like the most recognizable female of all time juxtaposes with the fact the song is sung from the perspective of a male character from the 80s film ‘Heathers’).

The whole video, being a rather unique position on the artists’ creative list, is as much of a selling point for the band’s new album as it is a piece of art in itself. Although Carlsson’s idea of commercial exhibitionism could be applied here (the band is really the only ‘thing’ you ever see within the shots), it would not be a usual situation, leaning towards the television bard as well. The video is not made to create controversy, but rather as an experiment with a new form of music video, focusing on the artistic value through the shots or editing.

Camerawork-wise, although since the particular music video is fully staged (as described by Railton; there is nothing fully unplanned about it, from the makeup to the movements) and doesn’t leave much space for finesse, still manages to be rather interesting. There is a variety of shots being used, both high and eye-line ones, making the video entertaining enough for the watcher not to look away, despite expecting what’s about to come. Most of the shots focus on the main vocalist, which makes sense, considering she is the face of the band and is performing from the perspective of a single character. Additionally, what seems to be the case with most if not all indie music videos and despite the rather low cut dress of the singer, there video doesn’t adhere to the theory of the male gaze, superbly avoiding the oversexualisation of the main vocalist (which could be the case because the leader of the band is female).

Goodwin’s points can be called upon multiple times regarding this music video, two of them being the following of genre characteristics and intertextual references. Indie videos always put a great emphasis on the use of colour, which can also be seen in this one; both during the darker and the lighter shots, the colour grading works seamlessly together and matches the tone of the song (and the retro atmosphere). Additionally, indie videos often begin with the title and the name f the artist being shown at the start; ‘Beautifully Unconventional’ is no different.  The main reference is of course to the character of Marilyn Monroe; both with the costume (which is an important aspect of the videos mise-en-scene) and some of the mannerisms the vocalist copies (the similarities to ‘Heathers’ are also extremely obvious, understandably, considering that’s what the song is about).

Adhering to Kaplan’s theory (also mentioned by Vernallis), the editing of this video is supposed to be noticed, and doesn’t necessarily follow the conventions of filmmaking. The video doesn’t necessarily tell a story and is basically just an interestingly recorded and staged performance; the main thing it focuses on is the impact it has on the audience, hence why it’s always showing the vocalist singing, for example. Keazor and Wubbena (as well as Goodwin) can also be called upon when discussing editing. The frequency of cuts is not very high (which matches the tone of the song, but doesn’t match with their theory) and there is some cutting to the beat present. However, since the song and the setting don’t necessarily create the best foundation for ‘beat cutting’, another interesting visual choice has been made: every time the tempo or the tone of the song change slightly, the lighting changes (varying from reds through a spotlight to greens). Generally, the more intense the bit of the song, the more intense the lighting choice.

Goodwin’s theory can be called upon once again when it comes to the relationship between the music, lyrics and the visuals. There is certain levels of illustration of the lyrics (such as the singer putting her hands on her thorax during the word “breathes”) as well as some disjuncture (‘beautifully unconventional’ yet the video resembles the 50s, when beauty conventions were extremely important) and the aforementioned connection between the lighting changes to the changes in the tempo.