Textual Analysis - Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys - Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?

Conventions of Genre:
The Arctic Monkeys are an indie band and conventionally music videos in the indie genre have many shots of the band playing their instruments and the videos are usually quite simplistic. This music video is quite unconventional in that there aren't any shots of the band playing their instruments, unlike in their other music videos, there is more of a story in this video that links directly to the lyrics of the song.
Use of cinematography:
Many close ups of Alex Turner are used as he is the main character in this video. It is to show the audience his emotions and how they develop throughout the video. When he is walking down the street, some long shots are used to show that he is stumbling down the street. When he is knocking on the girls door, a back track is used, going into the girls actual house to show he has got the wrong house and to go into the girls life and see how she feels about him. The camera also moves up towards her, showing that she is the dominant one, she has a hold on him.
Use of editing:
As the song is called 'Why'd you only call me when you're high?' Alex Turner is presented as the one that is 'high'. Because of this, edits are used to create the illusion that he is hallusinanting. The clock moves quickly and starts to droop, and his face looks like it is dropping when he looks at himself in the mirror. His phone goes underneathe his skin at one point during the video. This could connote to him trying to stop himself from texting this girl, trying to resist.
Deconstruct the text in relation to connotations:
The video starts with the band in a pub. Alex seems distant from his friends as he keeps texting a girl called Stephanie, askings if shes up etc. Alex is presented as 'high' in this music video to link back to the song title; 'Why'd you only call me when you're high?' When the clock is drooping, when it says its 10 past 10, it looks as though the clock is smiling at him, which could mean that this is a good time, only good things can happen at this time. When the clock says its 20 to 4, it looks as though the clock is frowning at him, saying that this is a bad time, only bad things will happen at this time. Throughout the video, Alex is hallucinating, thinking he can see the girl he is texting flirting with lots of other men. This could connote that the girl is always on his mind. It could also mean that he is getting paranoid, because he is high, so he keeps thinking that the girl he likes is with all these other men. It seems as though this girl is his girlfriend and that he really cares for her, however at the end of the video, the audience sees that their 'relationship' is one sided as the girl looks at her phone, sees all these messages and just ignores them. Alex is also saved on her phone as 'Alex Band Guy' which shows that she just thinks of him as some guy from a band, who only calls her when he's high. Alex is dressed in black throughout the whole video and wearing a leather jacket to represent him being the antagonist. It represents danger and rebellion.
How is narrative developed:
The narrative is developed by showing shots of a clock and the hands on that clock moving quickly to show that time is passing by quickly. All the shots are done either down a street or in a pub. The narrative is also developed by showing the texts he is sending as they have the time on it. It is to show what he is doing and how he is feeling throughout the night.
How does text appeal to the audience:
The audience can relate to this text as most people have either sent a drunk text or recieved one and that is what the video and the song is trying to portray.