kasabian : Fire music video analysis

This video starts off with non diagetic dialougue, setting the scene for the music video, with lead singer, Tom Meighan, staring at his reflection, showing that he is reflecting on something he is done, or perhaps a plan  of what he is about to do.



This opening also gives the audience their first glimpse of the lead singer of  the band, and as he is the front man, he is first to be seen. This identifies him as a leader.



The next scene cuts to a close up of guitarist and main songwriter of kasabian, Sergio Pizzorno, also looking like he is reflecting on something, giving us the impression that he is linked somehow to Tom.
The music video is shot with a golden tint, making it look like it is happening in the past. Also, this music video has quite an abstract style and, although it does tell a story, the story is not that of the songs original intentionality.

The music starts, and the titles come in, displayed in the bottom, left hand corner, which seems the convention that most music videos obey.
The camera cuts back to Tom Meighan looking at his reflection when the words of the song start, and Tom sings them in sync and in time with the music.

There is then a close up of a young boy in a car, with a music note tattooed on to his upper cheekbone. The deserted streets show that something big has happened or is about to happen.

When the chorus kicks in, and with it the music speeds up, we see a CCTV-like image inside a bank where the band appear to be commiting a robery. With the quickened pace of the music, the videos pace changes to a much faster one.

An interesting idea in this video is that instead of guns, the band are holding guitars in the same way you would hold a gun to rob a bank. This injects a music element into the video, and lets the audience see that they are all in the same gang in the video, and band in real life.

When the chorus is over, the camera changes from the CCTV images, back to the gold tinted shots of the street and of Tom singing to his reflection for the entirety of the next verse.

When the chorus comes back in, police arrive at the bank and a shoot out starts.

There are lots of slow motion action shots, this slow motion allows a more detailed look than regulare speed would allow, and delivers more impact than a standard shot.
Also, there are noises such as gunfire which is added on to the video which is diagetic. This is unconventional as usually in a music video, bands are fearful of ruining the actual song with added on sounds in the video.

 

The band escape from the police using a fire escape, and this ties in nicely with the song, as the songs title is "Fire". When the band burst through this fire escape, there are some hand held, shakey, camera shots which show urgency and the frantic nature of the escape.

When we see the bags of money that have been stolen from the bank, another clever idea within the music video is revealed, as we see  that this is not money at all, but paper with music notes on it. This represents one of Kasabians main philosophys, which is that music is treated like a money making tool, when it should be used as a source of inspiration and free listening for anyone.

The music video ends by going back to the start of the bank robbery, and follows the band into the bank before cutting to the end of the video.