Favourite Music Video
Introduction
I have chosen to talk about alt-j's music video breezeblocks as my 'favourite' but I would not say it is, as I have not got a favourite but I do have a bunch of favourites.Chosen Music Video
Context
Breezeblocks is a song by a English indie rock band called Alt-J from their debut studio album An Awesome Wave in 2012. The song was released on 18th May 2012 and written by Joe Newman, Gus Unger-Hamilton, Gwilym Sainsbury, Thom Green, Murad Merali and produced by Charlie Andrew.The song's lyrics make direct reference to Maurice Sendak's book 'Where The Wild Things Are'. Newman sings, "Do you know where the wild things go?" In addition, the repeated refrain at the end of the song is a modified version of a portion of the book. Breezeblocks' lyrics are "Please don't go. I'll eat you whole. I love you so." Sendak's words are "Oh, please don't go — we'll eat you up — we love you so!".
Directed by Ellis Bahl and starring actors Jonathan Dwyer, Jessica DiGiovanni, and Eleanor Pienta, it is the band's first official music video and was created to accompany the release of the song. The video features a violent fight in a darkened apartment between a male and a female character shown in reverse, beginning with the death of the female character at the hands of the male character, who bludgeons her with a breeze block (not in reference to the single's title). As the fight progresses backwards, it is revealed that the female character is the aggressor in the fight, having ambushed the male character by restraining and concealing a second female character, implied as being his wife, in a place where he would be distracted with her while she crept up on him with a knife. The video aired for the first time on YouTube on 23 March 2012 and as of June 2016 has over 100 million views. Also the video won a UK Music Video Award (UKMVA) for "Best Alternative Video" on 8 November 2012.
Chart performance
Weekly Charts(2012-2013).Australia(ARIA)-41
.UK Singles (Official Charts Company)-75
.UK Indie (Official Charts Company)-6
.US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)-21
.US Rock Airplay (Billboard)-26
.US Alternative Song (Billboard)-9
Year-end charts(2013)
.US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)-36
.US Alternative Songs (Billboard)-29
Certifications
Region Certification Certified Units/SalesUnited Kingdom (BPI) Silver 200,000
Untied Sates (RIAA) Gold 500,000
Radio and Release History
Region Date Format LabelUntied Kingdom 18th May 2012 Digital Download-Single Infectious
Digital Download-Remixes
The Lyrics
She may contain the urge to run awayBut hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks
Citrezene your fever's gripped me again
Never kisses all you ever send are fullstops, la la la la
Do you know where the wilds things go
They go along to take your honey, la la la la
Break down now weep build up breakfast now
Let's eat my love my love love love, la la la la
Muscle to muscle and toe to toe
The fear has gripped me but here I go
My heart sinks as I jump up
Your hand grips hand as my eyes shut
Ahhh ahhh ahhh ah ah, ahhh ahhh ahhh ah ah
Do you know where the wild things go
They go along to take your honey, la la la la
Break down let's sleep build up breakfast now
Let's eat my love my love love love, la la la la
She bruises coughs she splutters pistol shots
But hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks
She's morphine queen of my vaccine my love my love love love, la la la la
Muscle to muscle and toe to toe
The fear has gripped me but here I go
My heart sinks as I jump up
Your hand grips hand as my eyes shut
And ahhh ahhh ahhh ah ah, ahhh ahhh ahhh ah ah
Ahhh ahhh ahhh ah ah, ahhh ahhh ahhh ah ah
She may contain the urge to runaway
But hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks
Germaline disinfect the scene my love my love love love
But please don't go I love you so my lovely
Please don't go, please don't go, I love you so, I love you so
Please don't go, please don't go, I love you so, I love you so
Please break my heart, hey
Please don't go, please don't go, I love you so, I love you so
Please don't go, please don't go, I love you so, I love you so
Please break my heart, ah ha
Please don't go, I'll eat you whole
I love you so, I love you, so I love you so
Please don't go I'll eat you whole
I love you so, I love you so, I love you so, I love you so
Content
The whole music video 'Breezeblocks' is shown in reveres.The video starts off with a midshot of a lifeless woman forced down into the bath by a breezeblock (Not a reference to the title of this song) while being covered by dull and smoky water. This scene is shown for 7 seconds while the camera slowly zooms into the woman's emotionless face. A close-up is then used to show which seems to be the husband curled up with his hands gripping his hair and face in distress. The camera then slowly zooms into the man and a quick cut to a extreme close up of his hands then water climbing back into the tap is synched to the beats of the music. The water from the tap is shown for a couple of seconds then a midshot is shown again of the woman inside the water, then back to a final drip from the tap then straight back to the woman but this time the water is violently moving. Then a midshot of the man curled up appears which quickly goes into a close up of his hands then a close up of the woman's arm rising up inside the water.
This scene cuts straight to a long shot of the man lifting the breeze block back into the air while the woman is slowly shown moving up then onto her feet. The man lowers the block and the woman turns around facing the bath, then a quick close up of the tap running is shown. This then leads to another long shot of the man reversing back out of the bathroom into the dull lit hallway followed by the woman. He then appears to be forcefully putting the jacket back onto the woman while reversing back into the another room. A midshot of the man with a extremely angry face holding the breezeblock above his head ready to throw leads into a midshot of the woman stepping back then a wide midshot of the man and woman fighting for the block. A quick close up is shown of the feet which cuts straight back to them fighting then back to there feet moving back and forward.
A close up of the mans aggressive face is shown which leads into the man pulling the breezeblock away and a midshot showing the woman standing in the darkened kitchen. The camera zooms into the woman then cuts to the man placing the breezeblock back to its original place against the wall as a stand then showing the man moving backwards away from the breezeblocks. (29:00-1:16)
A close up is shown of a white bricked wall with some broken pieces from a bottle appearing onto the wall. Then a long shot of the wall shows the pieces of the bottle appearing again which then moves to form the bottle that rolls through the air. A quick close up shows the broken pieces of the light green bottle smashed onto the wall moving together to form the bottle which then cuts to the woman rising her hand to catch the bottle. A midshot of the bottle reversing from the wall lands back into the woman's hand while the man is shown moving backwards along the wall.
The woman then moves the bottle back onto the kitchen surface while a silhouette of the man continuing to move backwards is visible. The man disappears and the woman is shown placing her hands onto the kitchen surface and lowering down to the ground. A close-up shows her feet and knees landing onto the wooden floor which progresses into her hold body on the floor while she is grabbing one of the mans leg and pulling him towards her. The close-up still shows the woman and man laying on the floor and as the man places his head onto the floor the music stops for a second. (1:16-1:57)A long shot is showing the man and woman holding tight onto each others body while moving up from the floor onto a table. A midshot form the side then repeats this action which cuts back to the long shot of them laying on the table. A close up shows the side of the mans head which then leads to back to the long shot of them now standing on the sofa that is against the table. Then a quick close up of a plastic clear container rising back up from the floor onto the table leads into a midshot of the man and woman walking off the sofa onto the ground. The music speeds up and then a quick close up of the woman is shown landing onto a book cabinet which cuts to some of the books moving in and out of the shelf's.
After all that fighting a midshot of the crying woman shows her siting down inside a closet while the man approaches her. A close up shows the man turning round away form the first woman and facing the crying the woman which now seems to be his wife. A midshot of the violent woman shows her walking backwards towards the door which cuts to a midshot of the husband comforting his wife while looking in front at the crazy woman. He turns to look at his wife while holding her head and the a close up appears of his face with the other woman still in the background. The husband is then still holding his wife's head while she is crying in confusion which leads to a close-up of her face in his hands. (2:39-3:03)The music starts to weaken while a slow midshot shows a part of the woman's arm moving backwards. This then cuts into repeating shots of the close up of the water running back into the tap, the wife crying and then the husbands hands placed on his head which clearly shows his wedding ring. More quick cuts then shows a close up of the wife's face leading into the husbands hands then back to the midshot of the husband kneeling down with his wife. The hand of the other woman is shown again in the pinkish water but this time the arm is falling into the water instead of rising. The man is shown holding the woman's head while she is shouting at him and trying to move away which cuts in to a mid shot the other woman merged into the water. A midshot shows the man placing duck tape back onto his wife's mouth then closing the sheet hiding the wife, picking up his jacket and moving back wards.
Conclusion
The ending of the video clearly shows that the man was fighting and murdered a woman his was having an affair with and the wife was tided up by the that woman. I cant tell from this video why that happened but if I have to guest I would say that the other woman found out he has a wife and went crazy and tried to silently kill him but failed.
Near the end of the video the lyrics say 'please don't go' and 'I love you so' , this is clear that the words match his thoughts in his head that are towards his wife. However these lyrics could be the thoughts from the other woman towards the man.
Most of the lyrics secretly match the actions and situation of the video as the first lyrics sung
'She may contain the urge to run away but hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks' clearly matches the way the man killed the woman before she got away. Another set of lyrics that match the situation are 'Germaline disinfect the scene my love my love love love, but please don't go I love you so my lovely' shows that the man is saying that if the wife just loves him then its all going to be alright if they just work together and get rid of the girl and the potential crime scene. The lyrics at the start 'Never kisses all you ever send are fullstops' could be some of the reasons why the man cheated on his wife as he didn't feel the love he felt before.
I feel that this music video has no hidden meanings behind the actions but some of the lyrics do. Also even though the footage is played backwards I do not feel that this is a symbolic reason as I feel that it was chosen to make the video look more interesting.
