Analysis of Music video of Glosoli by Sigur Ros

Glosoli by the Icelandic, post rock/classical band Sigur Ros has an inventive, endearing, narrative music video. According to goodwins theory the music video would fit into the category of Narrative, as it contains a visual story that is easy to follow, there is also no lip synching, and the genre has links to a love story (common in Narrative videos). The lyrics and music video are loosely linked by the idea that the kids portrayed in the video are looking for the sun, however as the lyrics are more poetic and artistic rather than a straightforward narrative or description it is difficult to translate directly into visuals, therefore the director created an artistic video open to interpretation. As the band has a niche audience, there is not a need to promote the artist through the video on a large scale, therefore the video does not feature the artist in it. Arni and Kinski, the also Icelandic directors have created a Catcher In the Rye/Peter Pan feel in the video, a child’s haven.

The mise en scene in the video is remarkably symbolic of childhood, freedom and youth. For example, the vast, mountainous range as a setting represents the freedom and how unrestricted childhood is and how these children long to be forever. In that sense the video has a slight intertextual reference of the childhood story- Peter Pan- reinforced by the extraordinary flight scene nearing the end of the video.

Another point on the scenery in Glosoli is the Icelandic mountains, shown in the opening sequence through a long-shot.

These are timeless and I think that that is a reoccurring theme in the video, the video isn’t depicting an age of children but childhood wholly. Therefore things such as the costume of the children mirror this by the children wearing clothing associated with dress from as far back as the Victorian era to modern day fashion, I think that the video is post modern in that sense.

The video begins with a longshot of a lone child sat behind a backdrop of an expanse of water, the water suggests isolation and also gives the visual an ethereal beauty. This cuts to a close-up profile view of the childs face, shallow focus is used to draw attention to his face and to further the sense of isolation.

The video has mainly continuity editing throughout, to make the video smooth and fitting with the tempo and tone of the music, there is also an example of elliptical editing however, in which the children sleep and the screen fades to black.

This is followed by an extreme longshot of the children marching through the frame to a backdrop of mountain ranges, in this part the video takes on a change in hue to a sepia tone, which gives the visuals a dreamlike ambience. The gold is also connotative of the promise of a bright future.

There are many symbolic elements throughout the video, one of the most notable of which is the scene in which the children cross the road. The video is natural scenery throughout, this highlights the only scene in the video in which we see artificial elements, the car and the road.

The children are seen here to be setting fire to the car; this is symbolic of youth rebelling against adulthood and the idea of growing up

Another symbolic moment in the video is where the drummer boy and the girl with the fox mask kiss. This can be interpreted in many ways, for example: it can be said that the kiss is juxtaposed to the innocence of youth, and representative of the idea of growing up, it also has intertextual references to the stereotypical passionate kiss between partners before characters go to war in many war movies. The kiss is innocent however, and furthers the metaphor of childhood. The kiss is shown in a close-up 2-shot, and has shallow focus to draw attention to the kiss. Rule of thirds is also used to create emphasis on the lips and facial features of the children. The lighting is also important to consider here, the bright backing light gives the clip a beauty and naturalistic feel.

Supporting the idea of youth in revolt is the juxtaposed image of the main child beating his drum throughout the video. This, along with the marching of the children creates a war like atmosphere and impression. In the beginning he is on his own, with his drum beating it, this could, intertextually, infer that it is the beginning of a revolution. Most of the shots are high angles and make him look inferior, however, once other children join him, the idea becomes more powerful (as with a revolution).