Kasabian - Fire
Kasabian videos often feature heavy narratives; the song 'Fire' almost seems like an adaptation of an old Western film - the ending is very much a parody of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid's iconic ending.
It starts with shots of them being introduced - Tom walks up to the reflective window and sings to himself, looking at his reflection and possibly thinking through his proposed actions - setting a story for the music video. Serge is also introduced, pulling a classic Western pose.
We then come across a flash forward, showing a bag full of sheet music been blown across a dusty road, in slow motion. This is the first instance that we realise that music is being used as a substitute for other things - sheet music represents money and their guitars are used as guns.
We see various characters being introduced, all their stories intertwined - an omnipresent narrator shows all aspects. An effective aerial shot shows all these characters coming together.
The editing for this section is generally slow - the feel and tempo of the song is currently soft and slower, so the editing is set to match that. However, when the chorus kicks in, the editing picks up a bit, and switches over to a different perspective.
We can see this town is quite linear, like an old Western town would be - the location is perfect for the story, and the use of vehicles add a sense of modernity to the mise en scene.
The perspective given now, is from CCTV cameras in the bank itself. The post production effects consist of making the shot grainy and a timer, to give the impression of genuine CCTV footage from this bank. We again see the representation of music brought up again; Serge is brandishing his guitar in a pose that suggests violence - like a gun aimed at those around him. A clever musical touch onto a classic western theme.
The music video is generally linear, but on occasion returns to Tom singing to his reflection again - giving a sense of a protagonist and a character embodying a parallel narrator - his vocal line is carrying the story. It also returns to a shot of the bassist, who is dressed to look somewhat like an average southern American and a VW Campervan following alongside - suggesting towards a getaway vehicle.
The plot then loops again, becoming circular, as it shows Tom's entry into the bank, as oppose to Ian and Serge's entry into the story.
The police are then introduced - first through them carrying on the gun/guitar metaphor - which is perfectly portrayed by them picking up guitar's from a gun rack, in the recognisable police-emergency fashion, and the brilliant poster next to it; it's continued by the police shooting a band member in the bank, creating a plot dynamic, called a twist. The video also returns to its linear format.
A brilliant mid shot that shows the police engaging in musically thematic violence, and an extreme close up of the first 'gunshot' all in a tight shot
The bank vault scene is deliberately a tight shot, to show the claustrophobia and panic in this section of the story - we see the shot member against the wall. The editing remains fast paced, but the transition is a soft fade, to reflect the synth section between the choruses.
The editing remains fast again, but the camera shots enjoy a longer duration; the shot variety consists of mid shots from both infront, and behind the characters, to show their getaway.
The screen shot shows a clip where the camera follows Serge around the corner. He's taken the traditional country western musician getup - Cowboy hat and a guitar strapped behind; a perfect use of mise en scene to enhance the story behind the video. This section also features shot/reverse shot of the police chasing them.
The next few shots are where we start to see a parody of the ending to the Western classic Butch Cassidy and the Sun Dance Kid
Classic Western Style camera shot
The shot/reverse shot of them looking at eachother is almost identical to the final scenes in BC&SDK
The bag being thrown is the sequence before we realise the flashforward that the music video starts with originates from this section - we realise that the story is near it's end.
The plot of this music video then alters again; we see the sheet music floating across the screen, and return to Tom viewing himself in a very reflective window. Out of nowhere, the music video becomes circular again - the VW Campervan is driven again, everyones still alive, and walking into the bank.
The video, therefore becomes circular. It ends prior to the music video either completing that sequence, or beginning again, so it's a rather confusing narrative. It follows heavy flashforwards and flashbacks that make it unclear which is which. Furthermore, it's unsure of which tense we are in. Whether the start is a flashback or flashforward or present time. These questions run throughout the whole video. While most of the section remained linear, the returning to various clips make it circular and confusing. However, that does not make it uneffective or by any means unappealing as a narrative. Due to the popular culture reference to Butch Cassidy also allows a pre-figuring or prediction of events (and the anticipation of the famous ending scene) There remains several questions - why are they robbing the bank? Whats the value of the sheet music? the sense of enigma further enhances the plot line.
Essentially, as far as narrative structures go, this music video is condensed full of narrative elements that create a thick and comprehensive story line.
This was good to read. A real sense of you liking the video and good at analysing intertextual reference and use of Western genre. Is the narrative circular? - you could looking into narrative structure in more detail.
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