Tame Impala Mind Mischief

Tame Impala are a Australian psychedelic rock band that create

music videos of completely different genre to what I have been
looking at before. At this moment in time that I am writing this I am
not sure whether we are going to do a live performance as a video or
a narrative, so I decided to deconstruct a narrative one as well just to
help me become inspired. The video was Co-produced by Urban
Outfitters and Modular People, directed by David Wilson 27th June
2012

The music video is essentially broken up into
two parts: the filming and the psychedelic art.
I am no going to focus on the latter at all
because it is not going to be of any interest or
inspiration to me. I love it but it is more art
and completely out of my capabilities. The
narrative filming though is another story. It is
a simplistic, minimalistic sequence of shots in
almost every way. The opening shot last for
one minute exactly with just the singular
cutaway to the womans thigh at about 40
seconds. The shot is a long shot of a school
boy sitting in his classroom completely
motionless. The shot slowly tacks in until its
a macro facial shot. I also have a suspicious
feeling that the whole video is slightly slowed
down to create this slightly sexual slightly
stylish atmosphere.
Notice how bare the setting it of this classroom. And yet how
effective it is. The minimalistic value of this video I feel is very
effective. This is a good example of this because the setting is
striking and establishing. Yet it could be easy to achieve
effectively as well. The way that the whole lighting is
gradiented to look slightly grey brings out the varnished
brown table that allows a slightly vintage effect to occur. This
goes well with the music because the song Mind Mischief is
an old school song that is aiming to sound slightly outdated
yet extremely stylish.


A long with this minimalistic approach to the setting, it also occurs in almost every other area of
the video. The camera shots are a good example. The video goes onto the woman walking
down the corridor and then getting into her car and smoking a joint with the schoolboy. These
scenes have a very small amount of camera shots within them. There are some slow motion
tracking shots with a low angle, which are very effective because they exploit the sexuality
within the video. I think that this sort of shot could also exploit a really surrealistic effect if we
were to go down that path because it allows the imagination of the viewer to wonder, and
imagination is what makes the surreal become really effective.
Smoking a joint is symbolic
in the respect that it shows a
rebellious aspect of the
video, and this is part of the
psychedelic rock culture. It
also adds to this stylish
effect because it is a dirty
thing to do but it is
juxtaposed with the
sophisticated manner that it
is done.
Because each shot is quite a long shot (in the respect of timing) it has to be
perfect. This shot is a good example of this because of the rule of thirds that is
involved here. The shot is obviously broken into thirds and the middle shot of
the mirror allows a contrast of the characters. And the fact that it tracks
inwards and a time consuming shot with this contrast creates what feels like
sexual tension. This is well backed up and recognized by the tracking shot
above of the woman walking.

The editing is vitally important within this music
video. One of the most important things here is
the fact that the whole video is slightly slowed
down. This exaggerates the womans class and
sophistication. It also ties in well with the music
considering the slow motion allows the video to
become more visual instead of narrative. This
ties in well the psychedelic rock culture because
the video seems slightly removed and classy.
Almost like a perfect world where there is no
rush or chaos. This is an obvious contrast to the
red hot chili peppers video I deconstructed but
also understandable because the music is a lot
more relaxing and less up beat.
The womans attractiveness is
also exaggerated by the few, but
significant cutaways to school
boys all looking over at her as if
she is a god. This is stereotypical
schoolboy behavior and helps the
video become relatable to the
audience
The red car in this shot connotes a
passion that seems relaxed and calm.
This is because of the difference between
the red, which can be linked to chaos and
passion, yet the slow motion shot and
the woman being sophisticated and
calm. This is different and unusual and
grips the audience because of the
mixture of emotions that are being
portrayed