1. Music Video Analysis of “Obstacle 1” by Interpol
Interpol is an Anglo-American indie rock band who formed in 1997 in New York City. They
are one of several bands associated with the New York City indie music scene. The music
video for “Obstacle 1” was directed by Floria Sigismondi and is from their first album “Turn
On The Bright Lights”. During an interview with a WKQS Radi station, the band stated
that they wrote the song after watching a new’s report about a model’s recent death. The
music video for “Obstacle 1” is a performance concept video that mainly focuses on the
band performing and a woman dancing with water and wires around her. The concept
part of the music video is of the woman dancing whilst water and wires are surrounding
her. This action could depict the concept of untimely death’s where you are living your life
and having fun, then suddenly one moment’s loss of attention could leave you on the floor,
dead.
Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics:
Goodwin’s theory states that the music video’s for each
genre demonstrate key genre characteristics. The key
characteristic of the Indie genre is that band’s tend to
always include a performance element in their music
video’. On the right is a long shot of the band and their
instruments. It is also an establishing shot as the band
and the location for the music video is introduced. Also,
there is a low angle shot of the band members playing
their instruments which is another example of
performance.
Indie is short for “independent” therefore another
characteristic of the indie genre is that the band is
independent in how they dress, the sound of their music
and the location of the music video. Indie bands usually
wear casual clothing with the ever presence of skinny
jeans. However, in the music video the band are
wearing formal suits which makes them even more
independent than other indie bands.
Relationship between lyrics and visuals:
There is no obvious relationship between the lyrics of the
song and the visuals. The relationship between the lyrics
and visuals is contradictory where the lyrics do not
demonstrate an immediate link with what is on the
screen. For example, when the lead singer sings “I wish I
could eat the salt off your last faded lips”, the audience only
see the lead singer singing the lyrics in the music video. No
faded lips, or the person that the lead singer is singing about can be seen.
There is a relationship between music and visuals:

2. In the music video, there is a strong relationship between the music and visuals. For
example, when the lead singer is singing into the microphone, this moment is shown. To the
right is an example of when two band members are playing the guitar. Their skills are
highlighted through the use of a medium shot. Through the use of a low angle shot, the
audience can see the drummer playing his drums. Furthermore, when the band is playing
their instruments, the audience can see that it is not
mechanical. The passion and their involvement in their music
is evident which makes them play their music more naturally
and with more flow.
Demands of the record label:
When a band is first introduced to the music scene, it is
important for the record label to introduce each band
member in their own unique way. For example in
“Obstacle 1”, the lead singer is introduced through a
medium shot where one of the band’s guitarists can be
seen on the left hand side of the screen. The band’s other
guitarist is introduced through the use of a medium close
up. However this introduction is brief as a medium close up
with a quick cut edit is used to show his guitar and his skills
and so forth. The individual introduction of the bands
members allows the audience to get to know the band
and be introduced to their style and skills. Furthermore, it
is also important for a unique style to be adopted by the
band in order to create their own image. In this case, in the
video the band all where formal suits which establishes
them as a an indie band with a twist. Furthermore, most
of the band members have a distinctive indie haircut
which consists of scruffy hair with a side fringe. This type of
haircut is the norm for all indie bands.
Notion of looking and the voyeuristic treatment of the female body:
In the music video, there is a notion of looking at females
however there is no voyeuristic element within the music
video. The audience can only see the female dancing to
the music in the video alone in a room surrounded by wires
on the floor and the water slowly seeping into the room.
Most indie band members are all males which means that
indie bands have a large female following. To include an
element of voyeuristic treatment of the female body
would result in the alienation of their female fan base.