The Maccabees Video Comparison

No Kind Words

The entire video is made up of two or three different shots with a two-shot of the men taking up the majority of the time. It shows two men talking to each other which vaguely relates to the words of the song as the tow men may be sorting out their differences. Close-ups of one of the men (Matt Horne) are used to show his emotion, which highlights his distress and anguish. Digital effects have been added onto the plan black background of the video which seems to have no relation to the narrative that is being depicted, although I feel that these effects do enhance the video as a whole.

Can You Give It

The video is of the Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling and wake annual competition; it shows a man in training for the event and later winning. The video has no relation to the lyrics of the song. The band does not appear in the video at any stage, and it feels like there is no relation to them or their music. Throughout the video several different people are seen such as the cheese makers and the competition judges, this builds up several layers to the story which is being told. The video is completely narrative based, although there is no story telling from the lyrics of the song.

Love You Better

The video is completely performance based with the band members of The Maccabees being the only people seen throughout. The video starts with shots of the band against an all black background, this combined with the men looking into the camera a lot makes it feel as though the band are performing for the viewer. There are several cuts to a freeze-frame of the band members where they are rotated and playing various instruments, giving a more detailed picture of each person. Throughout the video a number of digital effects are used which stop the video from being just a shot of the band performing, this gives the video another dimension which is makes it a more interesting piece.

All three of these videos are from The Maccabees latest album, however there seems to be no trend to them whatsoever. All three are completely different with only very few similarities. The main one being the neon digital effects used in both No Kind Words and Love You Better.