Music Video Analysis - Neon Trees: Everybody Talks
The music video for 'Everybody Talks' by Neon Trees is that of an extreme concept piece, featuring a 1950's setting and a video within a video, the piece is visually appealing whilst maintaining its complexity and is certainly not one of the more conventional 'pop music' videos. It opens with what seems like an advertisement for a film, played in parallel with what can only be imagined as a paradoxical feature of non-diegetic sound as well as diegetic sound, as we, the audience can hear it at first, but then it slowly transforms into a segment that the people in the video can hear as well. Thus, adding to the videos already complex nature.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VISUALS AND LYRICS
An interesting music video makes for an interesting relationship between the visuals and the lyrics, and 'Everybody Talks' is no exception. The relationship between the two appear to be fragmented at first, as the audience is shifted back and forth between "reality" and the music video within the music video. Wide angled mid-shots from either two settings feature the lead singer, Tyler, lip synching to the lyrics, a notable convention of music videos. However, there were also moments where him and the rest of the Neon Trees were acting throughout with the music continuing on in the background. As the actual music video progresses, we see less and less of the band singing within its "reality", and more through the dominating video. A momentary interlude was featured allowing the music video featured within the actual video to progress its narrative; all music ceased and it was reliant on the acting to further push the narrative forward. The directors cleverly introduced a way for audiences to distinguish between the "reality" and the music video by layering a worn out camera filter, with burns and scratch marks, which was heavily reminiscent of the time period during the 1950's. 
From the outset, the genre of this music video was seemingly a little difficult to identify as there were hardly any codes and conventions that reinforced the pop/rock genre characteristics; but as the narrative progresses, the audience can identify subtle genre codes such as the leather jackets that the characters were wearing, typically associated with the rock genre. This was also contrasted with that of the pop genre element of the video; Tyler and the rest of the band donned extravagant clothing such as a cheetah print coat and a gold sequinned shirt. Another reinforcement of the pop genre specifically, is that there is a lot of choral inclusion within the music video. The band have displayed choreographed dance scenes, lip-synching scenes and so forth; all identified and conveyed to the audience through wide angled mid-shots, panning shots and slight overhead shots. There was a myriad of different lighting throughout this music video, most of which were evidenced by quick-cut camera shots that allowed clips of low-key lighting to transition to high-key lighting very fast. A key element of a pop music video is the high-key lighting, which albeit was prominent throughout the video, but one could also identify that considering that there was a clash of genre (i.e. pop and rock), the high-key lighting was representative of the pop elements of the video, whilst the low-key lighting was reminiscent of the rock genre.
INTERTEXUALITY
Intertextuality throughout this music video was a task to say the least, but eventually, there was something that linked to one of the most famous films of all time: Grease. Although this intertextuality wasn't a constant throughout the video, it was however featured in some of the panning shots, mid-shots and close up camera angles. Each shot identifies cars linked to the 1950's, specifically '57 Chevy's; cars of which were featured heavily within the 1978 film. Grease is a musical film that focuses on the trials and tribulations that the rival gangs, 'The T-Birds' and 'The Pink Ladies' encountered, whilst also providing the audience with an amalgamation of comedic and romantic aspects. The music video for 'Everybody Talks' actually shows what seem to be two gangs situated in their respective cars whilst watching the film at the drive-in theatre. Panning shots reveal a car filled with boys with leather jackets and greased back hair, while the camera focuses on a mid-range shot of the girls in the opposite car, thus alluding to the idea that these two "gangs" were inspired by 'The T-Birds' and 'The Pink Ladies'. Another feature that contributes to the intertextuality of Grease is that every person at the diner breaks out into song and dance, something of which was extremely prevalent within the musical film. 
PERFORMANCE, NARRATIVE AND/OR CONCEPT?
As the aforementioned point briefly explains, this music video is remarkably complex in terms of it's execution. The video exhibits most features of a performance piece, follows a narrative of "boy in love with girl, girl plays hard to get" whilst also remaining solidly in its complexity as a conceptually driven piece. Although, having said this, the music video doesn't really mirror anything to do with the lyrics of the song, therefore reinforcing the stronger sense of a conceptual piece as nothing in the lyrics suggests that the video should be filmed a 1950's drive-through diner/theatre, or have anything to do with "Zombie Bikers from Hell". All in all, the video is heavily influenced by a conceptual idea whilst also continuing a thread of whimsical performance by each and every band member, as well as the other characters featured in the video.
LINEAR OR CLOSED NARRATIVE?
There is a strong sense of narrative within this music video as briefly mentioned above. However, what could be considered unusual within this music video, is the directors choice to have the audience jump between "reality" and the short film that features. Because of this, it is easy to distinguish that the narrative, yet again, is of paradoxical nature. The narrative is simple, "boy falls in love, girl is difficult and unwavering in her flirtatious attitudes towards him". The reason why it is paradoxical is because it would seem to contradict a strict linear narrative, but it in fact does follow a singular narrative, the audience is just involved with a secondary narrative running alongside the main one, which makes the music video that much more complex.
LOOKING/MODE OF ADDRESS
Throughout the video, there are a whole range of close up shots that focus predominantly on the lead singer, Tyler. Through these different camera shots, a host of them are where he directly addresses the camera, leading to believe that there is no disconnect between him and the audience, but instead reinforces a strong relationship between him and the music, in the sense that he uses eye contact to sway audiences into truly being involved with the song. As for the female protagonist, there are yet again, a myriad of close up camera shots, yet she rarely addresses the camera as most of the time she hides behind sunglasses. This could allude to her character being of ambiguous nature as she conceals most of her face throughout the entirety of the video, also adding to her mysterious yet flirtatious appeal to the lead singer. 
STAR TREATMENTThe entire video centralises itself around the entire band, with everyone being in equal status to one another. Aside from the wide angled mid-shots that successfully capture the whole band, these shots are accompanied by different levels of lighting, ranging from low-key to high-key. The idea of extreme close up shots of each member reinforce the emotion of the band; happy and joyous. This is again, mainly accompanied by high-key lighting to further reinforce the "happy-go-lucky"allure of this up-beat pop/rock song.
MIS-EN-SCENE
The overarching influence of this music video was a concept heavily influenced by the 1950's; a stimulus that could be considered unusual in this highly modernised 21st Century. Released in 2012, 'Everybody Talks' pays homage to a quirky relationship, with the mis-en-scene used to later reflect this. Camera angles throughout this entire video didn't seem to have much variation, with them only remaining on a levelled position, there was no room for empowerment or disempowerment of any of the band or other characters. A notable feature throughout is the vibrancy of the colours accompanied by the high-key lighting. The neon signs of the diner give the audience crisp visuals of the surrounding setting whilst perhaps contributing to a deeper, subliminal message of a fresh new relationship about to begin. There is also a secondary message throughout the video, perhaps a little more philosophical than concerning a relationship. It is that "not everything is as it seems", this is reinforced through the minor special effects utilised within the video of when the female protagonist lures her victims into a secluded area and then continues to scare them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5G9tIe84lE
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