Mumford and Sons- Music Video Analysis

Like the digipak and magazine advert created for the promotion of this album, Mumford and Son's music video for one of the most popular singles, 'Little Lion Man' follows a minimalistic approach. The music video is very heavily performance based and is shot in one location, with varying shots showing the interesting location and the band performing.

Mise en Scene

LOCATION + LIGHTING- The opening establishing shot shows the sheer simplicity of the chosen location. They are performing in a worn out empty wooden hall, which creates a vintage feel. The lighting is dark and ambient, to give the effect that it is only being light by the two hanging light bulbs. As Mumford's music is relaxing and has a traditional folk element, the empty location and low key lighting helps add to this mellow feel their music creates.
COSTUME- Many of the band members are dressed in sweater vests and baggy shirts, which is a common feature of traditional folk clothing, therefore their costume is used to establish the genre of music. Furthermore unlike many modern artists who wear very glamorous bright costume to receive attention, the band are dressed in dark and pale clothing, also suggesting they are all about the music not the glamor. 
PROPS- The only props used the video are the tea lights to create a vintage and relaxing alternative feeling location, and the instruments. This highlights what is important to the band, and that they want the emphasis of the video to be focused and the band and the way they make music. 

Camera  

Throughout the music video, there is a variety of shots used ranging from an establishing shot, a long shot, or a series of close ups. It opens with an establishing shot, to show the emptiness of the location but then shortly after moves to a series of close ups; this being a common feature of music videos. However unlike many music videos, there are quite a few long shots used to. I believe this is due to the simplicity of the video, so they wont to show the creative location choice. Furthermore, when the pace of the music builds up the amount of close ups build up to, as it focuses more on the hands playing the guitar or the mouths singing.

Editing  

The Little Lion Man video, isn't as conventional as many of the music videos I have watched as many of the shots stay on the screen for around 3 seconds therefore the editing pace is slower. All the transitions used are straight cuts, apart from the very last frame which fades to black to end the video. The editing pace of the music video, follows the pace of the music. Therefore throughout parts like the chorus the the editing pace is faster, but the video starts and ends at a slow pace.

From analysing this video, I have discovered that the location is key for creating a mood and feel throughout the video. Also, if  I decided to film a band performing, then many close ups should be taken of the instruments being played by the band members.