1. The music video for "Breezeblocks" by Alt-J tells a story in reverse. It begins with a man looking distraught and ends with him leaving an apartment where he has been abusing his girlfriend. 2. Scenes show the couple fighting violently, with the woman throwing a bottle at him and them struggling over a stone block. He is also seen applying tape to her mouth, suggesting he has kept her trapped. 3. Intercut with these scenes are extreme close-ups of the distressed woman crying, emphasizing how terrified she is. The video ultimately reveals that after the abuse, the man fills a bathtub and drowns her.

1. 9 FRAME ANALYSIS
ALT J - BREEZEBLOCKS

2. THE FRAMES

3. 1
This is the opening scene in the video where we see a close up of
man sat with his head in his hands. His performance suggests that
he is really sad and remorseful for something that he has done. It
is not evident until the first 10 seconds but the video for this
song is filmed in reverse which is quite confusing at first but the
narrative makes sense at the end. So in fact, this is the final
scene in the narrative but the first scene in the video.

4. 2
The audience then realize what the man in depressed about as the camera shows a girl that
appears to be dead in a bathtub of water. At this point in the video we see the footage
in reverse so she appears to come out of the bath and become alive. It is quite eerie and
paranormal but this all relates to the meaning behind the song and fits in with the
narrative. The lyrics at this point in the video are “she may contain the urge to run
away, but hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks’. This immediately ties in
with what is on the screen – she has tried to run away from her relationship we assume
and things have turned violent and the man has killed her. The lyrics “never kisses, only
you ever send are full stops” suggest that the relationship has done downhill and now
this is the outcome of it. In this shot the camera catches the movement of the water
which gives the video a sinister yet arty feel. This ties in with the genre of the band
as they are art-rock/experimental.

5. 3
The next screen shot shows the couple running backwards throughout the location – which
appears to be a gloomy dark flat or house. This location is the only one throughout the
full video which is interesting as it tells the story of what has happened in only one
environment. Being aware that the video is now in reverse the audience can detect that the
man is chasing after the girl, presumably before he has killed her. The lighting is dark
which adds to the overall atmosphere in the video of love and violence. The lyrics at this
point are “my heart sinks as I jump up, your hand grips hand as my eyes shut”. The word
grips has the connotations of strength and power which can be related to the man
overpowering the woman in the video.

6. 4
Being in reverse the video then shows the peak of the violent behavior of the couple.
The screen shot shows a glass bottle being rebuilt (remembering the video is in
reverse), the shot is interesting as the camera is in shallow focus showing the bottle
in detail. This emphasizes the fact that the fight was that violent and aggressive, the
woman threw a glass bottle in order to defend herself. This scene is interesting as a
multi-take shows the act of her fighting against the man, and the footage appears to be
slowed down. This results in the camera moving in time with the song which is a key
media theory in terms of showing narrative in the video. The lyrics at this point are
“muscle to muscle and toe to toe, the fear has gripped me but here I go”. This suggests
that the mans aim is to trap the woman – being quite a dark and miserable song.
Interpreting the lyrics the audience can decipher that the man is scared to trap the
woman, but he does it anything because he is “gripped”.

7. 5
This next screen shot shows the couple fighting over a stone block. The camera
lingers on this for several moments so the audience cannot mistake that it is
in fact a stone block. This gives the idea that the fight and argument is that
serious both people are trying to seriously harm one another. This point in
the video is compelling, the audience has pity on the girl because the man is
over powering her, but at this point in the video they both are fighting over
this object and the majority of the audience want the girl to succeed .

8. 6
This screen shot shows an extreme close up of the girl crying in the video. From her
performance the audience feel sorry for her and understand the horror she was feeling at
this point in the video that eventually leads to her death in the end of narrative but
beginning of the video. The lighting is really dark and gloomy but we can still make out
her facial expression showing agony and pain. The lyrics at this point are “please don’t
go, please don’t go, I love you so”. This suggests that despite the violent relationship,
she still loves him. It also suggests that when he is on screen at the start of the video
with his head in his hands that he realizes what he has done and how much he loved her.
The use of an extreme close up at this point emphasizes how distraught and terrified the
girl is in the video which relates to the meaning of the song.

9. 7
This screen shot shows a medium shot of the man applying tape to the girls mouth.
Because it is reverse it really shows him coming into the apartment and taking
take off her mouth. This makes the audience realize that while he has been gone
he has kept her locked up and trapped unable to move or speak in a cupboard. This
shocks the viewers at how much he is torturing her. The song is still in its
chorus at this point with the lyrics “please don’t go, I love you so”, this
suggests that it is relevant to him at this point implying that he is scared of
her leaving him so wants to trap her so she cannot escape. Simple use of props
(such as the tape in this scene) can commutate a lot of hidden meanings, this
video inspired our group to try and use props as well as costume in our final
product as a way of sending messages to the audience.

10. 8
The backwards narrative stops for a second here and we see the camera go back to the end
of the narrative where the man is filling the bath with water. I think the director has
done this to remind the audience of the outcome of all the fighting and abuse shown at the
start of the narrative but end of the video. This shot is interesting as it shows an
extreme close up of the tap in shallow focus so we can see the detail of it in the
foreground but the background is blurred. The editing and pace of editing is interesting
here as we can see the water shooting backwards up the tap, remembering the filming is
played backwards. This technique gives the video an arty, unusual style which reflects the
genre of the music, meeting audiences expectations for this particular genre.

11. 9
The final scene in the video shows the man backwardly leaving the apartment.
However this is in fact the start of the narrative where the man comes home to the
apartment, unties to girl and starts to abuse her. The lighting here is dark giving
the shot a gloomy silhouette look. This again, relates to the stylistic elements in
music videos of this genre to meet the audiences expectations. This final scene is
important to the narrative in the video as we see how it all started, finally being
aware of the full story from end to start in the video. On my first view of this
video I was fairly confused until this point in the ending where the narrative is
resolved. The final of the video leaves the audience feeling shocked and moved by
the video as it is very deep and horrific at times.