The Streets – Could Well Be In
Genre Characteristics
The Streets are well known for their rather unique style and can be classed under a number of genres; grime, rap and UK garage. Within the music video for ‘Could Well Be In’ are a number of characteristics that The Streets use in most of their videos. The video itself is predominantly narrative-based and the video uses locations and costumes in order to fulfil this requirement. The mise-en-scene is representative of a realistic story. The costume that Mike Skinner wears is very typical of the UK garage genre with smart, expensive, branded clothing. Many other artists within the same genre would be dressed similarly as perhaps a sign that they are successful and wealthy. The locations also match the expensive costume as it seems to be set in a relatively posh hotel.
Relationship between Lyrics and Visuals
The video itself seems to match the lyrics as the story that he tells within the song suggests that he and a female are out on a date. This is also the case in the video and the visuals constantly relate to the lyrics. At numerous occasions throughout the track there is reference to playing with her hair. ‘If she plays with her hair she’s probably keen.’ As this is repeated in both the chorus and verse the woman that he is with flicks her hair and is constantly ‘playing’ with it. Also at one point in the song Mike Skinner mentions his hair ‘looked a bit cheap’ and as he does so another image of him looking in a mirror brushing his hair with his hands is shown.
However there are still a number of lyrics that do not seem to fit with the visuals. The third verse has a focus on the woman being on the phone. ‘She had her phone stuck to the side of her face.’ This is never shown within the video just as he never plays ‘with the same ash tray.’
Relationship between Music and Visuals
There does not seem to be a large focus on the music track in the video as most of the video enhances the lyrics. This is conventional of The Streets as their unique lyrics are what make them stand out and so most of the focus of the video is used for the lyrics. There aren’t any evident cuts or movements specifically to the beat of the song and as there are no instruments featured in the video it is almost impossible to see, if any, the relationship between both the music and visuals.
Star Image Motifs
The music video uses a large quantity of close-ups that help to promote the artist and as much of the video is performance it is important to show the artist. Mike Skinner features in almost every shot within the video and there is almost an equal number of long-shots and mid-shots as there are close-ups. These are used as much of the video shows him in the background of a shot that features a second Mike Skinner on the date. This gives the impression that the artist is reminiscing about the date as he can see it happening. The Streets do not have a particular star image however can be distinguished by their unique sound and perhaps the expensive ‘casual’ clothing. This is evident within the ‘Could Well Be In’ video as mentioned previously.
The video also features Alexa Chung, a well known television presenter with a keen interest in the music industry. She is very alternative in both the way she dresses and acts which fits perfectly with the song as The Streets produce, unique, alternative tracks just as this one is.
Genre Characteristics
The Streets are well known for their rather unique style and can be classed under a number of genres; grime, rap and UK garage. Within the music video for ‘Could Well Be In’ are a number of characteristics that The Streets use in most of their videos. The video itself is predominantly narrative-based and the video uses locations and costumes in order to fulfil this requirement. The mise-en-scene is representative of a realistic story. The costume that Mike Skinner wears is very typical of the UK garage genre with smart, expensive, branded clothing. Many other artists within the same genre would be dressed similarly as perhaps a sign that they are successful and wealthy. The locations also match the expensive costume as it seems to be set in a relatively posh hotel.
Relationship between Lyrics and Visuals
The video itself seems to match the lyrics as the story that he tells within the song suggests that he and a female are out on a date. This is also the case in the video and the visuals constantly relate to the lyrics. At numerous occasions throughout the track there is reference to playing with her hair. ‘If she plays with her hair she’s probably keen.’ As this is repeated in both the chorus and verse the woman that he is with flicks her hair and is constantly ‘playing’ with it. Also at one point in the song Mike Skinner mentions his hair ‘looked a bit cheap’ and as he does so another image of him looking in a mirror brushing his hair with his hands is shown.
However there are still a number of lyrics that do not seem to fit with the visuals. The third verse has a focus on the woman being on the phone. ‘She had her phone stuck to the side of her face.’ This is never shown within the video just as he never plays ‘with the same ash tray.’
Relationship between Music and Visuals
There does not seem to be a large focus on the music track in the video as most of the video enhances the lyrics. This is conventional of The Streets as their unique lyrics are what make them stand out and so most of the focus of the video is used for the lyrics. There aren’t any evident cuts or movements specifically to the beat of the song and as there are no instruments featured in the video it is almost impossible to see, if any, the relationship between both the music and visuals.
Star Image Motifs
The music video uses a large quantity of close-ups that help to promote the artist and as much of the video is performance it is important to show the artist. Mike Skinner features in almost every shot within the video and there is almost an equal number of long-shots and mid-shots as there are close-ups. These are used as much of the video shows him in the background of a shot that features a second Mike Skinner on the date. This gives the impression that the artist is reminiscing about the date as he can see it happening. The Streets do not have a particular star image however can be distinguished by their unique sound and perhaps the expensive ‘casual’ clothing. This is evident within the ‘Could Well Be In’ video as mentioned previously.
The video also features Alexa Chung, a well known television presenter with a keen interest in the music industry. She is very alternative in both the way she dresses and acts which fits perfectly with the song as The Streets produce, unique, alternative tracks just as this one is.
Notion of Looking
This video for ‘Could Well Be In’ refers to the notion of looking most of the way through. There are a number of shots that feature Mike Skinner, the artist, twice. One example is as he goes to the toilet another mike skinner comes in and looks at his hair in the mirror. By doing this the video creates almost a sense that he is reminiscing about the date that he was on and is watching it as it happens in his mind. This fits perfectly with the song as the lyrics seem to be a description of the date that he was on, from the past.
Intertextual References
The song itself is based upon a programme that the artist has watched on ‘TV the other week.’ The chorus uses the lyrics, ‘I saw this thing on ITV the other week.’ This could be classed as intertextual reference as the specific media channel has been mentioned. However this is never represented in the video through visuals and there doesn’t seem to be any other focus on intertextual references other than the odd close-up of the Fred Perry badge on Mike Skinner’s polo shirt.
Performance, Narrative or Concept Based
The ‘Could Well Be In’ video is a 50% split between performance based and narrative based. The main story is of a date between the artist and Alexa Chung and their night together while a separate Mike Skinner reminisces or overlooks the evening. This second Mike Skinner as he stands at the bar and goes about his own evening performs the lyrics of the track. This is not performance based as many videos are with the band or artist performing live to an audience or separately but the two are combined together, a conventional genre characteristic.
The character portrayed in the video is a representation of the artist Mike Skinner as a character. The images fit perfectly with the traits of the artist and therefore help to add to the realism of the video and also help to keep the song as meaningful as it is. Richard Dyer stated that the problematic fir occurs ‘there is a clash between two complex sign-cluster,’ meaning that if the character being played does not fit the persona of the actor, or in this instance the artist, the characters have been miscast. This helps to create what would probably be classed as a Low Fi production.
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