Analysing Little Black Submarines by The Black Keys (performance element)

The entirety of this music video is dedicated to performance and the audience watching.
In the first few seconds the audience grasp the fact that this video is shot in North America with the prop of the American flag, the band also appear to be performing in a local bar.
An effect has also been used resulting in the video having a saturated feel, this gives it the effect of being filmed via a hand camera.
 The first shot captured of the performance is a close up side on, with a light shining onto a man singing, as this is the first person we see in the performance the audience capture him as the lead vocalist. The angle of this shot and the light provide darkness over the lead singers face submerging him in darkness, all the focus is on the outline of him, including the light also makes the viewer believe its a stage performance rather than a performance in an unusual setting, for example in 'Blink-182, All the Small Things' and the performance is an empty large room.



The shot then switches round to be on his other side revealing his face to the audience via the use of artificial lighting, the camera is unsteady and moves around, this heightens the 'live performance' feel and makes it more raw. The singer is in very casual clothing which gives the video a laid back feel, he is also sweating which makes the audience feel like this is being filmed half way through a set.


Shots of the bar environment are used to de fragment the performance e.g. people playing snooker, the shot then proceeds to a zoom in on his mouth and microphone, this further highlights the fact that he is the one singing, it then cuts away to be in the point of a view of one of the audience, the camera continues to move around a little, this gives it an amateur feel which fits in well with the video. After a few more shots of the bar and lead singer we get the first glimpse of the second band member, a long shot provides the audience with a view of both members, this is brief and quickly cuts away to a shot from behind the lead vocalist looking out into the audience. This then quickly cuts away to a birds eye view of both members performing, this then cuts away again to the lead singers shadow on the wall, the cut away's continue on highlighting different parts of the environment e.g. an audience member singing along, the drum kit and a long shot of the audience.

Once the electric guitar starts the whole feel of the video changes from something very calm and amateur to something very energetic yet still amateur but as mentioned earlier the amateur feel makes the video feel more real as if the viewer is actually there and also shooting from all points of the view makes it more interesting.
Once the drums start, the cut away's become quicker and the shots come from a lot more points of view making the video all over the place and not running smooth, shots vary from zoomed in on the guitar being played to a bird eye view of the drummer to audience member's point of view, this yet again heightens the 'raw' feel and also making it very energetic, the cut away's also cut on the beat of the drum.
Examples of varied shots can be seen to the right.

Although shots move around slightly no panning shots are used, this would be too smooth and would not fit in with the video, many angles are used for example; over the shoulder shot, cut-in, cutaway and wide shot, due to these many different angles we get to see everything that is happening within the environment.
There are also no location changes throughout the video, in other videos this would become boring and the viewer would discontinue watching but the variety of shots and energy keep the viewer entertained.

As the performers move the camera moves with them an example of this is at 1:51 in the video where the lead performer is moving up and down slightly whilst playing the guitar and the camera also makes the same movement, this gives the viewer the point of view of someone in the audience, as though they are the ones recording the video, it also makes the viewer want to jump along to the song like the audience in the video is doing, it gives an excited feel, almost hyper.


The cut outs to each shot become slower, this results in not giving the same craze feeling as there was once the drums started, at 2:23 the camera has the effect of a border, this gives it an older feeling, not as modern, for example in the music video 'Tighten up' also by The Black Keys, the camera is giving clear crisp quality with no lighting effects just natural lighting. A screenshot of 'Tighten Up' can be seen on the left.

The shots continue on to cut away to certain elements of the scene, once the chorus starts the shot then reflects back to the lead vocalist singing, this highlights the importance of these lyrics to the viewer, the camera is also slighting at a worms eye point of view, this portrays the importance of the performer and also as someone else people look up to.

The video itself ends with a zoom out of the bar in which they are performing, this gives the effect of the viewer going in to watch the performance and then leaving.