This music video was directed by Kula Shaker's frontman Crispian Mills. Form The form of this video is a promotional music video.
PurposeThe purpose of this video is to promote the song "Peter Pan R.I.P", the first single from Kula Shaker's latest album "Pilgrims Progress". It was the only single from the album to be accompanied by a promotional video. It was designed to encourage people to purchase the album/single. As the format it takes is a music video, published on website YouTube, it is easily shareable on social networking sites, increasing its audience reach and therefore in order to sell more copies.
PurposeThe purpose of this video is to promote the song "Peter Pan R.I.P", the first single from Kula Shaker's latest album "Pilgrims Progress". It was the only single from the album to be accompanied by a promotional video. It was designed to encourage people to purchase the album/single. As the format it takes is a music video, published on website YouTube, it is easily shareable on social networking sites, increasing its audience reach and therefore in order to sell more copies.
Content & Meaning
In the beginning of the video there is an animated sequence featuring fancy serif text, reading "Peter Pan's Kensington Garden". The image zooms out to display a full map of the area. This image is accompanied oddly by the sound effects played at the end of the song, they end as the image fades to black and typical park sounds (birds singing etc) play instead until the song begins.
The image fades into an establishing shot of an old man walking, panning from his feet up to his face. The actor wears a dull tweed coat, undercoat and scarf. On his head he wears a red beret with a swallow and other badges attached and has a medium length white beard and white wispy hair.
The old man stops and stands still, closes his eyes and breathes in, as in the same take a handheld camera follows his body around approximately 120 degrees, until his back is to the camera and the audience get a look of the lake that stands before him. Apart from the bird sounds, wind and faint siren of a police car in the distance, the moment is oddly quiet and solitary. The image fades to red and an old camera effect is used to break up the shots.
The next shot is a view of the water in the lake, and a sound of water moving is played. The image cuts back to a close up of the old man in the foreground, still with his eyes shut and the background blurred shows that he is the focus and connotes that he is alone. He opens his eyes and the image cuts to an out of focus shot of the lake, that quickly focusses on a group of swans and then a shot following a swan as it flies and lands. These shots are taken from the old man's perspective and shows us what he is looking at.
The shot cuts back to the image of his face, he hears the faint tuning of instruments and looks. The image cuts to a wide shot of the band, sitting and standing around a bench next to the lake. The old man hears the sound of a toy squeaking and a child laughing and looks away to see where the sound is coming from. A blurred to focussed long shot of the old man from behind a tree connotes that someone is watching him. He looks towards the camera and slowly walks towards it. The shot cuts to an image of Paul hitting his drum and cuts on the beat back to the old man walking.
As the song begins, the shot cuts to a flock of black bird flying after being disturbed, as if by the drum. The shot changes back to that of the perspective of the person watching, walking around the trees. The image cuts to the old man, straining to catch a glimpse of his stalker. The onlooker continues until it reaches a tree with a tiny gravestone against its trunk. These few shots are taken from the perspective of the onlooker. The shot cuts to a front facing shot of the band at the bench, as Crispian begins to sing the song. The band use different instruments to mime and emulate the instruments in the song; Paul carries a single drum and drumstick, Alonza uses an accordion, Harry uses a tambourine and Crispian uses a violin. The image cuts to a close up of Crispian looking into the camera, singing.
The next shot is of the old man crouching down to get a look at something the camera represents. A shaky pan from the ground to the top of the gravestone once again demonstrates the old man's view. The shot cuts again to the band and Crispian singing as he tells the story. A circling shot of the gravestone morphs into an overlaid shot of the camera circling a 'Peter Pan' statue.
After a few shots of the instruments being played, the old man sees five children dressed in Victorian clothing behind the gravestone, holding bunches of daffodils. The bunches of flowers are reminiscent of flowers thrown on graves in funerals and the children follow the theme of 'Peter Pan'. A shot of the children that pans across their faces in a mid shot is overlaid by an image of skeletal leaves. The old man closes his eyes, and an image of a young man in a doorway is overlaid, connoting that this is a memory. The shot cuts to a time lapse shot of the sky and this connotes time passing quickly, representing a memory or reflection.
An image of a war memorial is overlaid, suggesting that the old man was probably in the military. The following shot is a mid shot of the young man in an army uniform. This connotes that the old man is thinking about when he was young and possibly how he never wanted to grow old - just like the children in the Peter Pan story.
A shot of the old man laying on the ground with his eyes shut, bunches of flowers on his chest and his head rested against the gravestone interludes this last image and lasts for less than a second. This foreshadows the end of the video. The video continues through the rest of the chorus with images of the band playing their instruments, the children and the old man. One of the children hands the old man a wooden recorder flute. The old man clutches the flute and the shot cuts to him once again lying on the ground, but this time the shot is much longer and is taken from above, zooming out. He imagines himself as a toddler with his mother, running around the same park and giving him a wooden flute. This connotes that he misses his childhood.
The next shot is an aerial shot of the old man holding the flute in the air, smiling wickedly and now wearing a suit of colourful rags and a hat with feathers while the children hold hands and dance. He plays the flute as they dance. They form a line with the old man in front, the children behind and the band following as they play and dance. The children hold hands and skip around the Peter Pan statue.
The final shots are actually a mixture of narrative and behind the scenes images, showing the clapper board before a take, shots of the children laughing and the surrounding area including a cavalry of horses. A shot of the children laying their flowers on the old man cuts to shots of the children around the statue. The very last shot was taken from a handheld camera and is a film of someone walking towards the Peter Pan statue.
Genre The treatment of this video is folklore and the genre is folk/rock/ indian-influenced psychedelia.
As the song begins, the shot cuts to a flock of black bird flying after being disturbed, as if by the drum. The shot changes back to that of the perspective of the person watching, walking around the trees. The image cuts to the old man, straining to catch a glimpse of his stalker. The onlooker continues until it reaches a tree with a tiny gravestone against its trunk. These few shots are taken from the perspective of the onlooker. The shot cuts to a front facing shot of the band at the bench, as Crispian begins to sing the song. The band use different instruments to mime and emulate the instruments in the song; Paul carries a single drum and drumstick, Alonza uses an accordion, Harry uses a tambourine and Crispian uses a violin. The image cuts to a close up of Crispian looking into the camera, singing.
The next shot is of the old man crouching down to get a look at something the camera represents. A shaky pan from the ground to the top of the gravestone once again demonstrates the old man's view. The shot cuts again to the band and Crispian singing as he tells the story. A circling shot of the gravestone morphs into an overlaid shot of the camera circling a 'Peter Pan' statue.
After a few shots of the instruments being played, the old man sees five children dressed in Victorian clothing behind the gravestone, holding bunches of daffodils. The bunches of flowers are reminiscent of flowers thrown on graves in funerals and the children follow the theme of 'Peter Pan'. A shot of the children that pans across their faces in a mid shot is overlaid by an image of skeletal leaves. The old man closes his eyes, and an image of a young man in a doorway is overlaid, connoting that this is a memory. The shot cuts to a time lapse shot of the sky and this connotes time passing quickly, representing a memory or reflection.
An image of a war memorial is overlaid, suggesting that the old man was probably in the military. The following shot is a mid shot of the young man in an army uniform. This connotes that the old man is thinking about when he was young and possibly how he never wanted to grow old - just like the children in the Peter Pan story.
A shot of the old man laying on the ground with his eyes shut, bunches of flowers on his chest and his head rested against the gravestone interludes this last image and lasts for less than a second. This foreshadows the end of the video. The video continues through the rest of the chorus with images of the band playing their instruments, the children and the old man. One of the children hands the old man a wooden recorder flute. The old man clutches the flute and the shot cuts to him once again lying on the ground, but this time the shot is much longer and is taken from above, zooming out. He imagines himself as a toddler with his mother, running around the same park and giving him a wooden flute. This connotes that he misses his childhood.
The next shot is an aerial shot of the old man holding the flute in the air, smiling wickedly and now wearing a suit of colourful rags and a hat with feathers while the children hold hands and dance. He plays the flute as they dance. They form a line with the old man in front, the children behind and the band following as they play and dance. The children hold hands and skip around the Peter Pan statue.
The final shots are actually a mixture of narrative and behind the scenes images, showing the clapper board before a take, shots of the children laughing and the surrounding area including a cavalry of horses. A shot of the children laying their flowers on the old man cuts to shots of the children around the statue. The very last shot was taken from a handheld camera and is a film of someone walking towards the Peter Pan statue.
Genre The treatment of this video is folklore and the genre is folk/rock/ indian-influenced psychedelia.
Audience
The audience of this video are fans of Kula Shaker and possibly even fans of folklore. The difference in musical style between the previous KS albums and their newest means it may have even attracted a new audience, fans of folk music and other similar genres.
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