Arctic Monkeys - 'Snap Out Of It'
Genre: Indie/Alternative
'Snap Out Of It', the sixth single from Arctic Monkeys' fifth studio album, 'AM', was released on the 9th June 2014. The music video was directed by Focus Creeps and was released on the 17th June. The members of the band are largely absent throughout the duration of it, only making appearances through a television, and instead the video revolves around an obsessed Alex Turner fan - played by the alluring Stephanie Sigman. The narrative of the music video can be compared to other music videos like Eminem's 'Stan'.
The music video begins with the introduction of the female star emerging from a crystal clear pool in slow-motion. As the music begins, the camera rises from her legs to her breasts and finally to her face as she dries herself off after leaving the pool. The colour palette of the video is incredibly reminiscent of Wes Anderson's, exhibited in works such as 'Moonrise Kingdom (2012)' and 'The Darjeeling Limited (2012)'. The camera follows the female to her bedroom where we watch her as she gets changed into her underwear and a kimono. The female then exits the bedroom and turns the television on to studio footage of Arctic Monkeys' recording 'AM'. In response to this, the lady reacts in a sexually aroused manner by rubbing her hands and stroking her neck in ecstasy when Alex comes into view. Realising that she cannot be with him, the woman breaks down in tears but then rewinds the footage to watch it from the beginning again.
After the first play of the chorus, the camera pans to the kitchen where the female is cooking steak. However, whilst this is happening, the footage of the band is playing on a different TV. Sigman then eats the steak to try and 'snap out of it' but fails to do so and instead replays the Monkeys' grainy VHS footage. This action results in a nervous breakdown where a close-up shot shows her face smothered in channels of eye make-up as she creepily stares. Towards the end of the video, clips of Sigman and the Arctic Monkeys' footage splice together quickly to build tension towards the crescendo where the character further attempts to sedate her obsession through dance. This scene is a change in tone as it's the first point of the video where she genuinely looks happy. The female is in her element until the footage shown on the living room's TV features herself as she blows a kiss to the camera before the footage stops. Sigman watches woefully. This quick conclusion suggests that the female character was once with Alex but they suffered a dreadful break-up which would render her as an obsessive ex-girlfriend. The music video ends with Sigman swimming in the pool - a repetition of how it began.
'Snap Out Of It' is another example of Alex Turner's ego being stroked. The video comprises of a beautiful - borderline stalker - female fan who dresses in expensive underwear and watches videos of the frontman and his accomplices all day. The music video is similar to movies such as Tony Scott's 'The Fan (1996)', 'Misery (1990' and others of the Thriller genre.
The music video exhibits voyeurism briefly when the viewer watches Stephanie Sigman changing into her underwear and after she withdraws from the swimming pool. The music video ties in with the lyric, "i wanna grab both your shoulders and shake baby, snap out of it". Alex wants the female to "snap out of it" and move on for her own good. Now that Arctic Monkeys' are one of the biggest bands in the world right now, they have no need to cement their star image during their music videos and 'Snap Out Of It' is a perfect example of that. For this video they have favoured narrative over performance - a fairly typical convention for a band on an independent record label.
