Textual Analysis:

This is Little Lion Man, written and performed by Mumford and Sons. It is a performance video and corresponds with the music. This established very early with the opening strumming of the track, is coupled with the front man playing the guitar. The sound and guitar on the screen symbolises to the audience that are possibly unaware of Mumford and Sons as a band, that they are an acoustic, folk orientated product. The Editing cuts on the beat of the song, a great example of this can found 00:16 where the cello player stamps on the floor as the percussion comes in. It is repeated on 00:23 when the drummer hits the base drum, representing the beat of the song. It also add to the seriousness and professionalism of the band, as all four members are seen with their instruments performing. The audience can identify the band are of a folk genre with the sound of the banjo in-between the beats. This can also be visually recognised through the video as the band are shown in waistcoats, skinny jeans, blazers and having long hair. Through the mise-en-scene the audience can stereotype the artists as being from an indie/folk scene which in this particular case is correct. The majority of the shots before the front man begins to sing are of the musicians playing their instruments in correspondence to what the audience receives visually. The long shot that pans back, shows all four members of the band, representing them as being very close and not possibly having one main member which is a convention of most modern bands. Each member seems to share close-ups equally and through the cinematography, the audience gets the feeling the band are all very close, and family like, which in turn adds significance to the name of the band.

The mise-en-scene shows Mumford and Sons performing as a band, giving its audience the voyeuristic pleasure of watching them. The video itself is designed to show the audience how talented they are as a live performing band, which will not only get them record sales, but more success in ticket sales.

This video compliments the first song the band released. They are shown on screen as being in an empty, run down theatre, lit up by light bulbs strung across the ceiling. This represents the band coming into fame and success, as you could take the location as being the bands struggles to become a success and the light symbolised them coming into the music industry. The light could also represent possibly the light at the end of the tunnel, what they were chasing as a band before they got famous.

The pace of the video parallels the pace of the song, as the song plays through each verse, the editing cuts are steady. The camera focuses more on medium and long shots at symbolises the calmness of the track, that is until it comes to the chorus where as the song gets faster and more dramatic, so does the visual. The cuts are so much quicker, with close-ups of each member of the band and their instruments. The video also uses this technique in the bridge of the song, where everything becomes quiet and slow. Their is a pan down shot of focusing on the entire band playing slowly, as the pace of the song builds up, so does the pace of the cuts, adding to the intensity of the entire product. The video has no real narrative, it is just a performance video.