How Does 'Dont Look Back Into The Sun' By The Libertines Represent Genre?

The Libertines are a punk rock band formed in England; with Don't Look Back Into The Sun being one of their most well known singles. The music video is filmed very amatuerish and off-hand, however this cheapness embellishes the scruffy warmheartedness of the band whilst the regular camera shake connotes anarchy and the off-the-rails lifestyle the band radiate- which is also shown by the quick cutting between scenes.

This lifestyle of uncoformatity is shown by the bands costumes, the vibrant red (connoting danger and attitude) standing out against the rest of the general public.

As the introductory solo kicks in the video turns straight into performance shots; footage of a live concert which emphasises the authencitity of their music and captures the energy and chaos of the punk rock genre. This energy is shown in the camera work of the performance shots, with a variety of camera angles; particularly the use of tilt which disorientates the audience, making it clearly apperent that the cameraman was amongst the crowd at the gig.

The unpredictability and energy of the song and the genre itself is pinpointed in the performance shots, with the use of strobe lighting very effective in representing these themes; with the drumbeat in many cases being in time with the flash.

The way in which these performance shots are intertwined with the storyline of the band wondering around the city reinforces the point that the music and its audience are the most important things within the band; a very punk rock ethic- which is reinforced by the lack of equipment such as tripods and dollys and also the use of zoom which incoraparates the crowd within the performance shot, breaking the barrier between artist and fan being another punk-rock ethic. The use of a cameraman simply tracking the artist shows numerous over-shoulder shots which places the audience within the video. This intimacy between The Libertines and their audience, strengthened by their extensive use of internet forums to talk to their fans (becoming one of the first British bands to do so) alongside their frequent use of "Guerrilla Gigging"- impromteu performances taken place in a fans, or indeed the bands, flat or house.



The use of the colour imagery alongside the Britishness of a red phonebox represents an energy and pride in their surroundings that are common in the punk rock genre- particularly the Libertines.


One very specific point in the "storyline" is an instant when the band steal their own single from an HMV outlet, this pointless attack on authority at themselves representing the anti-law attitude that is apperent in punk-rock alongside the audacity of filming it and distributing it for anyone with a television or computer to see.


This feud with authority results with many brushes with the law; captured in this ECU shot; the bars emphasising entrapment and arrest. Pete Doherty himself has been arrested numerous times for drugs and wepon offenses.

To conclude, the representation of punk rock is shown with the use of mise-en-scene, the intertwining of high-energy performance with the "storyline", fast paced editing and multitude of camera angles.