Arctic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down

This is the opening part of the video. It immediately sets up the story to the song by introducing the girl that the lyrics are constantly referring to. It shows the girl meeting up with various men, it is quite clear that the girl is offering her 'services' for money with men pulling up in cars etc with the girl then walking over to them and then standing through the window perhaps talking about what exactly the girl is offering. Right at the end of the clip it shows another man talking to the girl, and he is introduced when the lyrics 'what a scummy man' are said in the background, instantly giving the audience the feeling that this man is even worse than the others previously shown and that maybe he is in someway different to the rest of those previously shown. It also then shows the man sat down with a girl eating in a cafe, with the man stealing some of the girls food at the exact point that the lyrics say 'i bet he'll rob you if he can', showing that he isn't phased by taking from this girl.



This next clip of the video shows the girl once again meeting up with men, talking and then the girl leading the men off, perhaps to a room of some kind. The man that as already been referred to as 'scummy' then re-enters the shot on a mid shot when the words 'he told Roxanne to put on her red-light' are heard. This perhaps is showing that he is infact almost the 'boss' of this girl, [Roxanne] and that maybe he is taking a cut of any money she is making. Furthermore the girl is also shown as being depressed and looking unhappy as she is stood on the corner of the road, waiting for another 'customer' as cars drive by her as she freezes.



This clip is has now moved to a part of the song where the beat and tempo has picked up considerably. The video helps to show this with a lot of on-beat editing. The whole pace of the video speeds up a considerable amount, with the mise-en-scene now being shots of the view from outside a rushing car, with brake lights of cars a big part. This could be referring to the 'red-light' idea of the girl and is a clever way of showing its hidden meaning. The clip also once again goes back to the 'scummy man' showing him walking out of a building offering a 'talent show & strippers' once again reiterating the thought that he could be the boss of the young girl who he seems to be so carelessly offering around to everyone. The clip then goes onto show the young girl attempting to make money in her own way, by quickly and discretely passing something to a young boy as she moves on, leading the viewer to assume that it is infact drugs that she has just given out, whilst taking in some money.



This clip sees the girl return to the location where we initially saw her meet up with the scummy man, she is clearly freezing but insists on waiting for him, perhaps because she's scared what will happen if she doesn't. The man does eventually turn up and offers the girl extra clothes for warmth. We then see a man performing magic tricks in the picture, with various mid shots & close ups of his tricks, the scene then once again offers on-beat editing with pictures of a white rabbit and a card, all be it the 'joker' this perhaps making suggestions that this is all just a laugh to the man, but the lifeless white rabbit is infact the lady who is powerless in this situation and is just being used quite literally.



The next part of the video shows close ups of the man and lady in a taxi, with him licking her face, this showing his power over her and she just accepts it and lets it happen. The clips are now very short and are coming thick and fast, this representing the now fast pace of the song. The girl seems to be fighting back, throwing things and being violent. The viewer is now lead to believe that the girl now has some kind of power back, however this is once again returned back to usual when we see the man marching the girl back literally by her hair and throwing her back into the room.



The final part of the video once again shows the girl being violent, and showing her lack of power on the situation, as it really doesn't seem to be getting her anywhere as she once again gets told off by the man. The video ends with the girl looking very depressed and looking at the floor as if nothing is good at all and she hasn't really anything to live for.