Treatment

This music video plays on audience expectation, it focuses on stereotypes within youth culture until the very end where there is a quirky, unexpected finish.
The characters are central to the narrative, the three members of the band are the main characters, all introduced as soon as the music starts. The lead singer is shown as a typical ladies man, he's stylish, attractive and confident. As the video progresses the audience can tell he is popoular, charming and can be quite rebellious. The second male character is clearly a geek by his appearence and manner, obviously shy and awkward and always shown either reading or on a computer. When it comes to fashion and looks, it is clear he is clueless. The final male character is the joker, the one that no-one takes seriously and can be very irritating, however he has a very different view of himself. From the way he acts and dresses it is clear to the audience he thinks he is popular with the girls and amongst the boys and seems to be totally unaware of the fact that no-one else takes him seriously.
As soon as the audience are introduced to the characters, they have a strong idea of the boys personalities.
The narrative is very simple, runs closely to the theme of the song, based on romance and having a crush on someone. In the video the idea of young love and awkward first dates are captured in a lively, comical, up beat way to compliment the pace and tone of the song. The colours are bright and movements energetic, everything is fairly fast-paced with a humorous side to create a happy atmosphere.
At the start the boys realise they are late for something, they jump into action and start getting ready. After the first chorus, there are flashbacks to when the boys were at school in the week. Jay, the lead singer, is shown surrounded by girls in the sixth form common room, James, the geek, is working on a computer in the library and Jake is shown messing around with a friend. Then, in turn they each notice someone else, through the shot sequences it appears they are looking at a girl that stereotypically matches them, for example James looks up and then a shot of a geeky girl reading in the corner is shown, so the audience assume he fancies her. After all three girls are introduced, they also become key in the narrative development.
For the remainder of the song, the story goes back to the characters getting ready, it is now obvious they are preparing for dates. The girls are also getting ready, everyone is getting ready in a very typical and expected way, for example the cool couple have millions of clothes to choose from and are paying attention to detail, wheras the geeks are clearly inexperienced at trying to look good.
This is also combined with performance shots, which take place in the school music rooms to continue the idea that the characters are all friends at school and during the week this is where they spend most of their time. This helps break up the narrative andstop any confusion concerning time, it also helps bring more energy to the video and links the characters together.
As the song draws to a close, the characters leave their houses and walk along, going to their meeting place, as the boys come to a stop, the audience expect them to be with the girl that matches them stereotypically when really, Jay meets with the geeky girl, James goes with the jokey girl and Jake and the popular, cool girl go off together.
The final shots are of the shy and nervous couples walking off holding hands together and so as the song ends, there is a happy ending to accompany it.