Arctic Monkeys Fluorescent Adolescent music video portrays the theme of ageing, growth and the changes that comes with growing up and losing the innocence of youth. The music video's overall main plot follows two gangs, one in clown costumes and one in normal dark clothing, battling against each other and particularly focusing on the two rival leaders and their past relationship together and friends when they were adolescents. Â
The video features multiple flashbacks in which the two rival gang leaders are shown in the same outfits/costumes as children, playing and singing together in a park. Before the first flashback, the two are shown to separate themselves from the large group fights, fighting each other away from everyone else. As the clown punches his enemy, he mouths the words ‘How could it have come to this?’ shown in a subtitle before the screen blurs and cuts to the two laughing on swings together. A close up shot of the pair shows the man in the jacket smiling at the clown, whilst the clown is singing the songs lyric ‘Where did you go’, representing the nostalgia and betrayal that came between them. The video then cuts to various childhood images of the actual band members, using a grainier filter to emphasize the passage of time in the images, until finally to end the flashback, the clown is cut to, shown holding a set of balloons before letting them go, portraying him letting go of their past relationship and accepting the fact they have both changed with adulthood before cutting back to the pair fighting.Â
The gang are shown to be battling against each other for a bag throughout the entire video, with the clown gang seemingly winning the bag at the end, however at the end of the video, the main gang leader discards the bag, throwing it aimlessly behind him whilst approaching the rival gang leader who is in attempts to drive away. This shows how overall the two men were in reality fighting for and against their own personal relationships and the bittersweet feeling of nostalgia as from when they were just children. Finally the clown sets a car on fire which the rival leader was in, showing the car burst into flames and then jumping to a close up of the clowns face, highlighting the emotions he was facing of regret and loss of his former friend before cutting to another flashback of the pair again as children dancing together. Â
The video is filmed using a hand-held camera shot throughout the entire video which demonstrates the overall chaos and mayhem of the fighting. The camera also frequently uses up close shots of the two main characters in order to depict their emotions to the audience, emphasizing their anger and regret towards each other. Within the visuals of the music video, a muted colour pallet is used to combine with the songs overall atmosphere and feelings of nostalgia.