Lyrics and Sound
The lyrics used by Blink 182 in this song are powerful. It tries to send across a message to the viewer/listener that life isn't always perfect. The lyrics talk about not being able to achieve something, this could be a woman or a goal, which correlates to the video itself.
The drops of rain they fall all over
This awkward silence makes me crazy
The glow inside burns light upon her
I'll try to kiss you if you let me
(this can't be the end)
Tidal waves they rip right through me
Tears from eyes worn cold and sad
Pick me up now, I need you so bad
Down down down down
Down down down down
Down down down down
Down down down down
It gets me so
Down down down down
Down down down down
Down down down down
Down down down down
It gets me so
Your vows of silence fall all over
The look in your eyes makes me crazy
I feel the darkness break upon her
I'll take you over if you let me
(You did this)
Tidal waves they rip right through me
Tears from eyes worn cold and sad
Pick me up now, I need you so bad.
Down down down down
Down down down down
Down down down down
Down down down down
It gets me so
Down down down down
Down down down down
Down down down down
Down down down down
It gets me so
Genre/Mise en scene
This music video starts off by trying to create the mood being happiness and showing a group of people having a a good time. For example the first establishing shots show the genre by having a group of kids skate, this shows that the genre is typically grunge/rock. The mise en scene tries to establish to the viewer that the first 55 seconds are calm and peaceful. It starts off at someone's yard party, using different techniques of mise en scene such as the summer clothing that people are wearing, the drinking of alcohol and the cooking of a BBQ to establish that nothing is wrong. This then changes when the police arrive to the location and the newly established main character gets away and then escapes. The lighting through out the music video is very dull and non-eccentric which is a good technique to keep the viewer relaxed and on full attention so they can enjoy the music and at the same time try and figure out what story the video is trying to tell. The decoration and props used in the video have been very well thought out to give a clear message to the viewer using typical stereotypes e.g. a typical stereotype is that mexican-americans are normally in trouble with the police.
Camera Work
Straight away we can see the use of establishing shots to give the idea to the viewer that the music video is located in and around a busy American city, typically somewhere with a mixed raced community. The video is then split into a 2 way sequence between the camera shots of the band and the intended story line. When the band is playing you normally get close up shots of the instruments and facial expressions (notably the singing). Apart from that you can see that a lot of the shots consist of hand held camera movements and quick zooms and pans. This creates the effect that a normal music video should have, which will be backed up by rapid editing. The quick camera shots also portray that something is going wrong, it also helps the car chase seem quicker because there is more cuts.
Editing
The editing in this music video is done to an extent that it keeps up with the medium pace of the song but also keeps it quick towards the end when there is a car chase so overall it sets the mood nicely. Also the editing in this music video tries to cut to the band when there is lyrics as much as possible, which is typical in any music video. The average shot length lasts for about 1-2 seconds at most, this is established when the band play as focusing on different aspects of the band means that the editors needed to keep it quick and clean which would keep in tact that most music videos by Blink 182 are sort of the same.
Narrative/Performance
When the shots cut to the band singing we can see that the lead singer is lip syncing the song, this is used because it is the best technique to do when creating a music video. Unlike other music video's such as pop videos, the rock/band music video has to be different in that unlike dance videos, there is less movement in the artists. This means that shots can pan more and the performance will have to be shown through the camera work and the editing if they want to make a moving effect.
Star Image/Brand
The image giving across in this video, like most Blink 182 videos, is that the band are always enjoying themselves and are playing the music as it comes. Apart from that, this video can be seen as a bit different compared to other Blink 182 videos. For example, in the video below (All the small things) we can see that it tries to be a lot more humourers. Although people argue that there is a difference in the videos because the age gap between the videos is quite large, as 'Down' was made quite close to the end of the bands first run together and was only released in 2003. Where as All the small things was released in 2000.
Voyeurism/Looking
The video tries to appeal to the more matured audience compared to normal as the song itself is a lot more calmer in the sense that it is slower paced. This relates to the voyeurism of the video, as unlike other blink videos this one does not have the band running round with hardly any clothes on or smashing things up. Although it does appeal to the males as it does have a lot of women at a party which men could be attracted to when watching the video.
Tom Winn
No comments:
Post a Comment