Camera
This music video appears to use a distinct filter at multiple moments throughout, giving it quite a retro feel, which works well with the rural setting. It also connotes a gritty and dark atmosphere, relating to the punk rock genre incorporating similar themes across a majority of songs. This seems to be applied in correlation with close ups of the singer of the band, implying that he's similarly aggressive and gritty as the filter leads the audience to believe.
Typically for this genre, there are also numerous establishing shots of the band performing to showcase their talent. This helps to publicise the band and put a face to the music, while also making the song more personal by intertwining the performance with the narrative.
Another common element in this video is the use of tracking shots, with the lyrics relating to walking down lonely roads. This not only links to Goodwin's theory of there being a connection between the lyrics and visuals but also embeds the idea that the band are the main focus of the video by the camera following their movements as they change location.
Mise-en-scene
The settings for this music video are a desert, an old warehouse and a high street. This diversity gives the video better pacing and makes it more interesting to watch, as well as creates more of a narrative structure, connoting a sense of progression, considering a high street is a more luxurious location compared to a dessert road.
As you can see above, the video uses a mixture of lighting conditions, referring to the lyrical content and it's emotional darkness as well as the upbeat chorus and it's lighter connotations. The costumes are very dark, with black being a dominant colour and having connotations of death, which points the band to being quite Gothic.
When it comes to props, typical band equipment is seen throughout the video, such as microphones and guitars. This helps to identify the genre and use Green day's mainstream status to promote brand names for the instruments. For example, Ibanez is quite a well known and expensive guitar make and therefore it's logical that they could be used in a music video such as this to connote a high level of quality for the music while also publicising the brand as a product.
Editing
This music video is structured as a concept and performance-based piece, with the concept fragments relating to the lyrics and conveying the band as somewhat melancholy, while this is consistently balanced by performance shots, with the band acting more energetic and passionate about their music. Discontinuous editing is used throughout, with it starting off slow paced, as shots last several seconds, which for a music video is quite long. However, when the music begins, the shots are immediately quicker, as they're in time with the drum beat, creating more of a direct connection between the video and the music.
Sound
Because this music video is primarily performance-based, the only diegetic sound is the introduction to the video, in which the band's car breaks down with a faint radio playing in the background. Interestingly, the radio song is a piece of instrumental that relates to the punk rock genre that this band is a part of, quickly establishing a mood and tone that is reflected in the rest of the video.
Kings Of Leon - 'Sex on fire'
Camera
At the beginning of the video, as the instrumental comes in, there are multiple extreme close ups of the singer of the band. The agitated movement in the shot connotes a sense of paranoia and relates to the lyrical content, such as 'I know they're watching,' which, much like the Green day video, demonstrates Goodwin's theory being applied to real world texts.
Much like the previous band, the video also contains a lot of performance shots, which in this case also informs the audience that the singer is a part of the narrative.
There also appears to be a distinction in power within the use of camera, with a lot of the singer's shots being at a high angle and conveying him as inferior, while other members of the band are represented as more masculine and aggressive, reflecting the tone of the song.
Mise-en-scene
There is only one setting in this music video, despite it being constructed around both and narrative and performance. The old warehouse gives the music video a more gritty atmosphere and relates back to the discomfort that derived from the paranoia.
Low key lighting is used throughout, creating a more adult tone and portraying the band as quite enigmatic by having them hide in the shadows. As you can see in the pictures above, the costumes in this music video consists of quite basic clothing, incorporating verisimilitude by wearing something the general public are used to seeing. The black clothes connote death and depression, which also refers back to the themes apparent in the lyrics. When compared to the previous band, it's clear that this style of clothing and colour is consistent throughout the punk rock genre.
In terms of props, the most obvious appearances are those of the band's instruments, however there is also a black bird in several shots. This could relate to the animalistic nature of the band, with the passion of the performance being the main focus of the video.
Editing
The editing is fast paced, with shots being very quick and giving the music video better pacing. Discontinuous editing is used throughout, with the scenes alternating from the narrative of the paranoid man and the band performing. By constantly switching back and forth it's clear that there is a connection between the two scenes, when it comes to the topics they cover and in this case the people in it.
Sound
There is no diegetic sound in this music video, which suggests that the band wanted the audience to focus on the musical element and less on the narrative, but the fact that they even put one in there implies there is some kind of message or symbolic moral to be taken away from the video.
Analysing these 2 videos has helped me to determine patterns within the punk rock genre and I will take this on board as our group constructs our own music video, across all 4 technical areas.
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