Study Analysis for a previous student video

1. This music video definitely shows the genre characteristics of a rock video as there is a band performance with a singer and two electric guitars. These instruments are an essential part to rock music. The singer and main focus within the music video wears quite casual and baggy clothes, to make him look laid back and lazy like a stereotypical rocker. The colours are also stereotypical of rock with red and black, where the singer is in red to stand out from the guitarists who are dressed in black. The location is also similar to what rock music normally involves in it's videos with the band on a roof top or abandoned/dirty building. They seem to  be performing on top of a roof.


2. The music video illustrates the lyrics. The lyrics are about the artist having a good time partying like a typical rocker would do, and telling the audience to not care what you look like and just have fun. The lines 'dressed like we are' and 'just try kind of hard to make it not look like you tried at all' are examples of lines that support this message. In the video, they even use actions to fit words, such as when the word 'shoes' is mentioned, the artist lifts up his foot, and when it mentions about messy hair, the artist shakes one of the guitarist's hair with his hand.

The first line 'That was a hell of a party last night' introduces the party animal in the artist, where he wakes up in his clothes from the night before. When the artist see's the police line outside his door, the next line goes 'I can't believe I helped you break up a fight.' Rockers are also stereotyped for causing trouble, so the police tape helps to create this wild image about him. His leather jacket, trainers and messy hair also supports the rough look. What I also notice about the song is the fact he is talking to a certain person rather than the audience because of the use of second person of 'you.' They use direct address to the camera with the artist to make it look like he is talking directly to this person. We feel as if we are in this person's shoes as he is looking at us, which makes us feel more involved in the video.

3. The music video is edited to the beat of the steady and pacy rhythm, lyrics and guitar texture in the song so the video fits with it. Each shot goes from one to another on a beat, and scenes normally change on the start of a verse or chorus. There is alot of rapid editing to fit the pace of the song, especially in the chorus and the end when shot reverse shot is used to emphasis each word in the last line of the song. The transitions are as fast as the pace of the song to mimic it with things such as quick pans and screen wipe effects, and a clever graphic match on the artists face from one scene to another. Text is edited in the video as well to emphasis some of the lyrics.


The video has a short narrative of a man who meets up with someone after a party the night before. However, the man he meets at the end is himself, which could suggest that the party animal in him has made him unstable. His mental state is also suggested with the effect to make things go backwards, while he is going forwards when he puts on his shoes and walks through the streets. This creates audience focus on the artist as he is the only one walking forward, being the odd one out. The artist lip sync's to the lyrics to make it look like he is actually singing in the video; the same being with the guitarists who 'play' to the guitar. The audience believe that they are actually in the narrative of the video because of this, as well as the artist's direct address to the camera. The artist uses gesture with his hands and legs, and moves around to the beat of the music so that there is always something fitting with the song in the video. Dancing also shows that he is care free and energetic to give the artist a personality thats relates to the energy of the song he is singing.

4. The main singer takes up most of the camera time in the music video with many close-up's and mid-shots, with the camera tracking his movement. There is at times some long shots of him and the band, but there is no close-ups or camera track of the other band members so the singer attracts more audience attention. The video uses handheld camera movment as well for most of the camera footage to create tension and an edgy feel to it. It also helps the audience to feel involved in the video as it looks like someone watching them or portrays the artist's movement. Camera pans are also used alot as a transition when the artist looks like he is spinning the camera/person he is talking to around.

5. There is a notion of looking when the artist looks around the street at people, as they are acting 'differently' to him by walking backwards. The video also uses the technique of using screens within screens. These show two different locations or time periods at the same time to give the audience more information, and refer to a different location while singing to lyrics (e.g. when he says 'sitting by a table side by side,' we see a table in the bottom left to illustrate his words).  There are also female's in the video, but they are not being looked at in a voyeuristic way. They are used to hold up signs with words on them from the lyrics to emphasis them. However, they are also there to attract a male audience.

6. No obvious reference is in the music video, only stereotypical traits of rock music with the artist appearance and personality, and mise-en-scene. Saying that, they may have been inspired by other music videos that have used the backwards effect, and the same people coming face to face.