Video Analysis

5 Finger Death Punch Wrong Side of Heaven

The opening few shots set the

scene for us. We get an emotional feeling from the particular
words they have used, for example the first words that we see
are the ones who love you most, are the ones that fight for
you. Straight after we get a shot of a scruffy looking man
(photo above) which we didnt expect to see in relation to the
opening words. More close ups of other men appear with similar
meaning words below. We notice they are all wearing soldiers
uniform so we get the perspective that it is based on fighting in
Iraq or Afghan.

This establishing shot that sets the location and makes it

obvious that the soldiers are in Iraq and on a patrol.

As the song begins we start to see various medium shots of

people on the streets, then back to the soldiers and facts in
white bold writing that come up on the screen to help us
understand the relationship between the two. The writing tells
us what possibly happens to soldiers after their years of service
in the forces. This use of white wording makes us want to know
more.

This close ups of this soldiers angry facial expression gives us a

real feeling of how they felt when forgotten about by their
country. Using close ups draws us viewers in to make us feel
sorry and want to help and puts the matter into real
perspective.
On this particular shot, the soldier mouths the words what
have I done and who have I become matching this close up
and these words together makes us believe that he really is
saying that due to his confusion why he was treated so badly.

The next shots are on just the soldiers on patrol and get
ambushed. As the music starts to build and speed up, so does
the video. The quick shots match with the pace of the music to
make us feel more involved. This footage look likes something
you would see in a film, not a music video. Their mise-en-scene
is all army based.

Here we have another close up of a different soldier who has a

similar suffering expression on his face as the one before. He
mouths the words Im on the wrong side of heaven which are
in fact the name of the song, so this shot is very important and
has huge significance to the narrative of the video.
The words themselves are presented as being on the wrong
side of being good. So his god who he may believe is his
country have not treated him well and not sent him to a good
place after his active service.

different shots
same guy but
situations. This
juxtaposition,

These two
are of the
in different
is called
where two back to back

shots are completely opposite. One minute he has something

and is something, then the next he is nothing. Shows that in no
matter of time at all your life can change at any moment. Even
for the ones who are meant to be most respected.
In the right photo, he mouths the words who have I become.
Once again those words are mouthed by a soldier. Meaning that
this soldier is also confused about what happened and what is
happening to him.

By the look on the policemans face you see his confusing and
surprise that a fellow army comrade has ended up like he has.
Even though we see all these facts about veterans being turned
away, the veterans themselves help each other no matter
what.

You can see by his face expression that he is scared but also
recognition of someone he knew from Iraq. We see the other
man in a suit and tie which we werent expecting because of all
the facts and images we saw of what happened to the other
soldiers. Even though he has a decent life, he is still helping his
comrades because they have been through so much together.
But we can see that some good can happen after being in the
armed forces.

These words by themselves just show us how desperate these

veterans are and how much of a big deal it is.
This music video is all narrative which we can relate to the Sven
Carlson theory that a narrative music video is called televised
bard. This is when the artist is a singing storyteller who uses on
screen images instead of personal images. This is only if the
video has a clear concept of narrative performance. Five Finger
Death Punchs narrative was military based and how real life

veterans are discarded so easily. This narrative is sending

across a message to us about how important it is to support
these veterans. The fact that we never see the band is weird
because a stereotypically heavy metal band is usually in the
video to show themselves off to the audience.
Imagine Dragons-Demons

At the beginning of this music video we can see clearly it is set

on a stage with an audience watching, so we assume it is
mainly going to be just of the band. The dark lighting builds
tension form the start but 3 main beams of light on the main
singer which shows his importance.

It all goes quiet and we notice there is a slow motion effect on

the crowd. This helps to build up the tension and all
concentration is on the main singer.

We also see glimpses of the other band members in slow

motion so we feel that everything is all on the main singer as
he is moving at normal pace. It could represent him controlling
the audience with his singing.

We then get a wide medium close up of this female in the

audience, which then zooms in on her face. We then know that
there is going to be a narrative to this music video and she is
part of it.

The next shot is of her at a funeral. This is a great use of

juxtaposition; going from a lively show to a deep meaningful
funeral. This is also tells us that even though she is at the show
to have a good time,
she still has
personal problems
and
affect her still.

The camera then cuts back to a close up of her at the show. So

the brief shots of her at the funeral were a memory of
something from the past. When the chorus starts up, the
camera returns to the band on the stage and there are now
multiple lights on all members of the band. I see this as a wake
up for the audience, especially for the previous female who is
suffering a loss. The words he sings are almost fighting words
for those people who need courage.

As the song starts to

slow after the chorus, the camera cuts to another member of
the audience looking sad. We then know we are going to get a
deep moment from his past or present that is stuck in his mind.
We see a vision of him at home wishing he was more muscular.
His facial expression explains that he is not happy with his
appearance. It then jumps to another man in the audience and
we see inside his head, of a vision of him being abused by his
drunken father. We see his pain and suffering but he doesnt do
anything about it because he must be so used to it.

This soldier was also in the audience; we could have almost

expected a soldier to be part of the video because being at war
is not something you want to remember. We get lots of close
ups of his face so we can see his pain and desire to get home.

The rest of the video is of the band and we get the feeling the
song is coming to an end. By just seeing the band now, it feels
as if they are singing away all the nightmare thoughts the
audience may all have.
When the music fades off, the bright lights dim to leave a dark
blue light remaining. To add more effect, the video slows down
like it did at the beginning, showing that we are now at the end.
Next there is a close up of the main singing, and then the
camera zooms into his eyes and fades. This camera movement
works very well with the lyrics Look into my eyes, its where
my demons hide as if we are going to look inside his head like
the rest of the audience members we saw. The video then ends.

Which leaves us viewers with a question, what could possibly

be in his head?
If we look at Sven Carlssons theory on types of concepts, this
song would be a mix of commercial exhibitionist and televised
bard because it the band performing which is performance but
also it has a narrative with the multiple flashbacks.
Commercial exhibitionist means that the artist is the performer,
selling them self, their voice, lifestyle and image. But Imagine
Dragons are not being arrogant or showing themselves off, they
are showed as if they are in a show which then helps to create
the narrative for their televised bard performance.
Televised bard try to create a story with their chosen images,
then they sing behind the scenes to tell the story with their
words. Imagine Dragons have told a story with their audience
members having flash backs.

My Song Knows What You Did in The Dark (light em up)-Fall Out
Boy

This establishing
shot introduces the dark gloomy setting and the band name by
using big bold white writing in the middle of the screen so it
stands out. Having the text in the middle of the screen means
they are making sure the audience sees the name and knows
who they are.

For our first shot, our first impressions are that the setting is
very gloomy, dark and suspicious. The scruffy man walking
holding a jerry can is odd and we would see it as a dangerous
thing. The mist adds tension and questions to the start of the
video. Having the camera close to the ground following the
man walking ahead, forces the audience to follow him to find
out what is going on. But also so we are still asking questions
who could this suspicious person be because we havent seen
his face yet.
The opening 15 seconds of the video is introducing the setting.
We are lead to an unlit bonfire so we get the feeling he is
meaning to ignite it.

As soon as the sing starts, the scruffy man starts to poor the
supposed petrol onto the waiting dry wood. The shots are
slowed down to a slow pace and longer duration, which
emphasises what he is doing and builds up the tension.

This close up of the match being lit is once again slowed down
to show the power and potential danger it could have. But this
slow paced shot juxtaposes to the fact that the match lights
extremely quickly, so the slow motion effect lets us see the
speed fire has when ignited.
We finally see the mysterious figures face and we can just see
his eyes through the dark sunglasses he is wearing. His eyes
look hard at the match that he has lifted close to his face,
knowing that he now has the power and in control of this
potential fire.

We see that he started the fire and starts celebrating in triumph

but us the target audience still dont know why he has done it.
This wide long shot shows 3 separate things in it and could
show the importance of each one. We have the fire closest to
the camera, then the man then a van that is just arriving.

This close up shows us the sheer size and speed fire has in only
a matter of seconds. Shot reverse shot is then used with the
camera, going back and forth from the man to the fire. The
mans facial expressions show success and a bit of worry
because the fire is getting bigger and bigger. Each time the
camera cuts back to him the camera is zooming in more and
more to help build up the tension.

The camera cuts to the now stationary van and two figures
emerge from the smoke. They turn out to be two women which
shows dominance towards the male character and shows he is
control. This is supported by the shots between the three
characters. The camera cuts to a close up of one of the females
then back to him, then to the other, then back to him again.
This shows him to be in control of these two women.

The two women start to destroy instruments and throw them in

the fire, so we start to feel that there is a reason or hidden
meaning for them to do that. It must be something to do with
the instruments, so possibly doesnt like rock music? This is
ironic because the song is a rock genre and it is clear to see
that guitars and drums are being used.

We get a quick glimpse of the bands name, FALL OUT BOY, this
is cleverly added in because the audience dont know who they
are and making the name big and clear allows the audience to
clearly see it. Now we know that these three people dont like
Fall Out Boy and burning everything to do with them.

They continue to throw various merchandise of the band into

the fire. This is a good effect by the band because this
promotes themselves and the song. This music video is acting
like a teaser trailer for a future album.
The camera cuts back to the man, who is now holding a flamethrow on his back. I think this effect is simply to make the video
interesting and exciting because everyone loves fire and flamethrowers.

We see magazine advert in the fire to join the rest of the

merchandise. It has all 4 members of the band. This is for the
audience to know what they look like and too look out for the
magazine advert. This is good promoting techniques from the
band to get them out there and known to their target audience.

This final shot of video is of 4 strangers but I think the audience

can guess who they. They are the band members of fall out boy.
This music video is purely to introduce the band in a clever and
exciting way. They most definitely caught the audiences
attention and now become a huge success in the music world
and are very popular.
This music video is also a televised bard because it is telling us
a story using specific images to create a narrative which is
called a televised bard according to Sven Carlssons theory.

Iris-Sleeping with Sirens (Goo Goo Dolls cover)

We here the piano starting of

the song and the screen is black. Then a piano appears and
someone is playing it; guessing it is a member of the band.
Starting with a slow calm beginning allows the audience to get

into the song slowly and because the piano is playing, it makes
sense to show it being played.

The singing begins the

camera cuts to the main singer who is stood in front of a mic.
This indicates that this is purely a performance music video
which is where we just see the band performing the song, in
this case appearing that they are recording it.
I researched up on the official music video for this song and it
has a narrative as well as performance style. Sleeping with
Sirens would not be allowed to copy so have decided to make it
purely based on performance.

We hear that guitar a bit

louder and as the new song lyric starts the camera cuts to the
band member playing the guitar so we can see who is playing
it. The camera tilts up towards guitarists face so we can see
who he is. This allows us to see all members of the band so
they all have a part in the video.

Having the camera cut on the new verse is good because the
video will flow much better and appears more professional.
The camera is moving a lot throughout the video. Not just from
person to person but also swaying from side to side, making it
more realistic and seem like they are practicing the song not
professionally recording it.

When the main singer

stops moving, he
then

is

forgotten about by the camera and

it moves onto the other band members. They use reverse stop
between the piano player and guitarist, to show that they are
the important ones in this shot. Once the singer starts again,
the camera immediately turns back to him, so we know he is
now the importance one.

To make the music video more exciting and interesting they

have used various camera shots. They use close ups a lot of
each band member, the instruments and, mic. For one of the
shots it is very blurry but the camera focuses in on the
guitarist.

In the long musical break with no singing, it is purely made up

of close ups of the instruments being played because there is
no importance for the singing to be involved too.

As the song begins to end, we get a final close up the pianist,

exactly the same shot as we did at the beginning. It is as if we
were told a story throughout the song and we come back to the
same place as we started.
If we refer to Sven Carlssons theory, this music video would be
a commercial exhibitionist. This means that the video is for
band performance purposes, to promote the self themselves,
their image and voice. Sleeping Sirens use a different genre for
this song and different from the original version, which was a
more rock genre. They are therefore selling their new style.

When Worlds Collide-Powerman 5000

The opening to this music

video is very clear it is going to be a futuristic concept because

of the establishing shot in space, strange light and the

unknown planet in the middle of the screen.
The camera is zooming in on the planet suggesting that this is
where the video is going to be set.

This next medium close up allows us to see the band early on in

the video, indicating that they want to be centre of attention.
This means their concept is performance based and all about
them.
As soon as we see the band come into picture the music starts
and we hear it is very rocky and we can relate it to the specific
setting and mise-en-scene of the characters. They have crazy
hair, strangely dressed, dark colours, a dark room with spot
lights and the obvious rock styled instruments like guitars and
drums. These are stereotypical things that you would find in a
rock styled video.

This wide shot of the room lets the audience who else is there
in the video and the various aliens that live there. It also feels
like a genuine pub concert but futuristic, so maybe it is trying
to tell us that it is exactly the same in out of space and rock is
popular everywhere.

As the music builds up for the chorus, the shots start to change
quickly and become very fast paced into a small montage type
of thing. This fits the pace of the music and flows much better
together. The shots are a large selection of each band member,
mostly the main singer but also the audience too who are
represented as having a good time; jumping up and down.

This character is introduced into the video and commands for

the main singer to be taken away. Now we know that the
concept has changed back to the narrative. We then see
various shots of the main singer being taken away by guards,
which suggests that the band have thought about having a

narrative to the concept of the video. This is a big change from

the beginning of the video where it was all mainly performance
based.

We see him fight back to beat the supposed evil guy and goes
back to singing to his audience. The music video ends as it
start, with a close up of the main singers face in a camera. This
indicates that this video had a story behind it and nothing
changes, it all stays the same. Could be another way of them
saying they rule this place and are in control because of their
music being so popular.

Powerman 5000 have done create a similar concept to the

Imagine Dragons song Demons, where they have a narrative
and performance. This means they are seen as a televised bard
because of the narrative. But the majority of the video is
commercial exhibitionist which is a typical way of a rock band
to promote them-selves.