Detailed video analysis

Fallout Boy – Beat It

NarrativeThis video Alternates throughout from shots of the band playing the song to shots of the ban wandering through a street of some sort. Throughout this video it is clear that the group are not familiar with this place due to their confused and sometimes seemingly intimidated reactions to the people around them. All of the people in this street are wearing something that can be linked Michael Jackson, the artist that originally sang beat it. Within this video these people seem to be trying to intimidate the group as they pass through. Towards the end of the video they are kicked out of a building, despite now wearing Michael Jackson themed clothes o blend in. This all relates to the song quite well as the lyrics “beat it” could be used to describe the people around the street as unhappy with the presence of the band and they want them to leave.

Camera In this video many different shots are used, with medium and

close up shots featuring most prominently. These are used commonly as it is good for showing the facial expressions of the people in the video as well as what they’re wearing, meaning that the look of disapproval can easily be seen on the face of people towards the band as well as what they’re wearing, so that the references to Michael Jackson can also be easily seen, paying tribute to him throughout the video. The video is also shot to look like it is being filmed by a hand held camera, which gives a rougher feel to the video which can also be linked to the bands overall style

Mise en scene The main theme of the costumes within the video is clothing that

is commonly linked to Michael Jackson. Almost every single person in the video is dressed liked him, with many of the people wearing a single glove. Other people also have similar hair styles to him, and many of the people behave like him, for example, a sumo wrestler performs the popular Thriller dance move that is also performed by Michael Jackson. The setting od this video is also a dark location, which could also be referred back to some of Jackson’s other videos, such as Thriller once again or the original Beat It video. The dark atmosphere also adds to the feeling that the band isn’t welcome.

Kings of Leon - Pyro

NarrativeThis video begins with long shot of an old man, drunk and stumbling over outside of a bar. A man soon approaches him and helps him up before himself entering the bar. We’re then shown the rest of the people in the bar as the camera sweeps around the room, showing people sat either alone or in pairs, them looking down and unhappy. We soon see the man that helped the old man at the start come to the aid of a woman who is being aggressively grabbed by a man. The man then turns around and punches the man trying to help, and he is soon attacked by more and more people until the point where he is left unconscious. At the end of the video we see people begin to levitate into the sky where the video then fades to black. The theme of this video is that while some people are always willing to help others, these people may have nobody to look out for them when they need help. This is shown interestingly when the old man that was helped at the beginning re enters the bar and does nothing as the the man that helped him is being beaten up in front of him.

Camera Just like the last video, medium and long shots are commonly used in this

video. Most of the video takes place is slow motion, so this combines with the shots used to effectively show the emotion of the people shown, as it shows the misery of the people sat around the bar as well as the joy of the people that are attacking the man. It also helps to show that the people seated around the bar are unfazed by what is occurring around them and don’t care for the man being attacked, therefore they won’t help him. These shots also show other people around the bar helping others, for example a woman helping a man to drink. The slow motion used in the video starts as soon as the man is first punched and intensifies the beating, as well as allowing it to spread out for the duration of the song.

Mise en sceneThis video uses dark lighting as a good technique to create a dull and gloomy atmosphere, which goes on to reflect the emotions of the people in the video, as well as the dark nature of the man being beaten. It also helps set the mood for the location of the setting, in this case a bar which looks to be old and falling apart. Towards the end of the video when the people begin to rise up out of the bar they levitate towards a light. This light could symbolize the people leaving the darkness and misery and letting go of whatever is making them feel down, and therefore heading towards the light which could represent something less gloomy and more cheerful. In this video we also see the band playing for a short space of time as everyone begins to rise up. They’re wearing similar clothes everyone else in the bar as a means to blend in so that they don’t draw too much attention away from the main narrative of the video.