The performance section of the video features the band playing the song in a minimalistic studio setting, with the idea behind this location being to the let the music speak for its self, an idea common in rock videos. The narrative section involves the vocalist’s journey through areas such as back alleys and an abandoned logging mill, with these locations connoting the dangers and waste in society through the recurring imagery of barbed wire and litter. Our video is edited in time with the beat of the song and constantly cross cuts between the two sections in order to keep the audience interested and again following the conventions of a real music video.
For the performance section of the video our group learnt how to play the song, this adds credibility to the performance as our mimes are more convincing and follows conventions, as real music video’s performance sections are as accurate as possible. We also positioned the band in a conventional way with the vocalist in the front centre and the band around him. This allowed for more interesting camera angles on the vocalist, who is the ‘meat’ of the performance.
In this shot the vocalist is positioned with the 'rule of thirds' in mind, making him the focal point of the image.
We also considered our chosen genre with the mise-en-scene of the performance, with the costumes for the band being stylish t-shirts typical of bands at the time. The vocalist’s costume however challenges of classic rock, whilst he has a star image with messy hair and dominating presence, his plain black t-shirt and simple clothes juxtapose with the rest of the band, this allows him to be the focal point for the video as the juxtaposition makes him stand out. Whereas in most classic rock videos the vocalist is the focal point through extravagant clothing, the vocalist in our piece becomes the focal point through simple attire.
The studio location its self is minimalistic. With no props or crowd shots it makes our video have the typical attitude of let the music speak for its self, however in order to prevent this from being completely uninteresting to some people, we made the performance itself as energetic as possible and emphasised it with faced paced editing that rotates through all the band members from different angles. Whilst filming the narrative we also used the handheld camera to create lots of whip pan shots and camera movement, which adds to the energy and sense of momentum in the performance.
This shot is an example of the whip pan technique we used, as the camera spins around the guitarist as he performs.
This use of camerawork is typical in rock videos, which normally focus on the vocalist, but also dedicate screen time to the other band members, especially during solo sections. We stylized our performance piece by adding monochrome effects that give our video an edgy feel and to emphasize the studio lighting we used especially on medium shots of the vocalist and in the shadow section of the song, which we included to proive something differant visualy for the slower part of the song.
These shots are examples of how we used the monochrome effect to stylize our video.
The other half of our video consists of a narrative piece, which was added in order to add something extra to the video instead of relying on 100% performance. The narrative we decided to use featured the vocalist, because using him as the ‘meat’ of the video and narrative is conventional for rock music videos. The vocalists journey takes him from a busy suburban area through back alleyways, a logging mill and a through a tunnel. The locations we used represent the lower ends of society with barbed wire framing shots and graffiti/waste present in the background, which adds emphasis to the lyrics of the song with these lower ends of the city representing the steel jungle (‘welcome to the jungle it gets worse here every day’).
The Barbed wire in this shot portrays negative images of society, a typical theme in rock videos. The low angle here shows the vocalists dominance of the scene.
Whilst danger is present in the narrative through this imagery, the camera stays at a medium level with the vocalist through most of the narrative, this adds to the typical macho image of rock vocalists as he seems comfortable in his surroundings through the most of it. However negative aspects such as depression and paranoia as shown in some sequences, which present’s the ideas that although the ‘rock n roll’ life style is self destructive in many ways, the people involved are comfortable living this way as inspired by the portrayal of the vocalist in the ‘slither’ video.
This shot is juxtaposed with the images of the vocalist being dominante of the surroundings in earlier shots, connoting the uncertain nature of the rock and roll lifestyle.
This self destruction is also shown in our recurring image of the cigarette that says ‘I wanna die’ on. This image not only emphasises the song lyrics but also to the themes of self destruction as it is constantly smoked throughout the video. The videos ending leaves the audience unsure its conclusion as the vocalist throws the cigarette down and walks away into the light, these shots light nature and hinted conclusion of redemption is unconventional of rock video’s that usually leave the rock and roll image unchallenged.
This reccuring shot shows the self destruction of the rock lifestyle, the way it is constantly edited into the video reinforces this point.
The conclusion of redemption in the final shot is unconventional for rock videos.
As with the performance we placed effects on our narrative in order to make it fit with the video; however we added some colour in the narrative instead of making it completely monochrome in order to prevent the video from becoming monotonous. The dreary colours used add to the mise en scene perfectly to create a bleak atmosphere
This shot is an example of how effects were used to make the mise en scene bleak and dreary.
The editing we used in the narrative is also faced paced, especially in early sections through the suburbia in order to create a sense of momentum. We also used camera movement to create seamless transitions between the narrative and performance sections creating a more enjoyable experience for the viewer. We also used effects at certain points in the narrative to emphasise the beat, or to add chaos and confusion during the build up towards the end of the song, with the lights becoming blinding at one point representing the overpowering nature of the rock lifestyle.
In this sequence we used colour filters and an 'earthquake' effect to create a sense of chaos and confusion during an intense part of the song.
Throughout the entire video we conformed to conventions by including a credible performance that focuses on the vocalist, whilst editing it together with a narrative that shows the rock and roll lifestyle, however we also challenged conventions through the subtle hint of redemption at the end of the video.
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