Jimmy Eat World - The Middle

Jimmy Eat World – The Middle

The Middle is a classic in-teen of example of alternative rock music videos; its lyrics and actual cinotography itself interlinks with experiences that youths face in the world through mise-en-scene (the emphasis on body, house party, drinking and music) as well as the actual lyrics themselves of not having to worry – this piece is a good example of how the band and the video works to reach out to their audience with direct iconography and grand metaphors for youth years. The piece shows some of the more traditional conventions of alternative rock music videos: iconography (focus primarily on the lead singer), youth-related settings (the party), slow motion, tracking, panning and dolly shots.

00:09

Leading up to this shot, the piece demonstrates a back dolly shot, which tracks the movement of the young woman as she leaves the car and dollying into the yard. At this stage, it is important to notice the immediate use of mise-en-scene, to quickly establish the sensations of this music video; the woman begins to strip from her coat which later relates to the lyrics in the music video as the fact that not everyone has to fit in (ironically this is twisted, as the expression that everyone is the same – demonstrated in the lack of clothing in this video – as the normal). The setting quickly becomes established also as the lighting on the trees would suggest an attraction or  a party theme, as well as keeping central focus of the shot on the woman.

00:15

This shot is the entrance point to the music video, upon entering the door the music begins too, easily exampling the transition and introduction to the soundtrack of the music video – as well as introducing the grand scheme of mise-en-scene to the audience as a somewhat steady surprise (again, this becomes a clear metaphor later on through the lyrics). The synchronisation here is also quite significant as it is more or less dead on.

00:17

Relatively quickly into the clip, the audience is immediately introduced to the lead singer of the band Jimmy Eat World in a mid-shot; the shots central focus is upon  the lead singer, whilst panning from right to left, enables that sense of iconography to be established within the piece. There are several conventional points to this shot: firstly, the panning creates the motion needed within the piece to maintain is motion or ‘pace’ to continue the edits and cuts between narrative and live performance as well as mirror the intensity of the song and the audience reaction. Secondly, there is a live audience in the background, dancing or ‘hoping’ to the music, this adds the extra depth associated with this type of music video and relates further to the audience as this would be the reaction to a live performance; more so, attracting to that age group further. What is particularly effective of this shot however, is the ‘display’ of body in the background, show casing the teenage desire as well as the grand metaphor in this piece that relates to the lyrics (again, this is the idea that everyone is the same no matter what, it sort of implies that saying for ‘everyone’s the same underneath’ but ironically reverses this to be normal whereas the clothed individuals are the outcasts; this is later demonstrated). What is slightly unconventional of this piece – yet is becoming more apparent through the videos I have studied – is the cooperation of the band between live performance and narrative. This is however, more divided up per usual and continues to maintain that sensation of division; the party is clearly in cooperated to benefit both areas of the video.

00:20

Whilst the sensation of iconography is established by the mid shot and focus upon the lead singer, the piece, cutting between narrative and live performance quickly, comes again to the lead singer whilst playing guitar, structured in the centre of the shot to establish that sensation further – more so as the guitar is synced up to the music and it creates that ‘brand’ image for an alternative rock artist. What is particularly effective in mise-en-scene here is the contrast between the black shirt and the white guitar, drawing the eye immediately to the instrument to combine the artist in that sensation of iconography. Once more, this shot is tracking from left to right (somewhat quickly as the audience jumps around) to create that sense of movement and engagement in the piece.

00:22

Further creating that sense of iconography before breaking off into the narrative, this extreme close up demonstrates the intensity that the lead singer engages upon; the lighting in particular to this piece is extremely efficient (although, this is used throughout the whole piece, the right orange/red and the left blue/green) as it warms the lead singer further to the audience. The camerawork in this shot is also something worth to note, although the focus is on the lead singer, there is no real sense of optical blur as the whole shot focuses on the lead singer, as well as the bassist in the background and the surrounding live audience.

00:25

In terms of narrative, this dolly shot is interesting as it repeats the opening shot of the woman walking in; this character is the protagonist to the narrative and is the ‘outcast’ who refuses to fit in, whilst awkwardly exploring the mise-en-scene and situation of the party. This is conventional to the alternative rock music video style as it shows the method of replication to impose a message or image, or more so, drive the video forward in terms of narrative. This in the same score (as it is outside the door) also allows this character to be introduced symbolically. 

00:27

This shot seemed interesting as it explores the depth of the live performance section, more so as it gets behind the live audience dancing, to pan (left to right) over the band as they play, drawing the focus to the rather contrasting artists (as they are fully dressed) in terms of the surrounding mise-en-scene. The lighting also becomes effective once more here also in the pan, as the warm colour invites the eye and the camerawork to naturally and effectively create the motion.

00:31

Leading up to this point, there are a succession of shots were the protagonist stumbles through corridors of the party, until coming to a living room (establishing shot) of a whole crowd of couples and individuals that are undressed; being fully clothed himself, he gains the judgemental look from the mass, which is then emphasis upon in this two shot. This shot is particularly effective to express the lyrics further in the music video, as the idea of the song is to forget about the worries of the teenage years and just accept what is and not to worry, however the case is (naturally, and more so importantly, truthfully) others will not allow this. This look emphasis to the audience the sense of relation to the music video in both video and music and demonstrates the capitations of these years; this in itself is conventional of the alternative rock music video style as it draws links between video and music.

Just as a side note, the same lighting is continued in continuity. 

00:35

Again, there is another extreme close up to focus on the lead singer once more (this time from a reverse angle as the last). Unlike the others, this one lacks movement, but still grows in diversity as the bassist is shown through the background of the shot, shows the conventions of gradually expanding the iconography to focus on various band members or a final establishing shot of all them during live performance.

00:49

This shot is particularly effective to demonstrate mise-en-scene further into the piece; the scribble and drawings on them (alongside with the plastic cups and bottles) sort of has that youth rule of ‘learning the hard way’ from the ritual of passing out at parties. This in the narrative, demonstrates the audience that the band are trying to outstretch too, and having some more conventional and somewhat stereotypical scenes to the piece, it does just so.

01:01

Within the native sequence, the camera predominantly follows the protagonist, emphasising the sharp contrast between him and the other, undressed youths at the party, mostly wondering around to find the supposed ‘awkward place’ to fit in to the extremity and intensity of the scenario; clearly a symbol of the outcasts, allowing the piece to relate to other youths that are interested in this style of music. What is particularly cleaver about these types of shots is that the movement allows the narrative and live performance to inter exchange regularly, as well as constantly drive the narrative forward to explore new areas that link to the lyrics (again, exploring that ironic idea of trying to fit in).

In the background, mise-en-scene is used to maintain the continuity of the party setting with the lights.

01:14

Conventionally, as alternative rock music videos expand away from the lead singer, diversely exploring the band, the piece eventually comes to an extreme close up of the guitarist, whilst exemplifying the drummer in the background, in a slightly canted shot (this is noticeable due to the drummer not being on level). This piece creates iconography, as well as exampling the sync and nature of live performance, really homing in on the critical and most relatable parts of the music video – the guitar in focus of course, for being one of the most recognisable and identifiable instruments.

01:34

This fast pan shot (left to right) illustrates the beginning character kissing a male, whilst panning over all of the drinking teens at the party, to the protagonist, outwardly looking in through the window. This piece, whilst conventionally maintaining the motion to the fast paced song, also demonstrates the intensity of the protagonists out casted atmosphere in the piece and the ironic symbols in coordination with the lyrics as explained earlier.

01:37

Whilst continuing to establish iconography within the music video by expanding the establishment of the band, this time the drummer, the clear focus on representing a compact angle between narrative and live performance becomes clear, more so as more and more shots are taken from ‘crowd length’ and have obscuring or focus points on particular parts of the body. This in particular will interest and if not intrigue (mostly) male audiences (which is a large percentage of target audience for this music genre) and offers this further relation; more so, it works as an angle within the establishment itself as iconography is conventional made, this relation further enhances that.

01:40

Whilst there are a variety of shots, expanding from different lengths, types or motion (such as dolly, track or pan) around the chorus however, the video introduces the conventional slow motion for a short two piece sequence that is divided between the high shot ‘jump’ and the live performance; the slow motion creates that break up between the intense shots of live performance during the chorus/solo as it also connotes the livelihood of the party; what is more so important here is the use of outdoor lighting to continue to replicate the green to yellow scale in the video.

01:56 – 01:58 Solo

During the solo camerawork continues the iconography through mid shots and extreme close ups of the band members, however this is primarily focused upon the guitar itself, as it is the most distinctive sound as well as the most relatable (e.g. most distinctive to the audience). 01:56 in particular is an effective mid shot which holds the guitar in focus frame, then the lead singer/guitarist to then show an abundance of live performance audiences from the cross narrative in the party; more so at this point, the dancing and ‘bounce’ is demonstrated as clearly as ever throughout the video and shows an immense ‘hype’ towards the solo.

The extreme close up of the guitar is in sync with the artist playing to the soundtrack demonstrating the power of the piece has he quickly strums up and down for a short second. What is particularly effective and noticeable about this sequence is the short jumps between different shots to example the pace of the solo and its intensity.

Going for an overall band view (establishing shot) from behind the drummer, the whole band are established for the first time from a back end point of view as they play in group circle, enticing the live audience around them.

02:27

As the protagonist of the music video discovers the intensive ‘pile up’ of all the clothes, it offers a symbolic message between the video and lyrics; as the ironic message suggested that all people are the same underneath, yet the out casted protagonist explored the party alone and fully clothed, he comes to stumble on the incentive and influence to ‘shed’ his personality as the others. The mass of clothes reflects the immense power of the song, whilst the mise-en-scene works at clever play as the painting on the wall relates to the out casted feeling that the lyrics and the video express together as the band try to offer a hopefulness as to not worry; yet this has not been resolved, and the as the tones of blue would connote in mise-en-scene, that there is plenty to worry about.

02:29

This sequence shows the results of the protagonist in the music video ‘sheding’ his personality in jump cuts to each frame within a couple of seconds; this in combination with 02:27 in terms of editing and camera work (as well as mise-en-scene and representation) the piece is very conventional in the terms of alternative music videos to express the lyrics in such a way and relate to the audience in a meaningful, yet subtle and effect manner.

02:38 – 02:51

It is not until this point with the long two shot that some resolution to the worry and isolation is presented in the video as the lyrics in the song would imply. This shot, as the two look at each other, examples the connection and the idea that they do not need to conform, as there is hope and others like you out there; what is noticeable about this shot however, is the reverse in lighting, as the orange/yellow tones are on the left side instead of the right, breaking in continuity to reflect the change and therefore atmosphere/mood in the piece.

As the resolution is hit, syncing finally the songs meaning in full to the video, the band finishes off with a long shot of the final second of music, exampling their role fully in the party as a band in full, and their attention from the live audience (at this point the lighting returns to normal).

As the music breaks (much like the beginning) the two are shown walking off together, wrapping up the whole video as a whole to present the message to the audience that everything will be ‘just fine’.

Counting Crows - She Don't Want Nobody Near: Trial Piece

In light of preperation for our full-length music video, and to get back into the groove of production, we produced a short 35 second piece that explores the conventions we are attempting to instruct into our own work, as well as understanding the methods of the music video style.

We found this piece realitvely easy, though there are a few niggles that we do have with it. Over the past week, we have been shooting around school with the narrative (the storyboard recently posted) around school as we could relate it to our choice of song by the Counting Crows: She Don't Want Nobody Near. This song is a lighter area of our genre that we have chosen, thus its slower and slightly a step away from the conventions that we truely want to explore - yet it was relevant to the availability of shooting within school unless we went off sight in our own time; in light of the situation, we decided to take the quick route, simply to explore. Shooting began last week and was acomplished this Tuesday, were we had gathered in total over 20 clips (some ranging over 7 minutes) to make sure we had a wide collection of shots to explore in the piece, and enough to cut to. Editing started on Tuesday night, were we worked over Skype and Teamviewer to sync up the lyrics to Reece singing. Editing was accompished this morning (Friday) in our free, where we played with a couple of the shoots and their visual effects; mostly adding contrast or darkness/brightness to give the peice that 'edge' we felt it needed. As a result, we have a few intresting bits in the piece. The opening in particular, we intensed the contrast by nearly 50% so that it gave its glowing effect (later relating to the piece in contunity quite well when I'm lay on the floor) and that gleam we wanted it to have. Contrast and darkensses was also added to the shots including me (the girl), particularly when I walk into the common room, turning the lockers white and making the door an intense black, showing (in conventional relation to the lyrics) the struggle that occurs between the song of wanting to be alone and not wanting to be alone (if you listen to the whole song). More so, this visual mise-en-scene that we had created, gave off the appearance that there was a sense of wanting to be away from the darkness (again, in contunity and leading the narrative further on, when I'm lay in the light surronded by darkness).
The long shot where I am lay in the corridor, was orginally a good naturally lighting shot in itself, it was luck and taking what was there at the time. Saying that though, I also intesnified the contrast and darkness, to make the light shining down on me more intense, to create mise-en-scene as the darkness contrasts, as though creaping in - this particularly relates to he lyric later on 'don't you wonder what her face looks like in the light?'

The camera work was a simple process really (though we weren't really out planning in detail or thinking in depth as we would with a final project) as me and the boys came up with some interesting shots. I orginally came up with the idea of the extreme long shot of the corridor, which was speeded up by 200% in time stretch in Adobe Elements 4 to give it its sense of time passing and ultimately, being alone. The 'keep clear' shot, was interesting - again we took what were giving in the light of oppotunity as we explored the campus, and realatively, we made it fit in well, considering as the songs lyrics are about the girl wanting to be alone (more so as we return to the corridor later on).

For once, we really stuck to the storyboard in depth. The close up shot, panning shot that goes over Reece's face was an intersting piece, that creates that conventional motion that is introduced in music videos. The movement (albiet slow, and could have been more paced or more explorative) creates adn replicates the sense of pace in the song, as well as moving along the piece in both live peformance and narrative. Seeing as the song is slow itself (as compared to others) it fit somewhat well. Personally, what bothered me about this shot is the lack of visual mise-en-scene, whilst the lead singer is being shown, the background is dull, and there could have been more emphasies on his face whilst he is singing (e.g. intense lighting on his face, to create contrast between the singer and the surronding mise-en-scene). Saying that however, we have followed some traditional conventions of a rock music video: we first show the artist singing in live peformance realatively quickly, establishing the iconography of the band, more so as it is a close up, this engages with the audience and boosts up this sense of creating an icon - the panning and movement in the shot, adds depth to it as well.

Although I'm reatlively happy with this mini-trail, there are a few niggles for me; firstly, the trancistions. Whilst I've never been fond of cross-trancitions, I believe they work okay within the opening, yet the fade itself seems a bit uncalled for, but presents the trancistion from radio edit to actual song. The editing itself, isn't sloppy from us, but could have bee more fast pace and the shots held for shorter intervals of time (although we had a fair decent amount of clips, we couldn't really instigate much else as we didn't have a lot of narrative produced, and when we did so, we felt too jumpy). I believe that is one of the reasons why a faster pace song as our final project, will be more effective than this slower style or rock (we were orginally thinking something from The Dammned Thingsb as it presented a heavier, agnst, angry and energitic song to edit and create a good narrative too; which we are still working on to get a premission piece to use).

In terms of editing however, I am extreamly happy with the syncing in the piece - from the close up panning shots of Reece, it does look as though he is singing the song, and when I am drumming (focusing the shot on the high hat and snare to obsecure my image as to not break the line between narrative and live peformance) - the piano piece however is not intentionally there to be synced up, it was just a mini cut-away shot for that just in case moment in case we felt we needed that extra quick push, which we did.

Explaning the corridor shot however, shows the trancistion between the social interaction of people, and isolation; this is as to why I am lay on the floor alone, more so the composistion of my body in the shot (the focual point of the logn shot) breaks the starkness between this point and the opening of the piece.

So, in the process of production, we've learnt a few things: #
- We know we will put more effor into the final piece, our plans more concise, locations more diverse and the narrative more extensive
- We will use a faster passed song, such as something from The Dammned Things or Nickleback: something with an aggressive or powerful lyric base to create a narrative too
- Our editing will have to be faster paced, and shots held for longer to aid the motion in the piece
- Have more tracking / panning shots, to again create the conventional motion that is needed

Idealistically, we're already composing a list of what we would need, such as a band for live peformance, and possible a live audience - locations is something we're struggle with, but in reality of props for mise-en-scene, we're more or less instantly sorted as I am and know several musicans, although we don't have to play, as miming is realtively simple as we have demostrated here. We will have to take into consideration camera work slightly, though editing and mise-en-scene (particularly visual effects such as lighting) will be one of our main points of focus. Prephas even sound, as we create a multi diverse narrative that pauses the song and adds that extra depth and engagement (possibly even iconography by combining the two) to the piece, much like 30 Seconds to Mars music vidoes.

In the mean time, we will further research into the conventions and examples of music vidoes and begin to plan and (hopefully) gain premission to use a song over the summer holidays. In this way, we will be prepared to shoot when we get back, and editing before christmas.

Filming + Editing

Today we finished filming, releateively we had very little to do as we got a lot of our shots from last week and in terms of time, we've had a few bumps. Other than that, we're rareing to go and we know what we're doing. Getting the narrative and performance shots today, I took the camera home and converted the footage and began working on a rough cut with Barry and Reece with screen share so that we can discuss certain areas of the piece - what to put in, what to cut to, how long to hold a clip. For the minute, we just have a perlimeary cut that basically has the sequence layed out. Luckily enough, we got all of the lip syncing and instrument playing (on the most part) in sync with the video, emphasising the song. Me and the boys will possibly consider lighting effects or colour control and maybe even shot length again tomorrow as I feel personally the shots look low quality where as we could temper with them to add that flavour of unique, desirable edge to the piece.

Storyboard

Once we decided that we were going to do a small segment (the opening) to Counting Crow's She don't want no one near, to which we have a radio version, we began to become up with a narrative and idea for live performance immediately.

We decided to write down the lyrics so we would have easy access to the lyrics if our actor forgot and so that we could sync up. To the left side of the page is the beginning of the story boards.

The storyboard only runs up to 50 seconds in total, yet idealistically we could extend the narrative further or performance shots if we get enough footage and are prepared to extent links between the lyrics and narrative.

From this storyboard, we decided for the narrative to have a young woman walking around the school alone or isolated, as the lyrics are typically 'she don't want no one near' which is symbolised in the means of video and audio colleration which are conventional methods; not only this but we took into consideration motion in the shots for live performance and narrative and decided that we would have a few dolly/track shots as well as taking consideration what types of shots we would first have for the live performance shots - such as focusing on the lead singer first and referring back to narrative before introducing more of the band to establish that sense of iconography.

Planning

This week we've been planning for a small 30 seconds music video to test and re-introduce our skills into production once more. First, we had to select what song we were going to work with, we did a mind map and possible narrative ideas to our selected below:

We decided to go with counting crows song 'she don't want no one near' due to the very able ability of the resources we'd have available at school and easy narrative.

30 Seconds to Mars - From Yesterday

30 Seconds To Mars – From Yesterday

30 Seconds to Mars are renowned for their extensively long, expanding and song-inter-breaking narrative, so it comes to no surprise when viewing the full From Yesterday music video, that the piece is over 7 minutes long. The piece obviously extends immensely to create a realistic and in-depth creation of the narrative throughout (being of a Chinese, traditional dynasty) to the extreme limits of beginning with opening establishing shots of the Chinese temple setting until eventually staging over unknown characters until 30 Seconds to Mars are later involved in both narrative and performance. The piece does several things to both performance and narrative – they appear as part of the same two, yet in production values are not the same. The piece expresses an in-depth following of the words and main chorus, reminding the audience of ‘from yesterday’, making clear sense of the (in effect) step backward in time to the Chinese rule – more so as the piece progressively changes from day to night (upon this note, mise-en-scene of the band becomes particularly critical as different representations of such lyrics are presented by the bands costume, changing between white and black). What is most effective of this piece is the segmented break up and how the soundtrack is intergraded into what could be described in an artistic sense, a short film – the piece displays different ‘chapters’ with chapters to illustrate the mid-song break up to introduce further depth to their narrative; this is seen at 03:30.

00:03

What’s particularly interesting about From Yesterday, is the option to present a few second title at the beginning of the video – which, has its own style of colour usage (later demonstrated in the piece) using red, black and yellow (also the current colours of the band, signifying iconography to some degree). The use of Chinese writing, with ‘FROM YESTERDAY’ underneath, presents an eerie, artistically unique turn upon a very unconventional appearance in a music video. Whilst the title presents this sense of seriousness and a degree of professionalism (again, instigating that sense of a short film), the title is very un-conventional, not only for rock or alternative rock music videos, but for the general convention of any music video genre.

00:19

It isn’t until around 3 minutes in that the audience get a glimpse of the actual soundtrack – they’re faced immediately by the presence of their interlinking narrative; it is here that the story is established through (most effectively) editing to create sub-titles. What can be noticed about these sub-titles is the fact that they are white (again, inter-linking with the effect colour scheme of the piece) and use the same font as the ‘FROM YESTERDAY’ title; however, titles aren’t used throughout the whole piece, as this section particularly demonstrates a few seconds after when the Emperor states what he requires for  his birthday, there are no titles at all – much like a short film or conventionally from a film, this is done so to create suspense to the narrative, leaving the audience to be curious, intrigued and overall fascinated by the jump cut to 30 Seconds to Mars. Mise-en-scene is also used effectively in this sequence to establish the historical or periodical effect of the narrative, linking to ‘from yesterday’; the two shot of the two establishes them as a character, there to serve the emperor.

00:53

This long three shot establishes further the rule, but more so, the power of the young emperor and the sense of out-dated rule now, as compared to current time (this is often unthinkable, unheard of or unacceptable in modern society) allows the dynamic sense of the characters to further step into roll of the sense of ‘from yesterday’. The mise-en-scene here (great throne, gold’s, rich reds) is used to effectively represent the power in this piece, to later create a stark contrast between him and the icon image of 30 Seconds to Mars: this effectively presents a sense of power struggle in the piece in some manner. It is at this point where the subtitles are removed, creating a sense of mystery as to what is being commanded.

(Consideration upon editing, shots is often held longer in these prelude music videos, are gentle and slower paced as compared to the normal conventions of fast, momentum constructions of rock/alternative rock music videos; transactions have been used effectively, mostly fade in fade out to create a slower and thus more gentle atmosphere in the piece pre music.)

00:58

Again, titles are used to introduce a different, scheduled scene. Consistency is maintained as there is a black background with stark white writing – remaining the same as the subtitles and the opening. Titles are slightly un-conventional and add a sense of professional as well as a serious atmosphere to the music video over all; more so, this matches the serious scene created by the narrative and mise-en-scene of the Chinese rule. Once more, these titles again give the sense of a short film, allowing the music video – in its sustainable length – to work effectively through segmentation and ‘dipped’ story telling / leading.

01:00

Stepping into the scene of 30 Seconds to Mars now, the audience is immediately (individually, shot by shot) to the band; firstly – after focusing on silence drum sticks on the wall – the camera cuts to focus on a reflection of Jared Leto (the lead singer). Conventionally, this is done to create iconography of the band, but also the ‘brand’ image of 30 Seconds to Mars (gradually, more so currently, Jared Leto has leaded the band into succession). What is particularly effective here is the sense of double appearance through the manipulation of depth of field to optically blur the actual Jared Leto and focus in on the clear reflection in the background; the intensity of such further creates iconography of the mid shot. It is here that conventional means of both alternative and mainstream music videos begin to take shape.

It is at this point where shots become a little bit shorter, though some are considerably still elongated to maintain the mysterious atmosphere within the narrative; furthermore, this presence later on eases in the soundtrack.

01:02

Now that iconography is beginning to be established, the clip cuts to a long shot of the lead guitarist – with instrument to clarify the band members role to audience as well as further establish the iconography – naturally, this will conventionally role in line with the members in matter of most famous or established for the band, singer first, guitarist, bassist and then drummer. What can be noted is the different in shot length as compared to the lead singer, conventionally this is used so that the singer is focused on close ups or mid shots to establish the full means of iconography, whereas the band – not as much shot upon – are further way in shot length.

01:04

This long shot of the bassist again establishes that sense of iconography within the piece – and, as conventionally found throughout music videos, is structurally working down through the bands ranking of icons. Noticeably in the background near the focal point of the shot are two mirrors, imaging two of the other band members; the use of mise-en-scene is strategic in this piece as the continuous theme of the Chinese rule is continued – the sofa has a black and red patterned cloth that the bassist is sat on and in the top left hand corner there is a framed picture that appears Chinese. This continually links the cut-away narrative to the whole body.

01:06

This shot, obviously being of the bands drummer, is a mid-shot – and much like Jared Leto’s shot, uses the mise-en-scene of the mirror to establish the image further by acquiring more space – unlike the guitarist and the bassist, the band member is being prodomantly focused upon; the mise-en-scene of the drum sticks particularly give emphasis to further en-role the sense of iconography that the shot tries to evoke by focusing on each band member individually with per 2-4 second shots.

01:09

After individual, intense establishment of iconography, the shot sequence basically ‘ties up’ the image of the band from this long establishing shot. Focusing in on the mise-en-scene of the room, it becomes apparent that the white is significant to represent the band’s colours, as well as juxtaposition against the Chinese Emperor. The establishment of the band and the intense focusing on each member follows rock/alternative rock conventions as well as general genre music videos very closely – it is more so interesting to note how almost immediately this happens from the cut-away in the narrative.

01:11

Whilst sub-titles aren’t quite un-conventional, these black Chinese sub-titles step out from those boundaries; videos of various genre’s often use editing to explain or ‘push’ the narrative further when there is foreign language, yet this example is extremely un-conventional. More so, the audience should note the continuation of the black from the band colour theme as it contrasts against the white of the band; this odd example drives the narrative even further as it interlinks with the story played at hand from the lyrics of the soundtrack. The woman in black who appears says ‘gentlemen, it’s time’.

(Additionally, from 01:00 – 01:48, the roar of people from a concert can be heard, obviously diegetic sound within the piece, combines with the atmosphere of suspense  with the actual acknowledgement of waiting; the non-diegetic sound of a distant humming makes this atmosphere more tense.)

01:14

This collection of shots are no more than a split second each, following in quick editing to create a flash sequence; the flash makes an intense application on the established atmosphere of the, making it appear quite violent as Jared Leto is witness to this.

01:26

This shot appears to the audience in a rather unconventional form; the band members in either narrative or performance are often betrayed in ‘rock’ item clothing’s or more so conventionally, black – instead, they are obviously the complete opposite for the effect of both iconography and stark contrast. Whilst the audience doesn’t necessarily pick up the full details of this effect, they do however recognise the contrast of such. More so, the room being white and the corridor, it further imposes the tense atmosphere that has been created pre-soundtrack through a non-diegetic hum.

01:53

These two shots are interesting, after the locked door and the plunge into darkness, the doors opening creates an entrance point into the music video – the likes of which the artist normally creates to further engage with the audience – but more so indulge further into the narrative and effectively pull it along. This is particularly important due to the fact that the video so far unconventionally holds shots for longer than needed and has a strategically slow motion f clips and length time to evoke the message of the lyrics. Cutting between the door opening (from not only the band’s but an audience perspective to further link the two) and the soldiers pushing it open, instigates the return to the Chinese Palace as well as further narrative drive.

It is at this point that the soundtrack beings to slowly fade in, growing in intensity and sound – the opening of the doors (or otherwise the entrance point) allows this to be introduced.

02:29

As the opening of the song begins, 30 Seconds to Mars enters, walking across the entrance in a line of black and red dressed solider (again the mise-en-scene is used to establish the theme of maintaining the bands iconography through the use of colour) the banners used to innotive their arrival are also significant. In this shot alone, just ahead of Jared Leto, can be seen the black, red and white flag of the band (once more, intensely presenting that bands iconography). Whilst a bands image can be shown in narrative or in performance (for instance, their band t-shirt worn by members of the live audience or actors within the narrative) this is somewhat unconventional to the extremes it goes to; though, the band are introduced into the narrative as ‘esteemed guests’ they play their own roll thoroughly.

What is particularly curtail of image focus here again is the focus upon Jared Leto, leading front and first viewed by the camera, his presence again labels the band vigorously, creating that sense of iconography to be well established as the soundtrack begins to sink in.

02:32

It isn’t until this point that the lyrics begin – immediately once so, a close up of Jared Leto, singing the song is used to not only cut away from and drive the narrative once more, but to also establish a further connection with the audience. This focus shot is very conventional for all types of music videos, therefore it fits well; more so as the shot pans from right to left, creating that (although slow) movement that alternative rock music videos need in both editing and camera work to establish the genre and the style of the soundtrack. In a sense, although this music video grinds along slowly, is the fact that it is styled to meet and fit the tempo of the song, which is considerably slow for alternative rock.

Whilst the video is hitting it off with some conventions of the genre, it’s still pulling strings to play with the atmosphere, iconography and the general feel the audience receives when viewing it (that being the thought of it being a short film). Again, much like Sum 41’s In Too Deep, the band is involved with the narrative as well as the live performance, which is unconventional in its means. What it does do different however (and even more so unconventional) is the performance and narrative are one of the same; whilst the shots show a clear significance between the two, once tied with the sequences, scene’s, soundtrack pauses, narrative and immense iconography, narrative and performance blur into one. Although this is extremely unconventional, it is however apparently extremely effective as the video works well as a whole.

02:36

This long establishing shot again shows the iconography of the band, showing not only their colours but current album art style at the time of the video.

02:39

Again, iconography is used to further establish the band, this long shot however is even more so effective as the very top is the album art in the central focus on the shot; to the left, although hard to see, is another album style. What is particularly effective here is the blend of mise-en-scene and set to not only encourage the narrative with the setting of a Chinese Palace, blurring in the background, but also the appeal to establish the band further.

In terms of editing notes, it is at this point (the pathway sequence) that shots become to become shorter and held for a slightly slower time; gradually, the shots gain motion by tracking, panning or dollying with the band or the set – on a very long shot there is even a zoom to create diversity in shots. Because the momentum of the song is suddenly driven up, the video mirrors through cuts and motion shots to conventionally allow the piece to flow overall.

02:43

What becomes conventionally significant at this point is the change of costume (mise-en-scene) for the band and that in cooperation with the look of the narrative and the effect image of the band. From this extreme long shot can be seen the four band members (Jared Leto and the drummer leading in front), they occupy the central focus of the image, so naturally the audience is drawn to them, slowly taking in the mise-en-scene of the image as a whole. Red flags at this point are extremely powerful in contrast, drawing the eye further into the focal point. What has become conventional is the change in the bands clothing from white to black, this is significant as black is normally the costume type for rock/alternative rock music videos; the change in costume also symbols the shift in narrative and the bands full engagement into the pre-soundtrack sequence.

02:46

As the style of shots begin to vary and held for a shorter period of time, the camera every 10 seconds or so refers back to Jared Leto (not yet returning to any of the other band members) and for the larger part of this sequence focuses souly on the lead singer through intense close ups. Whilst this is used to maintain the establishment of iconography, this shot in particular is effective to engage with the viewer on a powerful, personal level. The focal point of this close up is Jared Leto’s eyes as he looks into the camera, creating a sense (although false) of eye contact; this is used to engage through a sense of eye contact. These styles of shots are extremely conventional for not only alternative rock music videos, but all types of genre (effectively in perspective, it’s a diverse tool that can be used in all genres).

03:17

It isn’t until this point in the music video that focus shots or performance shots of any kind are presented of the other band members; the bassist is demonstrated here playing in time with the bass on a particular definitive strum. At this point, the camera is slowly panning from left to right, replicating the slow motion to mirror the song. The focus on the instrument itself is conventional as well as the next shot:

03:19

The shot, lasting no more than for a few seconds, jumps up to the bassist; the camera still slowly panning left to right (so much so, it is almost unrecognisable) draws these conventions out further.

03:21

Similarly to the last few seconds and the bassist, the same shot types and cut sequence is replicated for the guitarist, working hard to maintain the conventions of performance and focus on both instruments and musicians of 30 Seconds to Mars to brand iconography into the video. Again, the editing and shot motion is identical to the last.

03:23

The previous shots only lasting a few seconds, it isn’t long until the camera comes to focus once more on Jared Leto in another close up, although this one is border-lining extreme as the optical positioning in the shot is not unconventional, but strange as it focuses on the mic in hand.

03:30

After the climatic chorus, the shots growing more in motion and becoming shorter to compensate for the effect of the soundtrack’s speed, the piece structurally stops, introducing another leap into narrative: another title is used. To maintain both constancy and iconography, ‘THE GIFT’ uses the same template as the previous titles; background black, Chinese writing red, English white and a fade in fade out, however this time a bell tone sound is used to suddenly ‘drop’ the music video break up in.

(Break Sequence)

03:32 – 03:58

The immediate shot after the title is that of a long shot, demonstrating the Chinese Emperor as well as 30 Seconds to Mars; mise-en-scene is the powerful tool here to instigate the narrative and the overwhelming power that occupies a stark comparison to that of the iconography of the band (almost as though the two are intensely at battle – more so, later metaphorically applied in the sword sequence). The audience are automatically drawn to the central point of this shot, showing the immediate distance between the band and the throne.

Although, out of live performance, there is a large exchange of close ups or mid shots between the band members and the Chinese/guest audience in the piece as shown below:

Once more and considerably unconventionally, the use of Chinese subtitles is used once more.

04:20

It isn’t really until this part (apart from a few second clips at the beginning of the video) that the audience gains a more diverse up-heal into the mise-en-scene of the narrative; each band member are split up and taken through the grounds of the Palace, this extreme long shot for instance demonstrates the power of the lyrics and the ideal of ‘from yesterday’ being of the past – more so the distance between Jared Leto and the Chinese escort further illustrates the distance from past and present. Playing with the lyrics and with these types of shots to illustrate the narrative further, are conventional to the alternative rock music video.

04:40

Although fade in fade out is generally accepted in music videos, the normal means of editing is cut or jump cuts between shots, it is commonly unconventional for an alternative rock music video to example slow cross-shot transitions such as this. However, it works. Due to the established slow momentum of the soundtrack, it works justly as well as giving the narrative the ability to keep reeling along. In perspective, such editing affects such as this give the music video the sense of conventions from early classic rock videos. With this style of editing however, it allows the music video to use a great deal of slow-motion shots to illustrate or exemplify the narrative or iconography further, which is typically conventional.

04:45

This shot is the first long shot of the band performing as a whole for the live performance section. This shot in its entirety is conventional to the rock/alternative rock music video genre, though it is important to address mise-en-scene and narrative plots to combine the performance section with the actual narrative as they are ‘esteemed guests’ as though playing for the emperor’s birthday.

(What I found particularly interesting in this shot was the fake stage for the drum kit).

04:49

This close-up of Jared Leto (being prepared) was rather interesting for conventions and sense of iconography within the piece. Though close-ups normally focus on the face of the artist, it is supposed that sexual or deeper intentions are explored here, though it is conventional (the likes of female artists vary in focal shots from particular parts of the body) though it is conventional to any genre of music video. What is particularly interesting about this shot is the slow pan up whilst the clip is shortly running.

04:51

This shot in particular (still Jared Leto, yet another close up of his arm) introduces iconography further as he has tattooed the bands symbols onto his arm – this links vigorously with the colours in the narrative to establish strong links.

04:58

Again, when returning back to the live performance section of this video, Jared Leto is normally singing to example the live performance, more so in focus or mid shot; this focus shot tracks Jarred as he moves about, growing closer to the climax point of the soundtrack. This focus shot once more communicates that sense of established iconography, but also creates an intense atmosphere of climax.

05:00

The tracking shot of Jared Leto only lasts about 2 seconds before cutting over to the bassist in an intense mid-shot to exemplify the motion of live performance and formation of the band. Much as the previous shot of Jared Leto, these shots carry the conventions of focus, establishment and methods of live performance. In sight and reality of the live performance sections, what is missing is the very conventional appearance of a live audience.

05:10 – 05:12

These extreme close ups on the swords being grabbed and drawn are particularly powerful within the piece – more so as the climax of the soundtrack comes closer; these shots are shot and change in reverse shots to signify each band member. The editing at this point is particularly interesting as it is the second fastest sequence of editing, mimicking the growing climax in the music.

05:14

Although this shot examples the conventions of focus on the main artist of the band, out of focal blur in the background is the lead guitarist – this shot is complicated though interesting at the same time; whilst Jared Leto sings in time, though appearing in slow motion, the guitarist in the background is out of sync per strumming. Faults as these aren’t commonly picked up by the audience, more so as the optical blur removes the distinction, though it is noticeable and something worth considering during production after research.

05:21

This particular mid shot of the drummer is an interesting example of synchronisation in live performance, more so, it is conventional as it demonstrates the artist engaging with the audience on a personal level of music presentation.

05:23

Building towards the climax, the shots eventually become more intense through the use of mise-en-scene or editing, the narrative too becomes more tied with the narrative, ultimately aiding the conventions of lyrics and video representation sync up further. The colours of red and black are continued through the costume of the 30 Seconds to Mars warriors and the Chinese emperor’s, continues the sense of band focus throughout the narrative. Over all, the lighting in this long shot is particularly interesting also as it continues the serious, eerie atmosphere.

05:36

This small drumming sequence here examples the intense cut editing of short, mid shots and close up shots to intensely mimic the audio to video in a sense of cinematography. This piece works effectively to further impose the growing climax within the piece. Conventionally, it follows the lines of editing and motion (suddenly introducing a fast pace) to create a fast piece that drives the music video forward.

05:41 – 05:44

Close-ups are again used to create an intense short editing sequence to flash through 30 Seconds to Mars in costume as warriors; the use of black, white and red maintains the image of the band whilst in costume. This is used to create motion to the soon-coming fight sequence (this carriers forward the same conventions as the drumming sequence).

05:52 (06:25)

Similarly to the rest of the music video, these shots are in slow motion to draw attention further to the lyrics and the intense motion (or actor movement) within the piece and the slow dwindling of numbers as the band members slowly become the only left. As this is synced up with the lyrics, it is rather conventional for the shots to be edited in slow motion to further explore the cinematography  in the piece.

06:28

This extreme long shot demonstrates the ‘grand finally’ convention that is often explored in rock/alternative rock music videos – this is shown through the use of mise-en-scene, bright lights and front stage fireworks. This is at the point of the climax to create iconography of the band further and their role between live performance and narrative. It is important to note the shift in time as it is now night at this point, further explores the lyrics of ‘from yesterday’ as though the whole narrative had been set for the ‘from yesterday’ – in effect, the whole piece worked as a build up to this point.