Alternative rock songs with a narrative and performance video.

Avril LavigneWhen you’re gone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G3_kG5FFfQ&NR=1 Avril Lavigne - When you’re gone.

In this video we see three stories of relationships unfolding as the video goes on. This is the first shot we see of each scenario and we can see already it is about relationships. The title of the song emphasizes the loss of a loved one, however with these three scenarios we can see it is not just about death.

From just two clips of the music video we see this scenario unfolding into something more. At first we see a man going away from his loved one to the army as seen from the costume the male is wearing. Which relates to the title of the song ‘when you’re gone’. Then the next shot is of the female holding her stomach. The way in which she is doing this represents that she has found out that she is pregnant, as from the size of the bump it is quite small. So from just two still shots taken from the music video we as an audience can identify what is going on in the video.

In the first shot we see the young couple having a romance in private. This is shown through the positioning of the two characters close together looking at each other whilst touching one an others faces. Then this shot is spoilt by the next shot as we see what I believe to be the parent of the young girl interrupting the romance and pulling her away from the boy. This is another reference the title ‘When you’re gone’ as we see that the parent doesn’t want the girl to be with the boy. From the parents costume it represents that the family is quite wealthy and doesn’t want to lose their high status because of their daughters behaviour.

The old man sitting on the bed we can see is alone. The movement he is making with his arm touching the other side of the bed is representing that his wife is no longer there. From his costume it symbolizes that he has no one to make an effort for anymore on a daily basis.

Moving on to the second shot we see a high angle mid shot of the man looking at a picture. The high angle shows that he is vulnerable and hurt by the loss of his loved one. This shot also makes it seem like the audience is the spirit of the mans wife looking down on him as we see a glimpse of what the picture is he is holding. The image in the photograph is of him and his wife in the past, possibly on their wedding day. This is another clue as to the missing of his wife.

The performance aspect of this video is mainly set in an old, dark room with a piano in the middle as the artist (Avril Lavigne) plays it. The other location is in a light forest. The shots are quite simple and are cut with the pace of the song. The mixture of performance and narrative are similar in time and shows. The mixture of performance spaces gives the music video a dynamic interesting effect which the audience will be more interested to watch. Although the different locations are very different to each other, they make sense within the music video and I like this so I might include elements of mixed locations in my music video but keeping it to a few locations so it is simple yet effective.

This last shot is a close up performance part of the music video. These close ups happen around 40 times within the video and all have the artist singing with the majority of these shots being at a slight high angle. This as well as eye contact with the camera suggests that she is telling us her story, and with the lyrics saying “you” it suggests even further that us, the audience is the person she misses.

Christina Perri Jar of hearts.

Christina Perri – Jar of hearts.

This video has a big performance element in it, which links to the narrative. This could mean that the lyrics what she is singing (performance) are about her story (narrative). The main setting for this performance is outside in a dark street with a lot of fog effects. The narrative and performance aspects of this music video tie in really well with each other and work really well all together as a completed music video. As we can see from the three screen grabs from the music video we have the performance (top), narrative (middle) and performance and narrative together (bottom). This shows the versatility this music video has to offer and is a great narrative for the audience to follow and possibly relate to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v_4O44sfjM&ob=av2e

These 3 scenarios are of all the women the male has stolen the hearts off of. The first shot of ach scenario (left) reveals where they are (car, telephone box and outside). The second shot (right) shows him stealing the hearts of the women, therefore relates to the title of the song “jar of hearts”. We now know this song is about love and possibly cheating in a relationship. By using more than one scenario with the women emphasizes to the audience how much of a player he actually is, so we as an audience feel sympathy for the women falling for him, but not him.

This section of the music video is very dance based with lifts included. The women here represent the women who the male has stolen the hearts off. We see them rebelling against him now with the movements including writhing and

force. The narrative of this music video includes a message to men and women of how not to treat women and how not to fall for someone too easily.

Greenday Last of the American girls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR8Ia6vyV5Q&ob=av2e Greenday – Last of the American girls.This music video is mainly performance but has a narrative included as it includes a female character and two female dancers. The performance and narrative are separate from each other as we can tell by them being in different shots and not all in one shot. They may be mixed together but not seeing them in the same shot makes the video a performance with the narrative helping to tell the story of the performance. The video is mostly set on a deserted field like land so the performance and narrative of the music video link together. From the top image we see a long shot of the band playing together which gives the audience a sense that the band is close and works as one. We an see all of the band members clearly in this shot so it shows the audience that they are all equals in the band. The middle image shows the dancers at the side of a television. On the television is the lead singer performing which looks very interesting as we are watching a television on a television. We now see in this image the performance and the narrative mixed together in the same location.

The bottom image shows part of the narrative which is very interesting to watch as the car blows up from her hand which is shaped as a gun.

These 3 close up to mid shots show the band members and there rolls within the band as we can see the lead singer (top), a drummer (middle) and a guitarist (bottom). These shots are to show the band off in a performance so the audience can relate to them. These shots are very early on in the music video so the audience can relate to them throughout the video and they then know who they are in the band throughout. The shots link together as they are all taken outside at early night time, which shows that the band is playing together. The shots are all very similar as they are all the same distance so not one person in the band has a better shot, so shows that they are all equally important to the band.

These images are a sequence in which shows household

rooms but in a deserted field using props. This makes it interesting for the audience to watch as it something you’d never normally wake up to or see. The bottom left picture shows the all the rooms in an establishing shot after the first shot of the bedroom scene. This gives a clue as to what is to what we will see next.

These three screen grabs from Greendays music video are the first three shots we see. They are of random objects but all mean something.Headphones (top), mean music, this could show the passion for music Greenday has and the importance music is to them as the headphones are alone on the chair with a spotlight on them.A clock and an erne (middle), which the two together can represent that a loved one is gone and they were young. That person could be the “American Girl” the song is about.Make up (bottom), represents there is a female in the music video. The “American girls” they speak of are hinted at wearing quite a bit of make up.

All of these objects could be clues as to what happens within the music video, so it gets the audience thinking and wondering what the objects represent as they don’t really make sense as part of the music video at the beginning

From analysing the other alternative rock videos I have found out a lot about this genre and has influenced my ideas for my story boarding for the better.

I have discovered that all three music videos have shots happen in three. Arvil Lavignes’ “When you’re gone” music video have three scenarios for the narrative side of the video. Christina Perri’s “Jar of hearts” music video has three scenarios also within the narrative of the video. Greenday’s “Last of the American girls” music video has shots of three with at the beginning has three shots of three random objects before the first shot of the artist, then three shots of each of the band members in a sequence of shots. All of these have elements of doing things in three to emphasize the narrative and the meanings.

They are all located outside either in a forest (Avril Lavigne), in a street (Christina Perri) or in an open field (Greenday). These locations are very different from one another which proves an alternative rock video can be located anywhere with the right effects. Like in Christina Perri’s music video set in a street wouldn’t look as good or as effective than it does with the effect of fog.

All of the music videos I analysed are performance and narrative based videos which work really well together. Avril Lavigne’s and Greenday’s music video has the performance and narrative separate from each other and works like a story with moving images to emphasize the meaning behind the lyrics. Whereas Christina Perri’s music video has the performance and narrative elements mixed in with each other where they are both in the same shot.

All what I have discovered has helped towards story boarding my own music video.

Conclusion.