thirty seconds to mars

5
By Georgia McLaughlin Lacey’s Repertoire of Elements Music video analysis Title – The Kill (Bury me) Artist – Thirty Seconds To Mars Genre – Alternative Rock Style – Performance and Narrative Nick Lacey is Famous for his Genre theory; Lacey’s repertoire of elements. This refers to the five Genre elements which are Characters, Narrative events, Iconography, Setting and Technical and audio codes. In the popular Alternative rock song ‘The Kill (Bury Me)’ by thirty Seconds to Mars theses 5 elements can be referred to. Thirty seconds to mars features Shannon Leto (Drums), Tomo Miličević (lead guitar), Matt Wachter who has now left the group (bass guitar) and Jared Leto Guitar (lead vocals). All band members feature in the video however Jared is also an academy award winning actor and has a clear appreciation of film. This is evident as the video is an exact replica of ‘The shining’ (Stanley Kubrick, 1980) and the attention to detail and serious meaning to the song make it a pastiche. In terms of character each band member does something that resembles an event of Jack Torrance. In addition to acting like Jack, The youngest member of the band (Tomo) also resembles his son Danny in the things he does (i.e. going round the hotel on a skate board). Every band member wears all heavy black clothing and has black ‘emo’ style hair (except from Matt who is dark blonde) which is stereotypical of the genre. In addition to this various members also wear heavy black eye liner adding to their already dark appearance. Jared also wears chipped black nail varnish breaking the stereotype of what is expected from a male rock star by wearing nail varnish and that extent of make-up. Jared takes charge in most of the video as the lead singer and has most of the dialogue he is also the character that most resembles the actions of Jack. All of the characters come across as quite mysterious thanks to their full black costume, the narrative and that they all seem quite distant for a band; barley being in the same shot together aside from performance scenes. The mystery is emphasised in these scenes by Jared sinister stares at the camera with his dark eyes making him look evil or possessed whereas every other band member doesn’t look at the camera at all and comes across emotionless. Later in the video we see doppelgangers of each band member. These can be identified as they wear formal suits. Their outfits are entirely black and white (including the classically red Boutonnière) representing the split in their personality between the good and the bad

Upload: georgialaurenmc

Post on 05-Jul-2015

14 views

Category:

Education


3 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Thirty seconds to mars

By Georgia McLaughlin

Lacey’s Repertoire of Elements Music video analysis

Title – The Kill (Bury me)

Artist – Thirty Seconds To Mars

Genre – Alternative Rock

Style – Performance and Narrative

Nick Lacey is Famous for his Genre theory; Lacey’s repertoire of elements. This refers to the

five Genre elements which are Characters, Narrative events, Iconography, Setting and

Technical and audio codes. In the popular Alternative rock song ‘The Kill (Bury Me)’ by thirty

Seconds to Mars theses 5 elements can be referred to.

Thirty seconds to mars features Shannon Leto (Drums), Tomo Miličević (lead guitar), Matt

Wachter who has now left the group (bass guitar) and Jared Leto Guitar (lead vocals). All

band members feature in the video however Jared is also an academy award winning actor

and has a clear appreciation of film. This is evident as the video is an exact replica of ‘The

shining’ (Stanley Kubrick, 1980) and the attention to detail and serious meaning to the song

make it a pastiche.

In terms of character each band member does something that

resembles an event of Jack Torrance. In addition to acting like Jack,

The youngest member of the band (Tomo) also resembles his son

Danny in the things he does (i.e. going round the hotel on a skate

board). Every band member wears all heavy black clothing and has

black ‘emo’ style hair (except from Matt who is dark blonde) which

is stereotypical of the genre. In addition to this various members

also wear heavy black eye liner adding to their already dark

appearance. Jared also wears chipped black nail varnish breaking

the stereotype of what is expected from a male rock star by

wearing nail varnish and that extent of make-up. Jared takes

charge in most of the video as the lead singer and has most of the

dialogue he is also the character that most resembles the actions

of Jack. All of the characters come across as quite mysterious thanks to their full black

costume, the narrative and that they all seem quite distant

for a band; barley being in the same shot together aside

from performance scenes. The mystery is emphasised in

these scenes by Jared sinister stares at the camera with his

dark eyes making him look evil or possessed whereas every

other band member doesn’t look at the camera at all and comes across emotionless. Later

in the video we see doppelgangers of each band member. These can be identified as they

wear formal suits. Their outfits are entirely black and white (including the classically red

Boutonnière) representing the split in their personality between the good and the bad

Page 2: Thirty seconds to mars

By Georgia McLaughlin

which is evident in several lyrics including “this is who I really am” and “I’ve finally found

myself”. There are several other characters throughout including a blood covered girl who

get out of the shower, a creepy man who tips his hat and several sets of twins . The twins

represent the theory of doppelgangers and are all dressed in 1920’s style dresses matching

the setting, at the end of the video they all dance in a very controlled, puppet like way. The

creepy man represents Mr Grady and finally in opposition to the film the girl is covered in

blood where as in the film the woman dies from an overdose and is in the bath. This could

be paying homage to ‘Carrie’ (another

book written by Stephen King) as she is

seen in a silk dress, making the video a

pastiche of the work of Stephen King.

The video is a combination of Performance, narrative and conceptual. The conceptual parts

are within the narrative meaning if you have not seen the shining film it will be unclear and

the whole concept of the video being about facing your fears and facing your true self and

this is portrayed through the use of doppelgangers. The performance aspects all take place

in a 1920’s style ball room where the band perform on stage to a room full of 1920’s style

twins who waltz to the rock genre music creating a juxtaposition through the use of

bricolage. In terms of narrative the video follows the storyline of ‘the shining’. After taking a

break from tour the band stay alone in a hotel for several

weeks left with only a note from the staff saying “enjoy

your stay and please stay out of room 6277”.Later,

Shannon goes to the room and from that moment on

strange thing begins to happen to each band member

including seeing their doppelgangers. When Tomo is in

the room he removes his glasses for the first time suggesting he is more open and visually

awakened to see his true self despite his apparition being seeing a man dressed as a dog

performing a sexual act on him

(which also happens to a character

in the film). Many scenes are

parallel to the film or just slightly

adapted to suit band For example,

Tomo is seen on a skateboard

traveling around the hotel; this is a recreation of the scene were Danny Torrance is traveling

around the hotel on a toy bike. Another parallel is when Jared is seen throwing a ball against

the wall and the scenes with the typewriter; however in this version he types “this is who I

really am” over again suggesting he is

embracing this side of himself. Another

parallel is that of the dead woman who

kisses Jack but in this case she dies of

different circumstances as she is covered

Page 3: Thirty seconds to mars

By Georgia McLaughlin

in blood. In the bar scene Matt is served by his doppelganger. While both the film and the

music video culminate in an elegant ballroom; being the main performance scene. In this

scene the audience and doppelganger version of the band welcome the real band as they

walk in dressed in tuxedos suggesting they have embraced their darker side.

Iconography is strongly used in the Video to create a deeper meaning and make more

reference to Kubrick/Kings the shining. The first we see is the band arrives in a limo that

looks more like a hearse from the outside foreshadowing the death inside the hotel and

giving connotations of darkness and pain. When the band enters the hotel they all enter

through separate doors showing a separation in contrast to how you think a band should be.

This is also clear when they all walk to rooms in different directions despite the hotel being

empty suggesting they were already different personalities to begin with. When they enter

they walk away from a well-lit exit that could act as a warning to leave, once again

foreshadowing the events to come. This happens again when Jared is following his

doppelganger as the sign shown bigger as if it’s screaming at him to leave before they come

face to face. When they first enter the hotel they receive a very elegantly written note

already making the audience realise it’s not from modern day, also because it is sealed will a

red wax seal. The wax is darker than usual and is dripping down making it look like blood.

The bar that Matt is sitting at a black bar

suggesting darkness and sin and as his

doppelganger serves him a drink and sinisterly tips

his head and raises the glass to cheers; people

would traditionally ‘cheers’ and clink glasses in

order to frighten the devil or any demons and to

prove the drink doesn’t contain poison suggesting

that Matts doppelganger does this to try to persuade him that its safe. Adding to the use of

Bricolage is the type writer which was also used by jack in ‘the shining’. In this case Jared

uses it and types “This is who I really am over and over” adding to the connotations of

possession and releasing or fighting

against your true self. Also like Jack in

the film Jared is seen throwing a ball

against a wall to pass time yet it is

done in an aggressive manner; I

believe it was done to try to keep Jared sane and give him a focus after the strange going on

in the hotel as this is also done in the great escape (John Sturges, 1963). To add to the use of

bricolage when the band are seen performing they are in an old ballroom and the audience

is dressed in 1920’s style clothing waltzing to their rock genre music in a ball like setting.

This breaks the convention of what is expected at a rock concert. Also in the performance

scenes Jared sings into a vintage style microphone emphasising the 1920’s style. Finally, the

number 6277 is used for the room number because it spells out “Mars” on a telephone

Page 4: Thirty seconds to mars

By Georgia McLaughlin

keypad; the number also features in the video for “From Yesterday” by thirty seconds to

mars. In contrast the film uses the room number 237.

The video starts off set inside the limo like hearse where

Jared gives the orders to the rest of the band. When they

leave the limo we see the ominous looking hotel which

goes along with the 1920’s style surrounded by lots of

dark grey clouds adding to the chilling. Once inside they

enter the lobby and realise there is no one else there. All

of the rooms are large with minimal furniture emphasising the emptiness of the hotel

making it look all the more unusual. Some of these settings include the large room

containing only a type writer aside from a couple of thing faded in the background and the

long repetitive corridors. Another setting is ballroom where the bands doppelgangers play

on stage in this scene the real band walks through the curtains dressed as the doppelganger

suggesting they have now embraced that side of themselves. There are two small fake trees

either side of the drummer who is on a sand coloured podium. Behind them is a golden

curtain suggesting wealth; this is also clear by the bands tuxedos, the elegance of the room

and the formality 1920’s style audience. The instruments and amps are all black and white

continuing the theme of elegance and good vs evil. This is complemented by the large black

and white striped curtain at either side of the stage. Room 6277 starts of as an empty bath

room in Shannon’s eyes but changes depending on each character for example, Tomo sees a

bedroom.

In terms of the technical and audio codes there are many used in the making of ‘The Kills’

music video. The video starts off with a black title screen with sharp writing stating “the kill”

in the background there is some eerie wind like sounds within the non-diegetic sound. The

opening shot shows a low angle close up of Jared already presenting his power as he stares

intimidatingly out of the window at the bare trees

and ominous hotel. There is then an establishing

shot showing the limo like hearse next to the

creepy hotel. The camera cuts back to the inside of

the limo and Jared continues to stare while saying

within the diegetic sound “There’s not going to be

a single fucking soul here, so we can Take a little time off… relax…get lost” . This is said in a

very slow sinister and commanding way suggesting he already has a dark side and could

perhaps be behind something else. There is a non-diegetic sound of a clock bell tower as

this is heard there is a cross cut to the inside of the hotel followed by another title credit

saying “the hotel” we alter also see titles saying “one week later“ and “the end”. As the

camera cuts to the different rooms of the empty hotel we hear the sound of an instrument

making scary music heard in the likes of Psycho, this is later heard again in the song as the

performance music often cuts for sound effects to be heard, For example, we hear the ball

Page 5: Thirty seconds to mars

By Georgia McLaughlin

Jared is throwing hit the wall, each time the ball hits the camera cross cuts again. A similar

edit happens after Jared fiercely screams “This is who I really am” there is a fast guitar

playing and drum beat featuring a graphic match between two twins kissing and Shannon

kissing the girl from the shower and between the creepy man and the girl from the shower

now covered in blood. Another time the song cuts out is when Tomo sees himself in the

room with the dog adding to his shock. This is

followed by a non-diegetic score that sound like

a police siren acting as a warning and suggesting

this was the moment that they should have left

and got help. Jump cuts are used showing Jared

getting increasingly closer to the type writer

suggesting he is being drawn in or controlled.

When Jared is confronted with himself a Split screen is used to show that there are 2 sides

to him. This is used again in a closer proximity suggesting there is now very little that

separates the evil doppelganger from the original band person.There is a rewind used from

the creepy man walking

away to coming towards the

camera and tipping his hat.

Once again suggesting

possession or perhaps it’s

through a band members

eyes wishing they could take it back and never arrive. Many long shots are also used

throughout to show how secluded and alone they are. In the performance scenes we see

Jared singing in a close up making it all the more intense as he looks into the camera

whereas the other band member low away or down suggesting Jared is in control . As song

slows to end edits become slower and leaving more of a black screen before a final slow

fade leaving a menacing open end. One final point is that at the end in a long shot the video

copies the 1920’s picture from the shining including jacks pose.

The video pays homage to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) and has strong use of

bricolage. Jared Leto described the meaning of the song as being about, "a relationship with

yourself. It's about confronting your fear and confronting the truth about who you are." He

has also said it is about "confrontation as a crossroads" meaning finding, fighting but

embracing who you really are.