Analyzing music video 4

Green Day - 21 Guns

This music video’s style would be classed as romantic, socially conscious and performance. I have
chosen these 3 styles for this particular music video because of the two characters being intimate with one another. Also this music video is a lot about war and showing peace. This music video is a lot about performance because of the band being set up in the room however it isn’t very stereotypical as a band usually wouldn’t be playing in an empty room such as a bedroom.

The purpose of this music video is to promote the song and to visualize the music track. This music video is also about showing a message (as it says in the lyrics): “giving up a fight that’s not worth dying for”. This suggests peace against war. This music video also has a meaning of when you grow up learning new things they are never how they seem when you’re a kid.

The way they have interpreted the lyrics is when the music artists in the band sing and play instruments. They also have two characters (one female one male) acting. Towards the end the female meets the male character and this gives the lyrics familiarity with the story line of the lyrics.
The music video is showing them in a room with the house falling apart due to some sort of war and gun shots therefore the music video does show this. However the implied meaning of this music video shows that you still need to guess what is going on because the house is falling apart its only until you realize when the female character looks outside the window there is some sort of war going on outside.

If I was to compare this music video to any other music video it would be Adele – Rolling in the Deep. I have chosen this music video to compare to Green Day – 21 Guns because of everything smashing and it is all situated in one room. In the music video all the miming is done by Green Day however the two actors are acting out the storyline.

This music video does look like a typical rock music video because of the dark dim lighting and the band set up with drums and electric guitars which are typical instruments in a rock band. With the heavy drums and guitar instruments combined with a powerful male vocal it would be considered rock. You can also recognize it is a rock music video due to the dark coloured clothes they wear and tattoos on them which is what typical rock bands are associated with.

There is a tracking shot around the male and female characters kissing towards the end of the music video. This looks effective as you can see both characters from all different angles. This shows they found love in a chaotic environment. This shot also looks good how all the lights are dim and the light is focused on them.

Most camera shots are medium long or long shots. They have done this to create simplicity; to focus on the scene and what is happening around the two characters. The medium close ups are used on the characters to show their facial expressions for example when they show the first scene of the male looking miserable and depressed. This shows the characters emotions and puts an emphasis on the mood of the music video and the song.

The lighting in this music video is very realistic which is mainly from lamps which creates a lot of shadowing on the characters which gives the music video a gloomy mysterious feel. The lighting is mainly dim which suggests the style of the music video (rock).

The editing is very basic with simple editing skills which aren’t overly complicated. The transitions between each shot look effective. It also looks good when you see the number of gun shots where it hits the furniture and walls which would be considered as special effects as they want it to look realistic. Another example is when the fish tank burst and the water is running out.

Overall this music video represents the style rock very well and it includes simple editing with an interesting storyline.