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| single cover |
TRACK: Teenage Dirtbag
YEAR: 1999-2000
DIRECTOR:
GENRE: Alternative Rock
MAIN AUDIENCE:
LYRICS
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| teenagers and school setting |
Relationship between Visuals and Lyrics
The connection in the video is quite strong due to it being about teenagers, and the narrative in the video roughly follows the lyrics. The relationship is especially strong towards the end as one of the characters starts lip syncing the words when previously in the song the band and actors never completely connected.
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| male 'geek' character |
Intertextuality
When researching the video it became apparent that there had been a lot of confusion whether this song was featured on the film 'American Pie' (it wasn't). This was due to the 2 actors in the video both being in the film also.
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| band, performance |
Performance and Narrative
The video is pretty much equal amount of performance and narrative. The video constantly cuts between the band performing and the actors and the linear narrative that is also happening. The performance side is always with microphones and all the instruments. The two settings only cross at the end when the female character lip syncs the higher section of the band mimicking a girl, 'I got 2 tickets to iron maiden baby'.
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| jocks |
Representations
There are quite a lot of stereotypes in the video in the acting narrative side. There are jocks which are bullies and have the girl that the lead boy and typical nerd likes. The jocks bully the geekier character. These stereotypes start to change when the girl sees the jocks being bullies and walk away from then. In the end section of the song the girl then walks up to the geek and they dance together at the prom.
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| prom location |
Pace and Locations
The pace of the video and editing is pretty constant but increases slightly as the video builds. It then decreases again at the end on the end shot when you realise the whole video was a dream as the boy wakes up on the stairs. There are a number of locations in the video, all typical school locations such as the gym, prom, corridors and cafeteria.
Shots
There is a large shot variation, and angles to help show the power/vulnerability different characters have. On the performance sections of the video there is variation of close ups and medium shots mostly.
Relevant Links
Wikipedia of the band
Website
Teenage Dirtbag Wiki
[comment on all egs]
ReplyDeleteGood to see clear engagement, and thinking through, with semiotic terms (could be widely applied though)
5 Seconds of Summer: Interesting mainly for using the Indie/alt rock musical genre to market a boyband. The key convention is the material of the ‘guys’ goofing around – at one point we have a shot of 1 holding his hand up to cover the lens, attempting to denote that this is ‘genuine’, candid footage (let down by an earlier 2-shot when a pair look directly down the lens in a studied pose). Fairly standard rock performance footage used to signify musical credibility: music studio often used as a setting to reinforce the idea that their music not recorded by session musicians. Note we don’t stick long with lipsynch shots. NOT having a clear narrative element seems a really poor choice, especially with such a simple romantic lyric; with it, the dull performance/behind-the-scenes footage wouldn’t be so repetitive.
Bruno Mars: so dull; like above, needs a narrative, not just fake offstage footage. The discolouring is odd, serves little purpose: it can Denote 3D seen in 2D or CONnote drug-influenced state. The warping of the image is replicating a damaged VHS tape, giving a retro look – but its poor.
Wheatus – good eg of cutting to the beat at start when singer appears, ending with bike crushed by car. The device of shooting performance in same location as narrative is common. Filmic intertextuality, specifically rom-com clichés (which helps tell you that they’re astutely targeting male and female auds), and frequent cinematic feel (the sheer scale of extras and set-dressing for one), leading to the confusion you note. Perf footage is weak, needed greater variation of angles and more abstraction of instruments.
Gabrielle: diegetic intro, quite common, tho not this long. Curtis blogged on a Bob Sinclair vid that also used clichéd Americana. Fairly unusual to see the classic American road movie refracted through female eyes tho. Sense of wide target aud by her being applauded by bikers (and note use of diegetic sound again).
One Direction: you didn’t notice the transvestite PA? That seems to ensure they’re not judged as homophobes for: camp/nerd guy in brown, with even more camp choreographer; the gay stereotyping anchored further by the Village People photo mockup. Spotted use of cameraphone shot, as with One Thing. The over-long diegetic setup plays on their Britishness as a band seeking US success; as has been argued about some WT rom-coms, it can be read as rather anti-American – after all, they’re depicted as morons (but in such an exaggerated fashion as to presumably seek laughter rather than outrage). Postomdern(ish) as the start is a deconstruction of image-making, followed by them making the vid just as they came in (as if that was natural and random).
Bastille – I’d note variation in cam movement: at start when ELS behind singer looking over edge in building, cam moving, social realist style – when he’s going down stairs, cam stock still to maximise geometric effect of stairs/framing. Intentional (but annoying) cam movement almost everywhere else. Simple point, but hard to achieve sharp night footage without lighting gear. To me, definite influence/rip off of Personal Jesus vid (at least for last few shots)