By Luca Abraham!

Analysis of Foo Fighters ‘The Pretender’!

The Foo Fighters are a rock band and I will be analysing their music video for the song ‘The Pretender’.I will be analysing the video using the four technical areas, sound, camerawork, editing and mise-en-scene.I will also look at the basic music conventions used in this video and what the meaning behind the video could be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBjQ9tuuTJQ

MISE-EN-SCENE-Props!The props used in the music video represent the genre of the artists featured in the video. The band members have electric guitars, a drum kit and a few microphones, these props show the audience that the music video is in the rock genre. There are also amps which shows the music is going to be projected loudly like rock music is usually. The other characters in the video who are not band members have riot shields and riot helmets, this makes me think that the band are rebelling and these people are here to stop them with force. This portrays a message that some people may think rock music is a bad influence so the authorities want to stop it, but this video shows the authorities cannot stop them.

MISE-EN-SCENE-Clothing!The clothing the band are wearing shows they are a rock band, they are all wearing black and white which is the stereotypical colours a rocker wears, they are all wearing skinny jeans which is also a stereotypical piece of clothing a rocker wears. The other people who seem to be the authorities are wearing clothing that a police officer at a riot would wear, with the riot helmet and riot shield, they are obviously fighting against the band.

CONTRAST!

MISE-EN-SCENE-Lighting!The whole video is in high key lighting because it looks as if the band are in a well lit warehouse playing their music. When the red paint flies from behind the band the lighting becomes low key because the people cannot see because of all the paint. Low key lighting is used here because it gives the feeling of war between the two groups.

MISE-EN-SCENE-Setting!The setting is a warehouse, it is well lit and there is a red background behind the band which is where the paint comes from at the end of the video. There is also a black line through the middle of the room on the white floor, this may represent the line between the authorities and the rock world, meaning they live different lives and have different views on life which is why the authorities don’t like them because they differ from the norm.

Camerawork-1!There is an establishing shot at first to show the setting which is a warehouse, this shows the viewer straight away where the video is going to take place. The establishing shot also shows the instruments on the ground where after a few seconds the band members enter and start to play the instruments in turn. This is used to show the viewer straight away what genre the music video is, by the instruments.

Camerawork-2!During the video they use a lot of different camera angles to keep the video interesting, they use crane shots, canted angles, high angles and low angles. These are all used to keep the video interesting and to make sure the viewer doesn’t get bored by the same camera angles. The low angle of when the lead singer is playing his guitar shows he is in control of the song and is a leader against the authorities in the video.An over the shoulder shot is used to show the lead singer is facing a lot of the authorities and that there are a lot more of them compared to the band.

Camerawork-3!They use a lot of close ups to show the characters emotions, the close up of the lead singer shows his emotion and feeling for the authorities, he shows anger a lot during the video. Also when there is a close up of the main riot man the camera shows his anger at the band which relates to the meaning of the video. There is a master shot at the beginning when the band enter to show the whole band and them standing with their instruments, this shows the viewer that the video is in the rock genre by the props and the band in this shot. There is a lot of panning and tilt used in the video, this may also be used to keep the video interesting and to match the pace and style of music in the video.

Sound!The music in the video is diegetic because the band is playing the song in the video, this gives the effect that the band are playing live and this is how they would act at a live show. All the sound is coming from the instruments and being projected through amps in the video. The music shows the viewer the video is in the rock genre, this will attract rock fans and indie fans because the video is in this genre

Editing!Cutting is used frequently during the video, it is used

to cut to different camera angles and camera shots in the scene to focus on the different band members and the riot men opposite them. The cutting is used a lot in the chorus to match the pace of the song and also to keep the video interesting. An example of a cut is the camera cut from a close up on a guitar to a mid shot of the drummer. All these cuts are called an action match, because the cuts are to a different shot in the same scene. During the chorus and the fast sections of the song, fast paced editing is used to match the pace of the song, but at the start of the song when only the leads singer is playing his guitar, the scene is slow to match the music, this is called slow paced editing.