Green day video analysis

1. Green day ‘American Idiot’ music video analysis The video starts with a wide shot of the lead guitarist and singer on set behind the camera, which is visible. The set is a gigantic American flag that is painted green and beige to represent the bands name ‘Green day’. As the sound changes from distant/ muted to a more clear and loud sound, the video cuts to several different shots of the set such as close up of the singer to a shot of the film camera to showing the guitar being played. This immediately creates a chaotic, rebellious mood and atmosphere for the audience. We then see a slow gradual close up of the three band members standing posed/ relaxed in front of the camera, which shows their iconic rebellious and teenage persona. As the vocals begin, we see a low angle shot of the singer as he sings the lyrics and pulls a stupid face. During the instrumental part (in-between the lyrics) we see a brief glimpse of the singer and empty set and then the drum kit spinning on a raised circular platform where the drummer is idly sitting. The extract then cuts back to the singer during the lyrics, showing him through the poor quality black and white film camera they have on set. We also see during these edits shots of the heart-hand grenade symbol which is their album cover for the song. The camera then cuts to an extreme close up of the singers face and a wide shot of the base guitarist. These juxtaposing shots portray the aggressive style of music as well as the bands fantastic energy as they appear active and then pose silently throughout the video. As the chorus begins, the mood and atmosphere of the video change as the dingy/ dirty filter is removed and the band are shown all together and we see they are performing in a warehouse. The editing pace to the chorus is slightly inconsistent as we see longer lasting pan shots of the band and quick low angle or close up shots of the guitar and drums. This creates a new/fresh mood from before and portrays a unpredictable and crazy aspect to the bands performance. The individual band members are performing at different speeds during this chorus break which is shown through a high angle wide shot. The singer is normal pace and intime with the music whilst the bass guitarist is sped up and the drummer is slowed down, creating an unnatural and ununified shot of the group which perfectly portrays their rebellious, childlike star persona. The editing then quickly speeds up and shows several handheld close up shots and unsteady, quick zoom in and slight pull focus shots of the individual band members. This picks up the pace of the video again as we go into the rock instrumental part of the chorus just before the next verse. There is a short drum solo where we see the singer and bass guitarist dance around in slow motion from a front on, low angle

2. wide shot. From this we gather that the band like to misbehave and mess around during the production of their songs, which matches the genre of the music as well as the mood set by the video. During the several wide panning shots shown in the second verse, we see more of the location that they are in. In the background there is the green American flag as well as large speakers, which shows the band love loud, aggressive rock and roll. The lighting for the video is supplied by the natural lighting from the warehouse windows surrounding the set which makes it look like the band have broken into an abandoned warehouse to shoot their video, presenting them to be the rebellious and childish characters they portray themselves as. At the second chorus, the pace of the editing increases and we see close up shots of the singer dripping in green water and return to the previous set where the singer is in front of the old camera. Again we see quick glimpses of the album cover symbol on screen. The camera then cuts to a low angle shot of the singer as he sings towards the camera, which captures his crazy facial expression and makes him seem gigantic and emphasises his high energy physical movements. The camera cuts to pull focus shots of the singer on set as we pull from the camera in the foreground to him playing his guitar in the background. The camera then cuts to some low angle and close up shots of the band in quick, alternating consession. The individual band members are still performing at different speeds, which contrasts to the pace of the music but makes the video more dramatic as their facial expressions and physicality are really emphasised as we can see every precise movement or face they create. The camera then cuts to shots of the giant American flag behind them leaking its green liquid onto the set floor and flooding their performance. We see close ups of the liquid flowing under the drum kit and wide panning shots of the band ignoring the fiasco behind them as their music is so important they carry on rocking. The video then cuts to some close up hand held shots of the guitarist and a midshot of the drummer as we see its ecstatic facial expression as he rapidly whacks the drum set. Then during the massive instrumental, green paint floods its way onto the set as it bursts out of the speakers behind the band. The band are filmed in slow motion as the paint splatters onto them as they aggressively play the last few bars of the song. This emphasises the performance and makes the middle eight of the music video very dramatic. There are close ups of the people feet as they splash around in the paint and front on mid shots as the guitarist jumps into the air, capturing his body language and facial expression.

3. As the song speeds up and the singer sings the last chorus, the video edits on every ‘flick’ of the guitar and shows the drummer spinning on the raised platform and singer lean in towards the camera at a low angle just before the music picks up for the final eight counts. This shot captures his body language as he immaturely pretends to be saluting infront of the American flag before the beat drop. As the beat drops, the set changes for the end of the video and we see the band members completely covered in green paint and jumping/ spinning around to strobe lighting. We see a close up of their face as they flick paint from their hair in slow motion and a mid, low angle shot as they spin and jump to the side, showing their emphatic and extreme movements to the music. The video finishes to a wide, high angle shot of the band throwing their instruments into the paint on set and walking away, showing their cocky ‘job done’ body language and attitude.