Music Videos Similar in Genre

"The Middle" - Jimmy Eat World: This music video was shot by Paul Fedor and has all the theme of a teenage party. The style in which it was shot is a fast paced one. It has mostly mid-close ups and mid shots, which focus on the near nudity of the teenage actors, who don't seem to wear anything except their underwear. This, however, does not include the main actor and the band. The location for the music video was decided to be a house, at which the party is seen taking place, as well as its surroundings (the front and the back garden swimming pool). However, it is mostly shot indoors. The video choice is unusual, as I don't believe I know many music video directors who would use near-nudity to represent teenage sexuality, although this would be a more blunt way of doing so. This is also used to separate the main actor from the rest of the crowd (except the band), as he unsuccessfully tries to fit in and therefore has a secondary theme - relationships. This is supported by the ending, when he finds a girl in a similar situation. The unusual form of 'make-up' is the scene at 00:48, when we see the teens with marker pen left on their bodies, which could support the theme of a teen party, through the use of the stereotype of teenagers. This is a video which includes a 50/50 mix of narrative and performance.

 

"Numb" - Linkin Park: This music video was directed by Joe Hahn and includes decreased saturation and a rather depressed mood. The speed of editing roughly matches that of the song, especially when the song reaches a climax. The angles that the camera uses often include wide shots, mid-close ups and the occasional close up shot. The whole video was shot in the Czech capital, Prague, mainly at the St Vitus Cathedral. We receive wide shots of the city and occasionally get a glimpse of the actress on its famed Charles Bridge. All its indoor scenes were shot at Johannes Kepler Grammar School. It involves a usual teenage fashion. However, this excludes the actress, who wears clothing that almost resembles a gothic style. This could be a link to the theme of the song, as its all black which nearly matches her hair. The only difference is the band itself. Whilst playing, we notice that they are dressed with clothes which match her own, further creating a link to the depressed mood. The music video is mainly narrative based, although with a small mix of performance.

 

"Bring Me To Life" - Evanescence: Philipp Stölzl's music video includes a lot of CGI and animation, especially for the entire city we see in the establishing shot. Its theme is very dark, as evidenced at the start. We see that most, if not all, of the shots are shot with a mix of mid close ups and mid shots. Even though the entire city is made with CGI, the shots of the actual mix were done in January 2003 in Romania. The main actress (and unlike the other videos, the main band singer Amy Lee) is seen throughout the video in a nightgown, whilst the rest of the band is featured in gothic clothing. What is an exception are the party-goers upstairs, who are dressed in regular party clothing and masks. Whilst one of the girls takes of her mask, we see her make-up ruined, suggesting a broken heart and effectively adding to the song's main theme. To add to the goth style, we see Lee with heavy eye make-up and piercings. This video is similar to the other two - a mix of performance and narrative, although it would be more associated with "The Middle', by Jimmy Eat World.

These are the music videos I chose to compare to "This Too Shall Pass". They are considered to be alternative rock videos, or close at least and therefore help us in comparing all three to our chosen music video and what we would do for our own