Music Video Analysis - Papa Roach (Rock)

The video is no doubt a rock music video; the most obvious convention of a rock music video present in ‘Kick In The Teeth’ is that they tend to be both narrative and performance based. The narrative in its self could be considered a convention, with the video accompanying the songs theme of being an under dog and life getting you down. Both the narrative and performance represent the artist as being angry and full of angst, but with a stiff upper lip. This representation along with the narrative makes the artist relatable to their target audience; a seemingly angry, youthful and angst filled audience. The lighting of the video is very dull and somewhat gritty, a rather common convention in rock videos. The mise-en-scene of the video also emphasizes the gritty feel of the video, with the use of a few other conventions; the location of the video appears to be a street and alley of an industrial estate, again emphasizing the gritty feel of the video, as well as following the common convention of having an urban location that’s present in many rock music video’s. The props used in kick in the teeth are both relevant to the location, but also follow the convention of violence found in rock music video’s, due to the use of some of the props in both the video’s narrative and performance. The camera angles used in kick in the teeth vary between the performance and narrative segments of the video; the performance segment mainly uses camera angles within the range of close up shots and medium shots. The close ups are mainly used as to capture the vocalists face, as to emphasize his expression and the synchronization of his singing and the song. Close ups are also used on other members of the band as to emphasize their significance to the song, but medium shots are usually used for this purpose, with medium-long shots being used to show more than one member in one shot, if not the whole band. In the narrative segment, the camera angles range from a variety of close ups, medium shots and long shots, this extensive use of angles is needed mainly to fit in every aspect of the narrative and to portray its message or ideals in the best possible way. The media theorist Claric’s theory of music videos could be applied to kick in the teeth; Claric said that close up’s are the dominant shot used, as performance demands close up, along with the need to show expression. He also said that music videos mostly use fast cuts, editing appropriate to the beat as to ensure multiple viewing. Kick in the teeth follows this theory, with the video containing a lot of performance, therefore needing close ups, as well as fast cutting being used due to the fast beat of the song, which is conventional in the rock genre. Another theorist; Goodwin’s theory can also be applied to kick in the teeth. Goodwin said that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics; which kick in the teeth does, using rock genre characteristics such as instruments and violence. Goodwin also said that there is a relationship between lyrics and visuals, as well as between music and visuals; the visuals of the whole kick in the teeth video is an illustrative narrative of the music, with certain lyrics being amplified by the visuals.