For our music video analysis we have chosen a variety of genres, which will give us a wider knowledge of the typical codes and conventions of the genres.
Sum 41- In Too Deep
This used to be my favourite song a long time ago and brings back many good
memories. In Too Deep is a perfect example of the boyish and laid-back style of
Sum 41. The genre is punk, going to rock and as we see this video goes against
some of the general assumptions we have made for this style, mainly dark
colours, performance based, gothic look, and acts of aggression.
Surprisingly, the video contains bright colours and is set up around a pool,
probably summer time, which makes the video have a cheerful vibe. On the other hand, we would
expect acts of rebellion, going against the norms of society, which is exactly
what we witness.
The relationship between lyrics and visuals is not very strong, but noticeable.
The words speak about a love story where the guy (members of the band) doesn't
want to fall In Too Deep in love with a girl. In the video we see something
else- the band is performing in an empty swimming pool and parallel taking part
in a ''high jump into the pool'' competition. The lyrics could be taken
literally, where ''in too deep'' means - in the water:
'''Couse I'm in too deep and I'm trying to keep
up above in my head instead of going under'',
which is also indicated by the scenes when they jump in but always come out
of the water. The part where they sing ''Just as things were looking up, you
said i wasn't good enough'', is represented by the jury giving them scores and
even when they weren't very high, the band members didn't give up and tried
again, bringing humour and silliness to the situation, which is supposedly the
message they want to send across- that although we all have our sad and maybe
painful moments, we should always take them with a smile and humour, and make
the most out of them. There are links to ''attraction'' (love would be too
strong in this case) between two people, linking to the lyrics. For example,
when one of the band members is about to jump, a girl from the crowd winks at
him and shows interest, he responds and then jumps. The same references to the
love story are found in the actions of the other members of the swimming team,
which are represented as being gay and receiving attention from other men, of
course in a funny, not offensive way.
The relationship between the music and the visuals is mainly contradictive
because of the style of the editing. Although the video cuts to the beat most
of the times there is one moment at the end of the video, for example, when the
last member of the band is jumping, the cuts are off beat because the narrative
is more important and shouldn't be divided by these cuts in order to get the
message across. Also the music is quite dynamic, whereas in the editing we see
a lot of shots put in slow motion, to emphasise the funny movements and
people's reactions. The solo instruments are well illustrated: before the
guitar solo, one of the members jumps (not making a very good impression) but
then come out of the water fully clothed, playing on the guitar (the solo), the
crowd goes wild and everybody is fascinated. There are a lot of shots
emphasising on the instruments, the most frequent sync between the music and
visuals is made with the drums, which boosts up the energy of the video.
The notion of looking is presented in two ways. The first one is putting
the other swimming team on a sexual display, wearing tight red swimsuits and
using gestures like slapping each other on the back side as a sign of
encouragement (which is one of the very first scenes). The other one is using
the crowd( which is watching the jump competition) to make us feel part of
them, making us watch. Same effect has the role of the judges.
This music video is a combination between performance and narrative based.
Performance, because the band is playing in an empty swimming pool, surrounded
by a crowd and this contains all the expected features- close ups of the lead
singer and the musical instruments (mainly drums), a lot of jumping and a tilt
camera shot, plus there is an emphasis on the girls in the crowd and
some of their body parts. Narrative, because the rest of the video is based on a,
silly looking, trampoline jumping competition and how the band members manage to
win, going against the rules and norms of society (which is meant to be their
image).
Overall, the video could be considered to represent the PUNK spirit of rebellion
in a comic and appealing to the audience way. As we assumed, there are
general features of a punk video: the close ups of artists and musical
instruments as well as the references to the notion of looking, represented both
by putting actors on sexual display and by using the crowd, which is watching both
the performance and the narrative part. There were not many dark colours, but
this is because of the more cheerful style of the band more than the genre
features.
Kalina
