FooFighters: Walk: Deconstruction

For their newest single the FooFighters produced a music

video depicting a normal man rebelling against life. The
lyrics describe someone pushing away from their normal
life and begin taking risks by doing whatever they want.
The music is in the genre punk, whose target audience is
varied but is normally ages above 16.
Camera:
The camera movements in this video are simple but convey
the story and meaning behind the music effectively.
Handheld shots are used extensively throughout the video
to convey to the viewer
the idea that the video
is real and the
characters are
representing people from
life, meaning it is
relatable.
The height of the camera
is an extremely
important aspect of how the director establishes the
characters social class and personality. At the beginning
of the video high shots are used to show the character as
being oppressed and frustrated with his life. As the
video progresses the
camera becomes more and
more level with the
character to show his
growing strength and
confidence. At the end
of the video the camera
is low, looking up at
the character showing
he has pushed through his problems and grown as a person.


Editing:
How the video is
paced is important
in relaying its
message. At the
beginning in the
piece the pacing is
slow; connoting to
the audience the
character lives a boring and mundane. The pacing
increases as the
character performs
more rebellious
acts. This keeps
the video moving and
continues to catch
the audiences
attention.
The fact that the
director did not use
transitions continues the idea that the video is
realistic. This therefore continues to make the video
relatable for the audience. The fact that the video is
lip-synced to the song shows the relationship between the
visual and song. The lyrics become more dominant as well
allowing the audience to read into them and understand the
deeper meaning of the video.

Sounds:
Sound is very
important in a
music video as it
was created to sell
the song. At the
beginning of the
video the track is
not playing, this allows the audience to concentrate on
the other sounds in the video. The sounds heard are
common, car horns, chatter and traffic sounds. These
sounds set the scene and clarify the location to the
audience but as soon as the track starts all other sounds
are muted. An example of this is on the golf course when
Grohl is shouting at the golfers but cannot be heard by
the audience. This forces the audience to focus on the
music and how it relates to the visuals they are watching.
This is an effective technique that could prove useful in
our music video.

Mise-en-scene:

The most prominent
lighting source in
the video is
natural light.
With the majority
of the video being
set outside it was
the easiest light
source to use.
When the character ventures inside to buy a cheese burger
the lighting switches to artificial. This lighting
arrangement connotes to the audience that this story is
taking place in real life, not in a music video. This
reinforces the connection the audience has with the
character and song.


The costumes in the
video are many and
varied but not uncommon.
The main character
played by Dave Grohl
wears and shirt and tie,
connoting he is an
office worker. Another
member of the band, Nate
Mendel is wearing a
uniform for a fast food
chain. Both costumes
are very different but
are not uncommon in real
life, reinforcing the
realism of the video.
There are an endless
number of props in this video so I will concentrate on the
most frequently viewed, Grohls guitar. The guitar
represents many things in this video; one is the
characters personality.
At first the main
character appears to be
a normal, bored and
frustrated office worker
whom is annoyed at his
life. When he retrieves the guitar from his car the
audience see another side of his personality, he is
musical. This is something the audience would not have
anticipated. This demonstrates the idea that not everyone
is who they seem on the outside and that you should not
judge a book by its
cover.
Another aspect of the
guitar that is
interesting is that music
is a significant part of
life. Later in the video
Grohl is confronted by
two characters dressed to
represent genres of music; one is rap/hip-hop and the
other is metal/heavy rock. They then threaten him with a
knife to give them his guitar but he fights them off.
This connotes the idea that the band is fighting against
popular trends in modern music and keeping the traditional
way of producing music alive.

Aspects I would like to use:
I really like the untold elements of this video; and
example being the guitar with its message about music. It
really leaves the viewer thinking about the video and
ultimately about the track itself, hopefully leading to
more sales. Another thing I like about this video is the
narrative plot to it. The audience sees the character
develop and grow throughout the video and go on a journey
with him, meaning they can relate to him because they have
seen him change.