Greenday - Wake Me When September Ends

This is the video for Wake Me Up When September ends by Greenday.

Our initial idea was inspired by the army story behind this song as we felt the lyrics and the emotion portrayed in the song we are using (Endeverafter - Next Best Thing) matched the emotion in Wake Me Up When September Ends.

Endeverafter- Next Best Thing

I chose this video because this is the song i am going to use for my media project of making a music video. I wanted to get a feel of the official music video and the artist of the song, how they portrayed the video and how it differs or relates to our ideas.

Music Video Semiotic Analysis

Taylor Swift - Teardrops on my Guitar

Music videos are primarily aimed to promote an artist and sell the song. They do this by showing the target audience what they want and expect to see.

At the beginning of the music video, we have a bit of narrative between Taylor swift and a male actor in a high school. This sets the tone that this music video is aimed at teenagers and the speech between the two tells us the reason why she is singing the song. I believe that the target audience is teenage mainly girls, as the conversation between the male and the female is what many teenage girls experience.

When the song starts, Swift is laid on a bed in a quite dark, sombre room which portrays the emotion of the song. She is wearing a long dark green dress, which shows that she isn’t trying to use her body to sell music.

I get the impression that because playing the guitar wouldn’t fit in with the video, having a guitar next to her shows that she actually plays one which is what she would want recognition for. Also, the fact that the song is called ‘Teardrops on my Guitar’ may also be a reason why she has a guitar next to her. When Swift is laid on the bed, she is singing the song, so it could be said that this is the performance aspect of the music video.

Each bit of narrative takes place in a stereotypical American high school. These are sometimes shown through the use of a fade and cuts, which are transitions. The narrative fits in well with the song, which is quite unusual as the narrative in some music videos don’t make sense.

Close-up shots are used regularly in this music video, sometimes to show emotion. It could also connote that Swift isn’t being objectified which fits in well with the genre of music. Women wearing provocative clothes are often found in RnB and Hip Hop music videos. The age of Taylor Swift plays a big part in how she is portrayed in a music video. Being portrayed in a way like Lady Gaga or Rihanna is, it would ruin her ‘image’.

At 2:38, Swift is stood in a school corridor, with all the other people (students) walking in slow motion or at a slower pace, this is used quite frequently in music videos to portray isolation which fits well with the song.

Overall, a music video can come in many forms, some can be performance based, others tell a story, like this one. However, the narrative of a music video, needs to, in someway be related to the song. A music video needs to portray the artist in a positive way, to make them look like a role model for their fans. This video does just that for the Taylor Swift, as it portrays her a 'real' teenage girl going through 'real' teenage problems.