Analysis of Nirvana's "Smell's like teen spirit" and Beastie Boy's "Sabotage"
Nirvana - "Smells like teen spirit"
"Smells like teen spirit" is the critically acclaimed single featured as the opening track in Nirvanas second album "Nevermind" released in 1991. The music video is mostly performance based with the use of technical, visual and audio codes fitting the grunge genre that Nirvana is known for. The music video alone connotes that it is a piece about teenage revolution and anarchy. This is especially evident as the video takes place in a school hall with an assembled group of teenage extras. From this we can infer the target audience being 16-19 year old adolescents.
Andrew Goodwins identification of lyrics and music having a corresponding relationship with the visuals is clearly present here. The opening line "Load up on guns, bring your friends" is a direct reflection of the rebellious "teen spirit", "guns" being typically used in a revolution. This rebellious "spirit" is visually connoted as throughout the video we see the homogeneous teenage extra's headbanging in a pace that mimics the very fast paced and upbeat chorus. The visuals further amplify the lyrics 'meaning' as our background extras nearer to the end of the video revolt into a frenzy of destruction with sets and band gear wholly destroyed by the aforementioned. This outburst reflects the inner turmoil of the rebellious "teen spirit". This aligns with Katz uses and gratification theory as an active audience such as teenagers (16-19 years) would seek out media texts such as this to interpret the messages into their own lives seeking gratification out of the process.
Grunge is a sub-genre of rock and a subculture that came into fruition during the mid 80's. The style of the music video is heavily grunge inspired, from the fast paced editing emphasizing the intensity of grunge rock to the dimly lit stage surrounded by smoke. Mise en scene such as the dress codes of the cheer leaders also adds to the punk movement grunge is known for with circled A's signifying anarchy - a form of rebellion.
Lead singer Kurt Cobain is heavily featured with various mid shots and close ups focused on his face alone, especially near the end. Cobains expressive face amplifies the angsty nature of grunge rock as well as giving viewers insight to the lead performer, the various close-ups and mid shots of him would signify this. This also serves to boost his star image .
Goodwins theory is applicable to this music video as its is entirely performanced based as well as establishing a clear relationship between music, lyrics and visuals amplifying the messages as well as the genre.
Beastie Boys - Sabotage
"Sabotage" is the hit single by Beastie Boys released in 1994 featured in their album "III Communication". It is a purely narrative driven music video that serves as an homage to 70's cop shows. There is a direct relationship between music and visuals.
The beat of the song dictates the various cuts as we can see in the opening of the video. Once the lyric "Sabotage" is sung the title in bold pops up with "Sabotage" furthermore the lyrics "So listen up 'cause you can't say nothin'" is accompanied by a character we can assume is a chef (judging by dress code) who points at his ear signifying the message "So listen up". The instrumentals also have a link to the visuals as towards the end the car explodes as the guitar riffs amplifying sight and sound. These create visual links to the lyrics as well as connecting the narrative to the music.
We get close up and framing shots of the band members multiple times notifying viewers who the Beastie Boys are building up their 'Star Image'. This also helps notify who the protagonists are helping differentiate between other characters with the help of dress codes assigned to the police and band member.
From the type of camera quality to the continuous cuts, the entire video is an intertexual reference to all 70's crime drama television shows from explosive sets to purposely low budget costumes and various other mise en scene.
"Smells like teen spirit" is the critically acclaimed single featured as the opening track in Nirvanas second album "Nevermind" released in 1991. The music video is mostly performance based with the use of technical, visual and audio codes fitting the grunge genre that Nirvana is known for. The music video alone connotes that it is a piece about teenage revolution and anarchy. This is especially evident as the video takes place in a school hall with an assembled group of teenage extras. From this we can infer the target audience being 16-19 year old adolescents.
Andrew Goodwins identification of lyrics and music having a corresponding relationship with the visuals is clearly present here. The opening line "Load up on guns, bring your friends" is a direct reflection of the rebellious "teen spirit", "guns" being typically used in a revolution. This rebellious "spirit" is visually connoted as throughout the video we see the homogeneous teenage extra's headbanging in a pace that mimics the very fast paced and upbeat chorus. The visuals further amplify the lyrics 'meaning' as our background extras nearer to the end of the video revolt into a frenzy of destruction with sets and band gear wholly destroyed by the aforementioned. This outburst reflects the inner turmoil of the rebellious "teen spirit". This aligns with Katz uses and gratification theory as an active audience such as teenagers (16-19 years) would seek out media texts such as this to interpret the messages into their own lives seeking gratification out of the process.
Grunge is a sub-genre of rock and a subculture that came into fruition during the mid 80's. The style of the music video is heavily grunge inspired, from the fast paced editing emphasizing the intensity of grunge rock to the dimly lit stage surrounded by smoke. Mise en scene such as the dress codes of the cheer leaders also adds to the punk movement grunge is known for with circled A's signifying anarchy - a form of rebellion.
Lead singer Kurt Cobain is heavily featured with various mid shots and close ups focused on his face alone, especially near the end. Cobains expressive face amplifies the angsty nature of grunge rock as well as giving viewers insight to the lead performer, the various close-ups and mid shots of him would signify this. This also serves to boost his star image .
Goodwins theory is applicable to this music video as its is entirely performanced based as well as establishing a clear relationship between music, lyrics and visuals amplifying the messages as well as the genre.
Beastie Boys - Sabotage
"Sabotage" is the hit single by Beastie Boys released in 1994 featured in their album "III Communication". It is a purely narrative driven music video that serves as an homage to 70's cop shows. There is a direct relationship between music and visuals.
The beat of the song dictates the various cuts as we can see in the opening of the video. Once the lyric "Sabotage" is sung the title in bold pops up with "Sabotage" furthermore the lyrics "So listen up 'cause you can't say nothin'" is accompanied by a character we can assume is a chef (judging by dress code) who points at his ear signifying the message "So listen up". The instrumentals also have a link to the visuals as towards the end the car explodes as the guitar riffs amplifying sight and sound. These create visual links to the lyrics as well as connecting the narrative to the music.
We get close up and framing shots of the band members multiple times notifying viewers who the Beastie Boys are building up their 'Star Image'. This also helps notify who the protagonists are helping differentiate between other characters with the help of dress codes assigned to the police and band member.
From the type of camera quality to the continuous cuts, the entire video is an intertexual reference to all 70's crime drama television shows from explosive sets to purposely low budget costumes and various other mise en scene.
Comments
Post a Comment