Review of Original Music Video

Jasmine Rodrigues-Campbell

Twenty one Pilots

Stressed Out

• Stressed outs music video is a mixture because it has a narrative throughout but it also has a performance in the same shots as the narrative. As shown below the main singer, Josh Dun is going somewhere on a tricycle but is also singing the song. This shows it is a mixture music video.

• As well as this being a mixture the music video is also thematic as it has the theme of the journey from adolescence to adulthood. It shows this because they are adults that are going back to there childhood homes to record there songs. You see it is their old rooms because it has pictures of their younger selves and all their trophies they won from when parents forced them to play sport

Settings

The first setting in ‘Stressed Out’ is out on the streets in a neighbourhood. This setting along with the fact that Tyler Joesph is on a tricycle suggests that he is trying to go somewhere, maybe back to when he was younger. The setting suggest this because it looks like somewhere he could have lived as a child with his family. This is relatable to the American audience because they travel on tricycles around their estates as children.

Setting

This setting is outside some ones house. This house might be Josh Dun’s house because he is the one coming out of the house. Him and Tyler meet each other and do a handshake. Handshakes are usually made up by children so because they are both doing it as adults it implies that’s they both want to be younger again when it was socially acceptable to do really long handshakes.

Also this setting suggests that they are knocking on each others doors like children do when they are younger because children don’t have phones so they would knock for each other to ask if they could play together and this shows that they are wanting to be children by still doing this. This makes it relatable to the audience because this is probably what the audience used to do when they were children.

Setting

This next setting is in the house is a living room. This is the heart of the house because everything happens here.When children are little they may play in the living room of someone else’s house. This is relatable to the audience because they would have probably gone to other peoples houses and played in their living room when they were younger.

This setting is suggesting that they are doing this as well because they are playing with their instruments but have continued doing this from being children into adulthood.

Setting

This setting is in a child’s room. You can tell from the amount of trophies for sport and the fact that there are lots of photo frames with pictures of a young boy.

This is implying that they are ‘playing’ at each others houses just like they used to when they were little. This is relatable because as I said previously, the audience are likely have gone to their friends house to play which is what these guys are basically doing.

Setting

White usually represents happiness and purity but in this setting it suggests that both Tyler and Josh are in their dream world being happy because they are laying on their beds. Their dream worlds turn from good to bad when their family shout at them reminding them that they are grown men who need to make money then their beds disappear.

Setting

Black represents unhappiness and impurity. This image above shows Tyler Joesph in a black room with red eyes. This suggests that he is unhappy with his life as it is and he wishes for it to be different. As well as this it also suggests that he would rather be with the devil than continue the life he is living where he has to be an adult and not have fun.

Costumes

One of the main people in this music video is wearing a black top, tights, shoes and shorts with two white strips. Red hat, bag and socks. These are shown in the pictures to the right and above. These are sort of relatable to the target audience which is teenagers are young adults because they will probably be quite trendy and will wear a lot of black clothes however Josh’s costume is suggesting that he doesn’t care what people think because he is dressing like a child has dressed themselves because it isn’t a very flattering outfit.

Costumes

The main colours Tyler Joseph is wearing is black, red and white. These are also the only colours in their logo (shown below) which shows that by wearing these colours they will also promote themselves and will make the audience remember them when their logo is not shown everywhere in the video. The colours are also relatable because their fans will recognise these and the fact that black and white will be similar colours to what their audience wears. The fans will recognise these colours because the logo is plastered all over in their music videos and on tour.

Costumes

These small illustrations on the bag shown in the top right corner of the screen look like children drawings that have been drawn by an adults suggesting that he still loves to act childish and graffiti on his possessions but he has done them for so long that his art skills have got better. The design of these drawing are also similar to the logo of Twenty One Pilots shown underneath which means it is also slyly giving the audience more references to themselves. This is relatable because all children draw and doodle just like what the audience would have done when they were younger.

Costumes

Tyler Joseph is wearing black paint on his hands and neck. When young children are given paint they usually paint their hands and anything they can find because they are experimenting as well as that they are young enough not to care about what people think.In the picture above, Tyler is showing off the paint on his hands and neck which is what children do. This is suggesting that he is wanting to act like he is free from all judgement that he gets for being himself and acting younger.This is relatable because a lot of kids do this especially because a lot of kids have dirty hands.

Costumes

The tattoos on his arm also look similar to the drawings on his bag as they are the same style of drawing. It is showing that even whilst an adult he still wants a reminder of his childhood.

Tattoos are relatable because anybody is able to get them and they are seen as quite fashionable because they look nice.

Costumes

Josh Dun is wearing a black cap, jeans and shoes and a black and white top. He also has red hair which are the colours of the Twenty One Pilots logo which is shown above.

Josh is wearing skinny jeans because they are relatable to the audience that listen to them such as teenage boys and girls. His hair is trendy because it is a bright colour and there are always fashions of people dying their hair weird colours like grey and rose gold which goes with the codes and conventions of the genre.

Costume

Below are Josh and Tyler laid on a bed in their dream world. They are wearing a red shirt and jeans and black shoes. The red represents passion and determination. These two have all of that with trying so hard to act how they like from when they were younger with no responsibility or judgement. The beds are identical to suggest that they are both in their dream world together the only difference is that its their own family that is shouting at them. They are in beds because it is relatable because their target audience is teenagers and young adults so it is relatable for them to stay in their beds all day and not want to get up.

Costume

Above shows the families of Josh and Tyler are stood above their beds, just like they would be when they were teenagers, telling them they need to get up, grow up and get a job. Their parents, brothers and sisters are all wearing black because black represents power and they all have a higher authority than then because they have all grown up but Josh and Tyler are still in their dream world with still being young teens.They families are also wearing black to show the contrast in positive and negative because the background is white to show positivity and happiness where as them wearing black represents the negativity and the unhappiness they are bring about on their lives.

Lighting

The lighting at the start of the music video has natural lighting because they are outside. This creates the mood of happiness because he is doing what he wants to do. You know he is beginning to be happy because the early daylight represents the happiness he is feeling.

The day is quite cloudy as that reflects back on his mood as he feels quite down about the fact that he is all grown up but he doesn’t want to

If he was really upset and possibly even crying then the weather would be raining. If he was extremely happy then the sky would be really bright with the sun.

Lighting

The lighting in this scene has quite a warming feeling. It is suggesting that the are all close friends in the room and are like family. The lighting is yellow which represents happiness, suggesting that they are happy with what they are doing and being in the company of each other doing what they love.

This is relatable because most people having living rooms that they feel at home in because of the warming light.

Props

This setting, shown above, along with the fact that Tyler Joseph is on a tricycle suggests that he is trying to go somewhere, maybe back to when he was younger as tricycles are used by children. The tricycle that he is using is over sized which shows he is an adult on the outside but is a child at heart trying to get back to what he was like when he was younger. As well as, this the tricycle goes with the colour theme of red, black and white.The tricycle is setting the era because it is showing that he is a fully grown man however he is on a tricycle suggesting that he is trying to act like how he could when he was younger. The tricycle is too big for him to compensate for the fact that he is an adult trying to be a child.

Props

These props are instruments. They are used to make the music video look a lot more realistic. Their group name is clearly draw on the drum suggesting that these are just starting out and not really big as they can't afford to get it professionally printed on. This is also suggested by the fact that they are performing in their living room and not onstage in front of thousands of people.These are relatable to the target audience because a lot of people who will like this sort of music will either be in a band, learning an instrument or wanting to learn an instrument. If they are wanting to learn one then they might aspire to be as good as these people playing so will look up to them and listen to all their music.

Props

These drinks are Capri Sun's that children always drink when they are little and the fact that they are doing this while they are adults suggests that they are trying to remember the times when they were little and used to sit with each other on the curb before going back to someone's house, which is what they are doing now. This prop is also relatable to the audience because every child when they were little used to drink these little drinks, bringing make memories and nostalgia to the audience.

Props

This scene shows lots of different props, all are suggesting it's a child's room because of the trophies that are scattered around the room and the fact that there are two or three single beds and there are photo frames of a young boy. These suggest a boys room because a lot of children do sport at a young age due to their parents encouragement making it relatable to the audience since most children did sports at a young age because of their parents encouragement. This could be Tyler’s room as we already know that he wishes to be child like again because he doesn't.

Props

Two beds are shown here. As I said previously, I think this scene is them in their dreamland of not being adults so the beds are used to make it more realistic to allow the audience to make their own interpretation of the events. Them lying in bed is relatable to their target audience because their audience will be teenagers who like to spend all day in bed and like to sleep all the time therefore the audience will be able to relate and think that these people like to do this too.

Using beds makes it more realistic because if they were both laying on the floor, no one would have any idea what they are doing.

Body Language

• Through out most of the music video the two main characters would act awkward like they are somewhat shy in front of each other. They do this because they are acting like they are new friends again like when they were younger.

• Below shows Josh’s reaction to when Tyler says something weird in the lyrics.

• The facial expressions of Tyler occasionally look quite distant like they are in thought, reminiscing on the past and they are stuck in their dream world.

Camera Angles

Above, shows the first shot in the music video meaning it is a master shot. A wide shot is used for the master shot as it clearly depicts the subject, which is Tyler and the background which is setting the scene for the rest of the music video. The background is a road with lots of houses, cars and trees which is showing us that it is a neighbourhood estate which is likely where he lived as a child with his parents.

Camera Angles

This shot is a midshot which allows the audience to see the subject in more detail. They use this as their second shot because the first shot shows one of the main people from quite far away then the next one shows the same person but closer to him so is made to seem like the audience is getting to know the person over the two shots. This shot also allows the audience to see his costume in more detail because it helps set us up for the rest of the video because we are starting to learn about him by the way he dresses and acts.

Camera Angles

The close up is used to show the audience the drums that they have wrote the name of their group on. This is relatable to some of the audience because as I said previously, some of the audience who like indie music will be in a band and may pretend they are big and famous by writing their group name on the drums to feel better about themselves.

Close ups are also used to show the finer details of something the audience might miss otherwise such as facial expressions of someone being killed or a person leaving something in a room for someone else

Camera Angles

Another close up is used in this music video. This time it is used to show the audience the facial expressions of the artist and the passion he has for this song. This is relatable because a lot of people are in bands trying to get big but they wouldn’t try if they didn’t have passion so will enjoy seeing other artists of the genre they like also having a lot of passion for what they do.

How it follows the genre codes

The music genre for this is alternative/indie.One of the codes and conventions this music video follows is shots that are cut to the pace. This is mainly used at the start every time you here a "du dum". They change shot each time so the audience can have a closer look at the artist. This will keep the audience engaged because it allows them to have a different view or angle every time instead of just having one really long shot that will make the audience not care any more and possibly turn off the music video.

How it follows the genre codes

Another code and convention used is simplistic setting. The only settings they used is their own childhood houses, a studio for the white/black room and the streets. None of these would a lot cost money but still makes the music video look good. This way they are able to show off their talents without having to fly out to an African zoo to film like other artists have.

The settings are relatable because all the young adults and teenagers watching will have been children at one point so will be able to relate to the houses and the bedrooms shown.

The genre codes it didn’t follow

Live performances were not used in this music video. The only performances shown were built into the narrative making the shots of the narrative and performance making the shots a mixture. I feel they didn’t have a live performance as it would ruin the feel of the music video because they are trying to build the feeling of nostalgia and unhappiness with life but then the concert shots would show energy and everyone being happy so would ruin the feel of the music video

Was it successful?

They successfully used some of the codes and conventions for an indie song however they didn't have a live performance which are commonly used in these types of music videos because it allows a wide range of camera angles and it is used when the a group don't have a large budget for the music video because you don't have to film in expensive locations just where the group is performing anyway.Therefore I believe that this music video is successful because they managed to create feeling and moods within the audience as well as successfully tell a story with their narrative.