Textual Analysis 3:

Representation:

Jared Leto, lead singer of the band. He is represented as pretty, unconventional rock star (wearing a suit and a bow tie/dressed up) and as an ‘emo’. Their ‘emo’ style is iconic of them and represents them as emotional, melodramatic, weak (through the extensive use of high-angled shots) but also as stylish and cool, as his style, at the time of the song’s release, was popular amongst teenagers and young adults. Also represents the style/genre of music. Jared Leto’s his own institution (he directed the music video under the alias of Bartholomew Cubbins), he is in control of how he is being represented, and the institution (Virgin Records) plays no role in it. He is being represented as an emo because the audience will be emo, and dress like this, therefore in order to appeal to their audience, Jared Leto understands that he needs to conform to particular stereotypes to sell the product, and in this instance, he is being represented as his audience; an ‘emo’. If an institution was involved, this representation would be deemed inaccurate and unfair. However, because Jared Leto is in charge of his own representation and his own image, it is deemed fair because he may dress however he likes, seen as though he’s creating his own image. As an experienced director, having directed most of his band’s music videos, he also understands that the use of costume within the mise en scene is important, and therefore the band’s costume (suits) along with the setting of a high-class hotel, together, represents the band as wealthy and successful, as the narrative features them, as a collective, taking a vacation by renting out an empty upper-class hotel to stay in.


Language:


On a denotative level, the music video is showing the audience that the band have gone to stay in a high-class hotel, on their own, in order to take a vacation. However, as the narrative unfolds, it is revealed that the hotel is haunted. On a connotative level, on the other hand, intertextuality can be clearly established. The entirety of the music video seems to be homage to the film, starring Jack Nicholson in one of his most iconic films, ‘The Shining’. The setting; an upper-class aristocratic, abandoned hotel, is identical in both ‘The Shining’ and the music video. As well as this, the audience can see similarities with the addition of the ghost bartender as well as the ghost crowd, watching the band perform at a party, both of which are seen in The Shining. There are many intertextual references to The Shining, such as the use of the prop typewriter, which played an iconic role in The Shining, and Jared can be seen using an identical one in the music video. This intertextuality is important as it gives the target audience (a teenage audience) something interesting and new to watch, as well as giving the parents (?) of the target audience something to relate to, and in the process, attract them to the product. This is significant because it appeals to more than just the target audience, and will also gain the band recognition through critics who would most-likely praise the band on their intertextual music video. The music video refers to the song itself with the theme of death and haunting which is reflected in the lyrics “bury me”. However, the song mostly seems to be about a couple splitting up, most likely based on Jared’s own experiences. The music video seems to fit perfectly though, most likely due to the visual techniques and the non-verbal structures of meaning. For example, the genre of the song is ‘emo’, a subgenre of rock which draws influences from punk as well as pop, and is stereotyped as being wimpy and pathetic, to name a few. In order to reflect this, the extensive use of high-angle shots, previously mentioned, connotes weakness within the band and more definitively on Jared Leto, with him being the lead singer. This, added with the facial gestures of sadness, despair and angst, when the band are performing on stage, allows the music video to fit well with the song, due to the language referring to the genre and style of the song. The use of edits, such as, in some instances, the flickering of an image, when Shannon Leto, the drummer, kisses a female, which seems to be a blooded face of an old man, revealed to be a ghost, references horror movies and is intertextual in nature. The quick cut edits reflect the beat of the music, when, during brief moments, the beat picks up and drumming and guitar can be heard at a fast, energetic pace. Whenever the music slows to a near stop, the music video version actually stops the music, adding in parts of silent film. One example of this, is when guitarist Tomo Milicevic, skateboarding down an empty corridor, stops to see himself in a rabbit suit, engaging in what appears to be a sexual act with, again, himself, now dressed in a suit. This is intertextual as it seems to refer to ‘Donnie Darko’, a film featuring a man in a rabbit suit.
The use of mise en scene in the music video is interesting as the different costumes seem to connote an inner-battle. For example, Jared Leto is seen performing to another Jared; a clone. The only difference between them is the costume, with one wearing black ‘skinnie’ jeans and jumper; the other wearing a smart suit. This, along with them seemingly having a violent argument coupled with the lyrics “this is who I really am” connotes an inner-battle between the smart Jared Leto (who he isn’t, as this is a ghost) and the ‘emo’ Jared Leto (who the audience know he really is because he turned up, at the beginning of the music video, wearing the same costume).

Narrative:

The narrative of the music video is linear, with the standard cause and effect formula. The audience are situated in the audience, when the band are playing, as Jared Leto sings towards the camera for the most part. However, when the clips of the narrative are shown, the audience are situated outside of the text as spectator’s. As aforementioned, the ‘smart’ Jared, dressed in a suit, is the antagonist, as he is a ghost (or if you look deeper in to the text, the evil side of Jared, possibly) whereas the protagonist in the text is the ‘normal’ Jared; dressed in ordinary clothes that represent and are iconic of the ‘emo’ style and subculture. This outlines the heroes and villains, through the intricate use of costume in the mise en scene. The narrative, previously mentioned, albeit briefly, revolves around the rock band ’30 Seconds To Mars’, playing as themselves (and as ghosts who have taken on the appearance of themselves) taking a vacation in an deserted upper-class hotel. They get there, finding a note to keep out of a certain room, and a week later, ghostly things begin to happen. The drummer has an encounter with a female ghost, and the lead guitarist has an encounter with two ghost versions of himself, aforementioned. This binary opposition, highlighted by the difference in costume, identifies the heroes and villains. In addition to this, the use of extreme long-shots, such as the one at 1.35, and 2.07, the latter featuring Jared throwing a ball at the wall, and represented in a high angle, underlines the band's isolation from the wider world in two ways. The first way is the shot itself; featuring a lot of negative space (not even a window or a photo frame) which creates the sense of Jared being alone. Also, the diegetic sound of the ball echoing off the wall connotes emptiness, and the fact that Jared can perform this act, in a 5-star hotel, further highlights the band's isolation. The underlying themes and values of this text is isolation can change you. In this instance, the change is represented through the inner conflict of the band, especially Jared, the lead singer, who has a sing-off with his dopellganger. In addition to this, the music video is heavily influenced by 'The Shining', making the themes of the film the same as the music video.


Genre:


The media text belongs to the horror genre, featuring the generic conventions of the genre such as the sharp stacatto sound when the audience is shown an antagonist, in this case, for example, an old man (shown at 2.00) which in turn shocks and frightens the audience; making them jump. Another convention used among many others is the diegesis in which the music video is set. The setting in the above music video, shown at the beginning of the promo, is surrounded by woods. This connotes isolation further, and is also a motif throughout the horror genre, especially psychological horror's, because it plays on the audience's fears of being abandoned and hunted in the wilderness where they know nobody can come and save them. Iconography is also present in 'The Kill', which reflects the horror genre. These include, as previously mentioned, the isolation, but also the prominent use of the colour black and red. Black is a colour which is iconographic of the 'emo' subculture and 'gothic' subculture, which are both influenced by horror films. The colour red connotates love, romance but in this context danger. This, along with blood, can be seen in many horror movies. An example of this in the music video is at 2.54, where Shannon Leto, the band's drummer, meats a woman who has just got out of a shower. Following this is quick cuts to a girl covered in blood, which scares the audience as it is only on for a split second. In a horror film, the audience would expect deaths. The music video conforms to this, to some extent, as the band who arrived at the hotel are not seen from ever again; during the end we only see the 'stylish', well-dressed and upper-class doppelgangers, suggesting that the others have gone missing, perhaps dead.


Institutions:


The band starring in the music video are signed to Virgin Records, a subsidiary of EMI, a major British record label. However, there is no sign of EMI of Virgin influencing the final product, except the scale of the production due to the large budget, perhaps. The text was distributed on TV channels which specialise in music videos, such as Kerrang! TV, Scuzz, NME as well as online streaming sites such as Youtube and Myspace Music.


Media Audiences:


The text addresses the older generation who are most likely to have seen 'The Shining', the film which is continually intertextually referenced by the above music video. This is because they will point out similarities between the two texts and possibly praise the music video if it has been done effectively, which I believe it has. However, the actual target audience is teenagers, male and female, aged from 13 to 19. This is because they are the audience of the 'emo' genre and the band themselves; they enjoy listening to the music. It is important to remember that the product is the song, not the music video, and so the audience is the song's audience. The band are also icons of the, mainly teen, sub-culture of ‘emo’. Due to the band’s representation of being emo in the music video, such as wearing the costume featuring skinny jeans, the extensive use of black, and thick black eyeliner as well as the lead singer, Jared Leto, having a neat, black side-fringe. This means that the audience will receive the text positively because they can successfully identify with the bands; seeing themselves in the band and wanting to be them (fetishism). The same goes for me, being aged 18 and within the target audience criteria (I am also a fan of the band), I evaluated the text as a brilliant music video, partly because of the band’s address of its audience through representation and iconography ( I thought they looked really ‘cool’, basically), but also because I noticed the intertextual references to ‘The Shining’ and thought “wow, this is clever”. The former point is mainly brought on by my age; I am constantly looking for a new role-model, as are most teenagers.