Textual Analysis

Asking Alexandria - To The Stage

audience

The audience for this music video is shown in all of the many conventions used, mainly through the cinematography because we can tell by the clothes that the band members are wearing that they are from the Metal part of the music industry which is obviously further backed up by they use of the diagetic music track to the video being played in the background, furthermore many people stereotype bands of this genre to be covered in black clothing and makeup however that isn't the case and many people not familiar to the genre could be surprised by the video but because of the other stereotypes of the metal lifestyle, people are quickly made aware of the modern day metal scene.

cinematography

The cinematography used within the To The Stage music video represents the Metal music genre very well, this is because the shots used give the viewer a sense of what its like to be in a metal band, this is shown by the use of close up shots and how they make you as the viewer feel like you are there in the shot and involved with the band which is a really good quality because its almost involving anyone viewing the video in the 'rockstar' lifestyle.

Another shot used to set the scene is a pan, these are shown in the early stages of the music video and gives us a sense of where the video will be set, this is further backed up by a close up of a road sign that says 'Sunset BL' which is a famous strip in Los Angles, California known for its celebrity culture and night life which we as an audience also connect with modern day bands and artists.

The fact that there are lots of close ups shows us the emotions on the characters (which in this case are the band) faces which is good because we see that at first they are all having a good time and partying, however later on in the video these close up shots reveal that the rock star lifestyle isn't always fun and games like it is seen in the media and can actually be dangerous as shown by the frothing mouth towards the end of the video which also shows the darker side to fame and fortune.

mise en scene

The mise en scene throughout the music video is stereotypical of the Metal genre firstly we expect rock stars to wear leather jackets, band merch, ripped jeans, denim style jackets and all of these have been added to the music video not because they are conventions, but because this is how modern day metal core bands usually dress, another thing associated with metal bands is tattoos, and throughout the video both the band and the people who they associate with all have tattoos which further backs up the genre of the music.

The location of the video is set on Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood which as said previously is famous for its celebrity culture throughout the strip and lots of bands go there to have a drink and sometimes for illegal substance use which is also shown in the music video, yet another stereotype of bands in this genre of music.

editing

The editing within the video is fast paced, this can connotate the aggression, fast paced lifestyle of a metal band, the edits are the main give away to the genre because of the way they mix in with cinematography, the blurred canted angle is a prime example of this because it makes us view the video as if we are there in the moment living the rock stars life of drunk nights out, from this we get the sense that the target audience is not only young people who like metal but also to young bands aspiring to do well in the music industry because it goes behind these 'rockstar' stereotypes and is saying that its not good to live by this lifestyle as only bad things can come of it and as seen at the end of the video a singer has been spiked and he was seen to be unconscious, overall the use of fast paced edits has proving to be very affective when portraying the sort of genre and the lifestyle associated with it.