Foo Fighters - The Pretender
This is the first shot in the video, the lead singer Dave Grohl walks in and picks up his guitar, the shot is a high angle long shot and the lighting is natural bright, and shows a reflection of the strip lighting on the floor. Because the camera is so far away we can't see the singers' face so we are yet to see the identity.
This shot shows a black silhouette walking in, in the background the band are still playing, it turns out that the silhouette is a riot officer, the officer stands behind the black line throughout the performance and watches the band.
The last shot is of Dave Grohl smashing is guitar onto the floor and then he falls to his knees, this is like after fighting and winning the battle against the riot officers he has won. The red could connotate danger, power, determination, desire and war. Therefore the red on this video could represent the power and determination to win against the riot officers. Props are very limited in this video, it's just the instruments that the band use and then the guards and helmets that the riot officers wear, the setting is very basic and because it is so big and white it looks hollow. This music video is a very good example of a performance video because it is simple yet effective and tells a slight story between two people fighting against each other.
Michael Shore: This man's theory is negative towards music promos because he gives lots of criticism within the promos for example he thinks that most videos conventions are copied from older genres and previous videos. in some points he is right. For example pop videos like Bruno Mars 'Up town funk' which is a copied song which includes Mark Ronson which was his original video. Michael Shore also criticises the music videos of Rap videos because of the speed, power, wealth and girls which in a way I agree with this because you know it happens in most of the rap videos. Linking this to the Foo Fighters (The Pretender) I agree with Shore's Theory because it shows a rock band playing loud music as the riot patrol steps in. So the band are seen as the enemy because they're in the rock genre. So past rock music videos use the police in their videos to show they style of music is going against the system.
Steve Archer: His theory is the link between the narrative and the performance so the lyrics of the song might be artistic with an artistic performance through the videos. So the lyrics are linked to the video for example stereotypically rock bands are linked with heavy music and negative verses so you expect the video to be in a dull setting with little lighting and it will probably be raining. compared to a pop vide where it will be pink and have a happy theme. This theory is used in the video of The Pretender by The Foo Fighters because the performance shows the band rioting against the police which links to the lyrics because they mention negative themes which includes depression, war and not backing down from the enemy.
Andrew Goodwin: His theory contains Illustration which is the visual image through the video where the lyrics have a very strong link with the video so it shows you that the video has meaning so Illustration is showing that the conventions are shared through out the genre. For example Eminem uses this quite a lot with his music. The next part to his theory is amplification where the lyrics have a smaller link with the video but still shares conventions so it has some meaning so a good example is Beyoncé with 'If I were a boy'. Finally Goodwin talks about disjuncture within music videos so there is no meaning between the lyrics and the video so it is completely random. A good example is 'Can't Stop' by The Red Hot Chilli Peppers because the video is random with no links. People have their opinions on different on the types so people could like all or just one. I would say that Foo Fighters The Pretender is amplification because there are links between the lyrics and the video.
Sigmund Freud: This theory is where Freud refers to the Notion of looking for erotic pleasure and sexual gratification that can be gained from that. linking this to Foo Fighters I would disagree because it isn't shown or displayed throughout the music video. Also with the theory it doesn't contain as shots of perspectives of the viewer. For example, CCTV and any views through windows or doors. So I would disagree with this theory for most rock music videos because they don't usually give erotic pleasures but I could be wrong.
Laura Mulvey: This theory is based around women being viewed as sex symbols in music videos through the way they're portrayed through clothing and styles. For example in lots of rap/hip hop video you often see half naked women in the video because all the main producers are male and is for there pleasure. I do agree with this theory because it is clear in most videos around that genre women are displayed as sex symbols. Linking this to The Foo Fighters I doesn't fit in because within the music video of The Pretender there are no women although they have in other music videos so maybe it is a one off.
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