Full music video analysis-Fall Out Boy

"Young Volcanoes"-Music Video


The video is mainly a narrative clip as it contains the band being heavily emerged into the narrative. The video is part of a series of music videos, each following the story from the previous video. Fall Out Boy has named these the ‘Young Blood Chronicles’. It can almost be classed as a short film. Despite the whole clip being narrative based, the lead singer is shown to be miming the words to the song. However, he remains heavily in character when singing, which takes away from the typical performance clip where the artists are boastfully singing or playing an instrument. The singer’s character is clearly in pain from the torture of the mysterious women, an act that he upholds whilst singing. The video follows the abduction and extremely forceful abuse of the band from scantily clad women dressed in leather. They are seated at a grotesque table and given drugs, fed (supposedly) human organs and exposed to nudity. I interpret this song to be about breaking boundaries and social norms. From looking at the lyrics, “When Rome's in ruins, We are the lions, Free of the coliseums” one would assume that the band are promoting the image of freedom and revolution from social expectations. However when this lyric is matched with the visual, it seems to be pointing at the opposite, as the rest of the band members are shown to be bound with rope in an very animalist way. The lyrics then go on to say “Tonight the foxes hunt the hounds” which is rightfully matched with a shot of a group of women pushing and abusing the male band members. The lyrics suggest that the previously oppressed social group will now become top of the social ladder/ food chain, replacing those formerly in power. In this instance, women are the oppressed group, so seeing them abuse men, who stereotypically are the dominant sex, reflects the lyric and how in today’s society, social boundaries are being exceeded. “Americana, Exotica” is matched with shots of the helpless men being tied to the chairs where the lead singer has been placed since the start of the video. The lyric suggests something different and foreign, so when matched with the visual, it is clear that the band are again showing the idea of women gaining a stronger influence in society, which is something very different from previous years.

The genre of this song is pop rock, however, it is hard to put songs into genre category's as there are so many overlaps. Fall Out Boy is classed as a rock band, however, this album has hints of the pop genre. The conventions used in the music video are typical of the rock music genre. It contains the lead singer as the main focus, has a hidden meaning of change and breaking social boundaries and uses very low and dark lighting. It contains a lot of rock iconographies such as wooden beams, long candles and shining red apples. The video is actually reaching Gothic iconography, however, I think the light, up beat song and the humorous acting of the band take away from the more serious tones associated with Gothic music. Regarding Sven Carlson’s theory, Fall Out Boy is ‘commercial exhibitionists’ as they are trying to evoke a memorable charisma. They can also be classed as a ‘televised bard’ as they are acting as storytellers to the narrative of being abducted by a group of crazy women. The video uses a lot of typical props that would be associated with horror or gothic narratives, such as the human organs, old dining sets, chandeliers, shisha pens, snakes and ruby red apples. The grotesque table spread creates a morbid and crazy atmosphere and represents the girls’ psychotic thoughts and deranged ideas. The lighting is also extremely dark, typical of the rock music video genre. It immerses the band into a completely new world. The characters in the narrative don’t know where they are, and neither to the audience, ultimately making them feel more empathetic towards the characters. The clothing of the band is very typical for a rock band, which makes the audience more confused as it creates the illusion that the band aren’t actually acting and that they are in fact being abducted by a group of girls in tight leather trousers. The women are dressed in very provocative clothing, which is not typical of average women, but is typical of the ‘male fantasy’ stereotype. These women fulfill the ‘male fantasy’ prophecy as they are shown in very little clothing. However, any fan of the band could suggest that they are doing this in a mocking way, to point fun at the big name artists who continuously portray women as sexual and objects. This idea can also be seen through the use of humour in the acting and the playful tune of the song.

Regarding editing, the clapping of the song is timed correctly with the napping of Patrick Stump’s hand. It emphasises the beat of the song, generally making it more enjoyable to watch/listen to. Also, the amount of screen time that the lead singer gets falls in line with the conventions of rock music videos, where the lead singer gets most of the focus of the narrative. There aren’t many effects added to the video, apart from when some of the shots are put in slow motion. It is generally the shots of the rest of the band being pushed and shoved by the abductors. Personally, I think it is just for aesthetic purposes without any deeper connotation. However if could be said that this is used to create a more dramatic atmosphere and to represent how the characters would be feeling disorientated. Regarding camera work, a lot of moving shots are used. Sometimes the camera is moving sideways using a tracking shot, and sometimes it looks like a hand held camera is being used. This constant change between uniform and disorientation connotes the confused and stressed feeling of the characters in the narrative, all together consuming the characters and the audience, enabling them to feel involved. The moving of the camera gives the illusion of walking and looking around. There is also a lot of close-up shots of the various items on the table. These are used to fully show the setting they are in, allowing the audience to fully understand and immerse themselves in that world. It could be argued, using Michael Shore’s theory, that this music video conforms to the ‘soft core pornography’ music videos that he says are filling up the music industry. The portrayal of the artists is completely fictionalised. However, some fans of the band have suggested that this song, along with the music video, is about how they were restricted before they split in previous years and how they have reformed and everything will be changing. The “foxes hunt the hounds”, creating a new world and experience for the band. The video represents the artist to be helpless and completely impressionable as they are captured by a group of young girls. However they are shown to be funny as it is clearly not a completely serious video. The message behind it may be serious, however, the band are known for their humorous music videos that mask the darker message. Sound The start of the video doesn’t start with the beginning of the song. This left room for sound. The shot shows the women going down a crooked lift in a run down building and the audience can hear the clanking of the belts of the contraption. The buzz from the lights is also a prominent sound, all adding to the disorientated feeling of the characters.