Music video analysis

Green Day – Boulevard of Broken Dreams(Performance-Narrative)

Mise-en-scene• Costumes: the costumes the band members wear

are dark clothes, suits and big jackets. These are clothes that are generally associated with events such as funerals – this may suggest something about the genre or tone of the song, which is backed up by the fact that the band members do not look happy about where they are walking to.

Mise-en-scene• Lighting: the lighting in the video is fairly

natural but the setting for the music video is fairly plain and there is not much lighting. There is also use of a filter that makes the camera look older, almost as if it has been damaged over time – these connotations are generally associated with rock music.

Mise-en-scene• Actors positioning: whenever we see the lead singer

he is often in the middle of the frame and is the focus of the video even when there are other band members in the picture. Because he is singing and we see him as the focus of the video it is as if he is singing to us personally, breaking the 4th wall. The band members themselves look unenthusiastic about where they are going – they are walking slowly with their heads down

Mise-en-scene

• Make up: there is some use of make up in the music video for Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Billy Joe has eye make up on to highlight his eyes, they look bold and dark; this is fairly common in Rock music. This may suggest what the tone or genre of the song as the lead singer does not look happy.

Mise-en-scene• Props: there is not really much use of props in this

music video apart from the car in the beginning. The band members pull up in the car at the beginning of the music video, but the car looks in bad shape with smoke coming out of it – this might suggest something about where they have been previously. Maybe they have escaped from a rough place or have been trying to get away from someone which would explain why the car is in such a bad condition.

Mise-en-scene• Setting: the setting for the music video is on a

deserted, derelict road and looks post apocalyptic. The band members start here and then they walk along this road that seems fairly uninteresting apart from a few abandoned houses, with no people. Later on in the music video the band members enter a city with closed shops, however there are people but they take no notice of the band members, making them feel alone. The settings used for the music video are purposely made to look deserted to make the band members seem as though they are alone – this idea of being alone is also included in the lyrics of the song, “I walk alone”, “my shadow’s the only one that walks besides me”.

Editing

• There is editing used in some parts of the music video. The main editing used throughout the music video seems to be the filter on the camera lens, which is often associated with older footage. This filter gets much more dramatic towards the end where the footage is difficult to see over the filter. This might highlight the idea that the camera is broken and towards the end of the music video it was barely usable. There is also continuity editing used throughout (match on action) which helps to add to the verisimilitude and realism of the music video.

Editing• The pace of the music video in the

beginning is fairly slow, with each shot within the video lasting for a few seconds. However, as the video progresses, the pace starts to pick up and each individual shot lasts for less than a second towards the end, when the band members are playing their instruments. This may be because towards the end of the song, the music is much heavier than it was in the beginning of the song, and the faster pace makes the video seem much more intense and to the viewer it can seem as if more is happening.

Camera

• There is a wide variety of shots used in the music video. There are long shots of the band members against the abandoned setting, there are also close ups of the lead singer breaking the 4th wall. The camera also fades at certain points, especially towards the end of the video, which may suggest that the camera is having trouble keeping up with the band members playing their instruments, as the camera is continuously switching between band members and there is a fade in-between.