Analysis of ‘Paramore – Ignorance’ music video
The music video that I am going to analyse is 'Ignorance' by 'Paramore'. The song was released on the 17th of July 2009 from the album ‘Brand New Eyes’. The length of the song is 3:38 and the video is 3:40. The album was released on the label fueled by ramen and the song was written by Hayley Williams and Josh Farro. I have decided to analyse this music video because ...
The song was written about how the band were feeling at this time, as they were on the verge of splitting up I believe this is mirrored in the music video. The video starts with a black screen and then you see a white dirty door swing open out of nowhere. The camera then tracks through the door where you see a light been turned on and the whole band cramped up in a tiny room where the only light is from a bare light bulb hanging off of the ceiling, and the music begins to start. It then tracks in the room onto a close up of Hayley Williams’ face this lets the audience see that she looks stressed and panicked as she lays up against the wall and looks around at the other band members faces. There is then a shot of the band in the cramped room as they begin to play their instruments. The band members start to dance and jump around the small room with their instruments as Hayley still lays against the wall looking at them all. All of the band members are wearing black and the only colourful thing is Hayley’s hair. We see Hayley climbing up the walls and hitting them as the band continue to play, we are now inside the room and we can see the door has closed this could symbol to the audience that the band are now all trapped together.
As the lyrics of the song start to be sung Hayley begins to mime and grabs the light bulb towards her face so the audience can see her singing the words. She continues to stare at the other band members however they continue to ignore her and carry on with their instruments. As she is asking questions throughout the lyrics ‘Where’s your gable, your jury?’ She points the bulb towards a band members face he still does not acknowledge her. This could be telling the audience that the band may be mad with her.
Throughout the video we are seeing many close ups and extreme close ups of the instruments, such as the sticks hitting the drum and the electric guitar. Also throughout the video the scene jump cuts to the beat of the music as the song is very fast and is let by the drums the shot is changing continuously. She continues to hold the light bulb near her face and she points it to someone when the lyrics to relate to it for example when she sings ‘were not the same’ she points it Josh another band member, however they still do not take notice of her.
Even though this video is performance based there is still a running narrative, as she sings the lyrics ‘you treat me just like another stranger’ she appears to be screaming it in one of the band members ears, this could relate to the isolation she feels from the band. In the video the camera is mainly stationary with the band member moving and dancing fast around the scene giving the feeling that everything is moving very fast and that the video is full of energy, this could be the band trying to tell the audience that they are fun and active. We have many close ups on the light bulb as this acts as an important tool as with this even in the dark we can see who Hayley is talking to or about.
When the set changes to a stage, the stage is still kept very dark so you still have the feeling of the band been cramped however even though this couldn’t happen on stage the bare bulb is still hanging and even when Hayley has hold of the microphone she keeps hold of the bulb. When the video is on the stage Hayley’s outfit has changed to a black and white top, as the rest of the band are still wearing black this could symbol that she is half with them and half with someone else, or that they are still pushing her out and she no longer feels fully one of them or it could link to the ying and yang symbol and could be showing her good and bad side.
When Hayley faces the camera full on the camera zooms in quickly so they don’t lose the pace of the video, after it is fully zoomed in the shot cut to another scene that is completely different. We now see Hayley dressed in white with black Velcro on it she also has a pale face which contrasts dramatically with her hair. This could symbol that she is innocent in this argument with the band and they have no need to be ignoring her also the Velcro could mean that she is stuck in this situation we are seeing unfolding in the video. She is also surrounded by mirrors this could represent that she thinks it’s all her fault and that she can’t get away from the guilt that she feels. While she is stood in the mirrors the camera moves quickly at a range of cantered angles so the audience become confused and the shots are sped up this is not something that you would see within a film or a mainstream artist’s video. As we see the whole band on stage the camera shakes slightly to the beat of the music maybe it’s trying to represent the power of their beats in the music.
We have a high angle shot looking down on Hayley as she is pressed up against the ceiling of the room, this could be showing how she feels trapped within the band and throughout the song she is getting more angry by the situation. We also have close-ups of her hands as she is rubbing the walls she may feel that the walls are closing in on her.
When filming the band she is still pointing the bulb at them, however the shot is sometimes out of focus this could represent the confusion that the band of feeling and the lack of clarity of were their future is heading. We have shots were the bulb takes up two thirds of the screen and Hayley is singing in the background we can see her face clearly and the audience can see her frustration.
As the beat of the drums become fast the shot jump and merge in to one another, so even though the audience are not fully aware of what they are seeing all they are able to recall is the light from the bulb and Hayley’s hair.When the band are on stage the light is placed behind them so we can see all the members fully, when they are performing you cannot really tell they are arguing as they just seem to be working together as a band. Through the video when we see Hayley against the walls we see empty picture frames, paramore fans will be able to link this to their album as throughout their album there is a constant theme of picture frames and it is talked about within their songs lyrics.
As we get in to the songs instrumental we jump through all the sets we have seen so far (the cramped room, the stage and the room of mirrors) the camera is put at cantered angles and most of the shots have been sped up. We also see for the first time the band members looking at her instead of the instruments, we then see in turn each band member run round her in circles as she is holding the light bulb, this may reference the lyrics as she is singing ‘it’s nice to meet you sir’ the audience can see this as a turning point in the song as the band are going back to normal.
At the end of the song we see them in a large black room all the members of the band are running around Hayley who is looking down with her bulb under her face, they are tying her up with the wires of the bulb. One of the last shots we see is her fully tied up and not been able to move with the bulb under her chin this could symbol that the band have sorted her out, and everything will be okay now. The last shot see is Hayley stood on a block in the cramped room and she drops the bulb on the last beat of the song and then the screen goes black.
I believe that the cramped room throughout the video represents the bands relationship and as Hayley is climbing up the walls and she becomes more squashed it represents the rising and unbearable tensions between the band. |
| These are the statistics on the music video, I found this on YouTube and it discusses about the audiences gender, location and how they found the music video. |
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