Green Day- American Idiot
Director- Samuel Bayer
We broke down the music video regarding the questions that we were given. These allowed us to see the conventions of different genres of music and how performance, concept and narrative based videos were constructed. This could help us when we come to planning and making our own music videos.
This is the music video for 'American Idiot' performed by Green Day
We looked at different features of the music video to identify the genre and the conventions that it followed.
The genre of American Idiot falls within Punk. This can be identified through the heavy use of dark colours such as black, from their outfits, Billie Joe's eyeliner and the instruments. However this is contrasted by the colours of red from the tie and green from the back drop. The use of a dirty green colour of the American flag as the back drop also conforms to the punk genre as it supports the rebellion that they focus on in their song. Punk music was not only known for it's anarchic rebellion that was aimed to achieve throughout young adults, but also for the fashion statement that it made. Artists in the punk genre are known for their almost dishevelled look and this can be seen in American Idiot by Green Day members having tattoos, eyeliner and the continuous use of swearing.
The relationship between lyrics and visuals
As previously suggested, the use of the worn down, colour faded American flag as the backdrop they are conforming to the idea of the rebellion that they are focusing on- not being controlled by the media and therefore losing individuality.
The relationship between music and visuals
The visuals in the music video have a main focus on the instruments that are being played, the two guitars, the drums and vocals. This is important as this is what can be heard in the music. This is constructed through the use of close ups and shots of the whole band playing. Here is an example of this below:
Green Day have their star motif of a hand grenade. This is visible in several of their music videos, not only American Idiot but also Boulevard of broken dreams as seen below:
By including this in more than one video creates a link between the object and the band and therefore makes them more recognisable as a band and their products.
American Idiot by Green Day is mainly performance based as it focuses on the playing their instruments and performing the song. However it has an element of concept- based due to the discoloured flag collapsing into a flood of liquid, representing the breakdown of America. Within this music video they break the four- wall rule. This is when they reveal what is happening behind the camera through another.
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