Music Video Analysis

Gym Class Heroes – Cookie Jar

Close-Up of the band member’s faces may be at the request of the record label, in which to promote the band’s status. This particular shot portrays the band in a rather luminously lighted area, with the previous shot focusing on a range of alcoholic beverages, which signifies to the audience that this particular video is based around night clubs, and partying, something regularly associated with Hip-Hop/RNB music videos.

Mid- point–Shot of Gym Class Heroes lead frontman ‘Travis McCoy’ abides by ‘Andrew Goodwin’s Forms and Conventions’ as it creates a relationship between the lyrics (Can’t Keep My Hands Out Of The Cookie Jar) and the visuals; which to a certain extent, contradict the lyrics, as McCoy is basically using the term ‘Cookie Jar’ as a metaphor for the problem he has, concerning the amount of girls that he has dated. This concept is rather stereotypical as it portrays women as simply objects that the singer constantly toys with.

Furthermore, the image reinforces McCoy’s own star iconography as he is constantly displayed in the same attire (lens- less glasses, flat cap) as well as a range of rock star tattoos, all these objects have become part of McCoy’s and his band’s image, as they see themselves as not simply a hip-hop group, but also a crossover of the rock, and indie genre’s.

This final Establishing –Shot displays the band (Gym Class Heroes) performing in front of a blank canvas. This, again, reinforces the band’s image, most probably at the request of their record label (Fuelled by Raman), having a simple blank canvas diverts all the attention towards the band, in which to exaggerate their persona and image.