Music Video Timeline 2

By Emma Jane Laffoley

Music video 2 – Knives & Pens – Black Veil Brides

• The music video for Black Veil Brides’ ‘Knives & Pens’ is a mixture between a performance video and a video that has meaning to it. The video switches between the band performing the song and a character (who is meant to resemble Andy Biersack the lead singer when he was young). The song itself is about finding creativity in sadness instead of harming yourself, therefore the title is ‘Knives and Pens’.

The music video starts with a white screen and text which reads; ‘Black Veil Brides, Knives & Pens, Directed by Patrick Fogarty’. I will

most likely add this in my music video as I want it to look professional.

A tracking shot has then been used to follow the microphone cord, the camera then lands on Andy (the lead singer of the band).

A mid shot has been used to show one of the band members playing the guitar to the song track. This is conventional for a rock music video as

shots of musical instruments are frequently used throughout the video.

A close up shot is then used to show the main character walking through the halls at school. I will most likely use this shot in my own music video to show the main character as I would like to create a narrative based video as opposed to a performance based one.

A wide shot has then been used to show the band. This is also a conventional shot type for a rock music video as the fans of the music want to see the band perform the song.

Also, as this video is a narrative and performance based piece, wide shots are perfect for showing the whole band performing.

A mid shot has been used to reveal the main character for the narrative side of the music video. The mise en scene has been carefully picked to make the character fit the stereotype for a person who listens to rock/metal music. This is because he’s dressed in black and has

long hair, which is the stereotypical ‘emo’ look.

The video then cuts to show the band performing again. I really like the way this music video has been constructed as it has a perfect mix of performance and narrative. I personally find narrative videos more pleasing to view as they help to explain the meaning behind the lyrics of the song instead of just showing

the band perform the song which doesn’t illustrate the meaning behind the lyrics.

A mid shot has been used to show the main character tearing off notes on his locker which say; ‘kill yourself’, ‘fag’, ‘emo’ and ‘makeup is for fags’. This is the narrative side of the music video. The mise en scene is really

important for narrative music videos, I really liked this scene as it focuses on the issue of bullying and it illustrates the meaning behind the lyrics of the song which is that you need to become stronger from bullying.

A close up shot has been used to show Andy Biersack performing the song. Close up shots of the artist is conventional for all types of music videos. The close up shot was also likely

used to make the music video appealing for the fans as they’re obsessed with Andy because of his looks, style and talent.

A tracking mid shot has been used to follow the main character in the narrative side of the music video. I will be using a tracking shot in my A2 production as my video is

going to be a narrative style piece and I think this shot is perfect for following the main character in the story.

A wide shot has been used to once again show the band performing the song. The shot also reveals the mise en scene which includes a; drum kit, amp stack and

guitar all of which are conventional props in a rock music video.

A close up shot has once again been used to show the lead singer of the band. This is a conventional shot for all genres of music videos. This shot would also appeal to the target

audience as fans of Black Veil Brides specifically love the lead singer of the band (Andy) it’s quite common for the rock music fan base to prefer the lead singer or the guitarist of the band.

A wide shot pan has been used to show the whole band performing the song. It’s once again conventional for a rock music video to have

wide shots of the band playing.

Another wide shot has been used to show the main character in the narrative side of the video. I will be using this type of shot in my A2 production as I want to show the main

character and make use of the mise en scene to help create a story to illustrate the meaning behind the song I pick.

Another close up shot has been used to show the lead singer. This would appeal to the target audience as they’re obsessed with Andy. Also it’s conventional for a rock

music video to have close up shots of the artist as I have already mentioned.

A mid shot has been used to show the main character being bullied (he has his book taken from him and thrown). This is part of the narrative side of the music video and shows that even though he’s being bullied he’s decided to retaliate in a positive way by writing lyrics

instead of harming himself or others.

A low angle shot has been used to show Andy singing and another band member playing the guitar in time to the song. This could connote the fact that the fans ‘look up’ to Andy and the band.

An over the shoulder shot has been used to show the main character watching the music video on his laptop. This could suggest that the band has an influence on his positive

decision to write music instead of harming himself and/or others as after watching them he decides to write lyrics, specifically the lyrics to 'Knives & Pens’.

Conclusion• To conclude, I think that this style of music video is interesting as it had

both a performance and narrative element and the way it merged the two together was very clever. However, I will still be making my music video specifically narrative, although I may decide to add clips of performance.

• I think that the whole idea of the music video was very inspiring as it had a meaningful core message which was that bullying should only make you stronger as a person and that you should take your anger out in creative ways such as writing music or other creative activities. I would like to make my music video just as meaningful as I think that music videos should illustrate the deeper meaning behind the lyrics instead of just making a music video for the sake of it like most artists do.