Mise en Scene
The setting of the music video is located in a large empty warehouse used throughout the song allowing for plenty of movement, emphasising pace into the music video. The continuity of the setting helps focus the video on the artists.
The background of the set is very plain with only two colours, white and red shown throughout the song. However the red is a key colour as it highlights the aggression within the song as well as the blood shed at the end of the video when the two forces meet.
Foo Fighters- The Pretender
Editing
A key factor in the editing of a video is the pace which is constructed by the pace and volume of a song. In this song the pace starts off very slow insinuated by the lights turning on when the lead singer walks out and then is later followed by the band members walking onto the set just before the fast pace is introduced.
Camera
A shot that's commonly used throughout the video are close ups as it helps display the bands emotions throughout the song, in this instance, the band convey their anger and passion towards the song providing further energy.
Sound
The only sound in the video is the tune and the lyrics from the lead singer. The only non diegetic sound used throughout the song was right at the beginning when the lead singer is walking out on stage as it highlighted the slow pace as well as introduced the setting.
The slow pace allows the artists to prepare for the song indicated by the lead singer rolling up his bandage and the guitarists picking up their instruments.
However there's a large contrast in the pace of the song from the beginning and the rest of the song as the pace quickens resulting in shorter transitions to convey the energy.
However later in the song, the song takes a sudden change in pace as it slows for the listener to focus on the lyrics rather than the music. The pace then gradually increases to insinuate the bodyguards anger increasing. However as the bodyguards charge at the band the pace takes a sudden dip again alongside the slow motion of the video indicating the calm before the storm.
Energy is illustrated by the fast pace as well as movement from the camera and people. In this video the band members are constantly stamping their feet in beat with the music indicated by a close up displaying the bands passion and energy.
The movement of their bodies and most commonly their head further convey their energy.
At the start of the video the lights turns on gradually showing a slow opening pace to the start of the song. This is shortly followed by the other band members joining the video a few seconds after the lead singer introduces the song.
Additionally in the video, the bright lighting on one side of the room is emphasised by the darkness from the opposite end of the hall. The large contrast in lighting is used to portray the bodyguards as the unknown and mysterious compared the band as the focus of the video. Hence why at the start of the song, the singer says "keep you in the dark, you know they all pretend".
Later in the video there's an out pour of red water indicating chaos and disorder, matching the sudden changes in volume and pace of the song.
The bodyguards play a vital part in the video as it shows the contrast between them and the band members displayed by the costumes. The bodyguards are all wearing a black uniform insinuating there in unison to each other and a force against the outnumbered band members. This is further implied by the bodyguards marching in together, shutting their visors together and charging at the band together.
In addition, the bodyguards have been depersonalised by the numbers on their shirts suggesting their invaluable.
Furthermore, the band are all wearing the same colour of black other than the lead singer who's wearing white highlighting his importance. His clothing involves a white shirt with a rock star pattern on the front as well as black jeans and a tattoo on both of his upper arms further emphasising the genre onto the video.
Additionally, the lead singers long hair helps provide the view of chaos as it falls across his face throughout the fast pace of the song.
An additional function for close ups are on the instruments in order to to enhance the genre onto the video as well as show that the band members can play their selected instruments displaying their skill as well as the diegetic sound.
At the start of the video the lights turn on gradually with the lead singer walking onto the set displayed by a long shot with a long transition to highlight the slow pace but more importantly to introduce the song and setting. The next shot is a mid shot from behind the artist to show an alternative angle of the setting with the artist as its focal point. This is also provides a view for the audience to see from the artists perspective.
This scene displays the first bodyguard entering the video through a mid shot from behind in order to keep his identity hidden portraying mystery and the fear of the unknown.
A shot only used once in the entire of the video was an extreme close up which was only used to convey the anger and the passion in the lead singers eyes as he comes up against the enemy.
Alternatively, the sudden camera movements are commonly used throughout the video as it provides a fast pace through movement resulting in a flourish of energy. Other ways movement and energy is conveyed is through the sharp whip shots, fast tracking shots and constant zooms all in short transitions.
Other shots include tilt rather than a simple close up on the artist as it shows the artist playing the instrument and then the artists' passion on his face providing energy as well as maintaining the fast pace of the video
Close ups were commonly used as were zoom to display the instruments, showing that the band member are playing the diegetic sound along with the tune. Throughout the song the volume of the music increases injecting more energy to the video.
At a certain point in the song there's a sudden rise in volume followed by a abrupt drop emphasising the pace and energy to the song. However, the drop in volume is also to put more emphasise on the lyrics which state "I'm the voice inside your head you refuse to hear. I'm the face that you have to face, mirrored in your stare" which matches the actions of each of the bodyguards and the band. The words also act as a threat building up hatred which is emphasised by the band staring at the bodyguards while playing there instruments. The rise in the music is joined with the movement of the bodyguards due to there anger.