The music video is almost like a home-movie or video diary as we view 5 teenagers life's in mundane suburbia. It’s nostalgic. It generates feelings of events that happened in the past from your subconscious, and the video for the song captured that perfectly. There was this sense of familiarity within the narrative, despite the fact that it was depicting things you had never necessarily done. The whole music video displays to us different scenes of the characters searching for fun in the wrong places and feeling trapped by their current life. The sense of distain for their environment/life is shown repeatedly throughout the video for example at 1.10 where one of the characters looks down on his town and sticks his middle finger up, at this point we really feel the teenage angst within them.
A number of interesting camera shots are used perhaps to exemplify the teenagers imaginations, for example at the beginning when one of the boys is rolling down a hill in a tyre and the camera is rolling too. This shot also makes us feel as though we are there too and makes this image a lot more meaningful to us. Another similar shot is at 0.25 where we get a 360 degree camera turn that shows us all of the characters in the car. Additionally, at 1.30 when the video cuts to a new location (the party) an ariel shot is used to give an overview of the party and gives the chance to show of the band performing.
Many close up shots of the lead singer Billy Corgan are used throughout the whole video as this creates intimacy between him and the listeners/viewers, it also makes us empathise with him as we feel as though he is also one of the teenage characters in the video, it also implies that the lyrics he is singing are related to himself and his personal experiences.
The use of mise-en-scene is used to build upon the theme of disconnected/bored teenagers, for example the sticker on the car at 0.53 that reads 'Proud parents of a 'D' student', this satirical comment implies that the characters feel as though they are a let down to their parents, and this is something a lot of the bands fans can reason with as many teenagers experience this feeling. Additionally the characters body language and facial expressions amplify the sense of mundaneness.
The editing pace of the video is relatively smooth during the video, however when the song pace speeds up at 2.35 the editing gets much quicker and this builds tension as the video (and the story it is telling) is drawing to a close. The speedier pace also represents the teenagers angst building up within them.
The use of different locations such as the mountain/hill, the 7/11, the party all create the image of life in suburbia. Showing the characters cause havoc at the 7/11 and at the party (when they cover the tree with toilet paper) represents both their freedom in their youth but alternatively, their bordem and feeling of entrapment in their lives.
In my opinion this music video is excellent as it presents so many feelings and experiences that many teenagers experience in their lives. What was so great about this video is how it glamorizes teenage boredom, making it seem rather epic. Smashing Pumpkins generated a video that they knew the masses could connect with. They basically showed us the joys and tribulations of being young and opened our eyes to realize that the things that teenagers complain about so much would be what they long for later in life. The video opens our eyes, and this is what art is supposed to do.
Great review. I think you've capture much (all?) of what the video can represent.
ReplyDeleteI found this article when looking around to see if anyone else knew why the hands are obscured when the kid raises his middle fingers at the suburbs below. I assume it's a ratings thing although raising your middle finger seems tame to many other things these days and it would have been shown on cable back in the day.