A textual analysis of the music video for Nirvana- Smells like teen spirit.

1. Nirvana- Smells like teen spirit.
TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

2. Heavy focus on the performers throughout, midshots and close-ups to show
them performing, later on in the video more focus on the cheerleaders
become apparent giving off sex appeal.
CAMERAWORK

3. Simple editing, not even on beat and no parallel editing used. Cross cutting
between Band, students and Janitor enjoying the ‘teen spirit’ which could
imply that they do no just attract teens with their music, as it was claimed to
influence teens to do bad at the time. No other sound except the music.
EDITING AND SOUND.

4. Lighting focuses on performers face and everyone else has shadows over
theirs, this could signify how they stand out. The school is also not very light
through the whole thing, its sort of a light that would be seen at dusk, this
could imply that they were up partying late at the school.
LIGHTING.

5. Lots of high school students to show the teen spirit. Cheerleaders to signify a
younger sex appeal. Mosh pit eventually forms. Band obviously have
instruments to perform. Janitor is there to signify appeal to older people to
and have a comedy effect for the video. Set in a high school gym, which
usually smells like teens bodily odor, but in fact it smells like teen spirit.
MISE-EN-SCENE.