1. Alternative rock songs
with a narrative and
performance video.

2. Avril Lavigne
When you’re gone.

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G3_kG5FFfQ&NR=1 Avril Lavigne - When you’re gone.
In this video we see three stories of
relationships unfolding as the video goes on.
This is the first shot we see of each scenario
and we can see already it is about relationships.
The title of the song emphasizes the loss of a
loved one, however with these three scenarios
we can see it is not just about death.

4. From just two clips of the music video
we see this scenario unfolding into
something more. At first we see a man
going away from his loved one to the
army as seen from the costume the
male is wearing. Which relates to the
title of the song „when you‟re gone‟.
Then the next shot is of the female
holding her stomach. The way in which
she is doing this represents that she
has found out that she is pregnant, as
from the size of the bump it is quite
small. So from just two still shots taken
from the music video we as an
audience can identify what is going on
in the video.

5. In the first shot we see the young
couple having a romance in private.
This is shown through the positioning of
the two characters close together
looking at each other whilst touching
one an others faces. Then this shot is
spoilt by the next shot as we see what I
believe to be the parent of the young
girl interrupting the romance and
pulling her away from the boy. This is
another reference the title „When you‟re
gone‟ as we see that the parent doesn‟t
want the girl to be with the boy. From
the parents costume it
represents that the family is quite
wealthy and doesn‟t want to lose their
high status because of their daughters
behaviour.

6. The old man sitting on the bed we can
see is alone. The movement he is
making with his arm touching the other
side of the bed is representing that his
wife is no longer there. From his
costume it symbolizes that he has no
one to make an effort for anymore on a
daily basis.
Moving on to the second shot we see
a high angle mid shot of the man
looking at a picture. The high angle
shows that he is vulnerable and hurt
by the loss of his loved one. This shot
also makes it seem like the audience
is the spirit of the mans wife looking
down on him as we see a glimpse of
what the picture is he is holding.
The image in the photograph is of him
and his wife in the past, possibly on
their wedding day. This is another clue
as to the missing of his wife.

7. The performance aspect of this video is mainly
set in an old, dark room with a piano in the
middle as the artist (Avril Lavigne) plays it.
The other location is in a light forest. The
shots are quite simple and are cut with the
pace of the song. The mixture of performance
and narrative are similar in time and shows.
The mixture of performance spaces gives the
music video a dynamic interesting effect which
the audience will be more interested to watch.
Although the different locations are very
different to each other, they make sense within
the music video and I like this so I might
include elements of mixed locations in my
music video but keeping it to a few locations
so it is simple yet effective.
This last shot is a close up performance part
of the music video. These close ups happen
around 40 times within the video and all have
the artist singing with the majority of these
shots being at a slight high angle. This as well
as eye contact with the camera suggests that
she is telling us her story, and with the lyrics
saying “you” it suggests even further that us,
the audience is the person she misses.

8. Christina Perri
Jar of hearts.

9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v_4O44sfjM&ob=av2e Christina Perri – Jar of hearts.
This video has a big performance
element in it, which links to the
narrative. This could mean that the
lyrics what she is singing (performance)
are about her story (narrative).
The main setting for this performance is
outside in a dark street with a lot of fog
effects. The narrative and performance
aspects of this music video tie in really
well with each other and work really
well all together as a completed music
video.
As we can see from the three screen
grabs from the music video we have
the performance (top), narrative
(middle) and performance and narrative
together (bottom). This shows the
versatility this music video has to offer
and is a great narrative for the
audience to follow and possibly relate
to.

10. These 3 scenarios are of all the women the male has stolen the hearts off of. The first
shot of ach scenario (left) reveals where they are (car, telephone box and outside). The
second shot (right) shows him stealing the hearts of the women, therefore relates to the
title of the song “jar of hearts”. We now know this song is about love and possibly
cheating in a relationship. By using more than one scenario with the women emphasizes
to the audience how much of a player he actually is, so we as an audience feel
sympathy for the women falling for him, but not him.

11. This section of the music video is very
dance based with lifts included. The
women here represent the women who
the male has stolen the hearts off. We
see them rebelling against him now with
the movements including writhing and
force. The narrative of this music video includes a message to men and women of how
not to treat women and how not to fall for someone too easily.

12. Greenday
Last of the American girls.

13. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR8Ia6vyV5Q&ob=av2e Greenday – Last of the American girls.
This music video is mainly performance but has a
narrative included as it includes a female character
and two female dancers. The performance and
narrative are separate from each other as we can
tell by them being in different shots and not all in
one shot. They may be mixed together but not
seeing them in the same shot makes the video a
performance with the narrative helping to tell the
story of the performance. The video is mostly set on
a deserted field like land so the performance and
narrative of the music video link together.
From the top image we see a long shot of the band
playing together which gives the audience a sense
that the band is close and works as one. We an see
all of the band members clearly in this shot so it
shows the audience that they are all equals in the
band. The middle image shows the dancers at the
side of a television. On the television is the lead
singer performing which looks very interesting as
we are watching a television on a television. We
now see in this image the performance and the
narrative mixed together in the same location.
The bottom image shows part of the narrative which is very interesting to watch as the car
blows up from her hand which is shaped as a gun.

14. These 3 close up to mid shots show the band
members and there rolls within the band as we
can see the lead singer (top), a drummer
(middle) and a guitarist (bottom). These shots
are to show the band off in a performance so
the audience can relate to them. These shots
are very early on in the music video so the
audience can relate to them throughout the
video and they then know who they are in the
band throughout. The shots link together as
they are all taken outside at early night time,
which shows that the band is playing together.
The shots are all very similar as they are all the
same distance so not one person in the band
has a better shot, so shows that they are all
equally important to the band.

15. These images are a sequence
in which shows household
rooms but in a deserted field using props. This
makes it interesting for the audience to watch as
it something you‟d never normally wake up to or
see. The bottom left picture shows the all the
rooms in an establishing shot after the first shot
of the bedroom scene. This gives a clue as to
what is to what we will see next.

16. These three screen grabs from Greendays
music video are the first three shots we see.
They are of random objects but all mean
something.
Headphones (top), mean music, this could show
the passion for music Greenday has and the
importance music is to them as the headphones
are alone on the chair with a spotlight on them.
A clock and an erne (middle), which the two
together can represent that a loved one is gone
and they were young. That person could be the
“American Girl” the song is about.
Make up (bottom), represents there is a female
in the music video. The “American girls” they
speak of are hinted at wearing quite a bit of
make up.
All of these objects could be clues as to what
happens within the music video, so it gets the
audience thinking and wondering what the
objects represent as they don‟t really make
sense as part of the music video at the
beginning

17. Conclusion.
From analysing the other alternative rock videos I have found out a lot about this genre and
has influenced my ideas for my story boarding for the better.
I have discovered that all three music videos have shots happen in three. Arvil Lavignes‟
“When you‟re gone” music video have three scenarios for the narrative side of the video.
Christina Perri‟s “Jar of hearts” music video has three scenarios also within the narrative of
the video. Greenday‟s “Last of the American girls” music video has shots of three with at the
beginning has three shots of three random objects before the first shot of the artist, then three
shots of each of the band members in a sequence of shots. All of these have elements of
doing things in three to emphasize the narrative and the meanings.
They are all located outside either in a forest (Avril Lavigne), in a street (Christina Perri) or in
an open field (Greenday). These locations are very different from one another which proves
an alternative rock video can be located anywhere with the right effects. Like in Christina
Perri‟s music video set in a street wouldn‟t look as good or as effective than it does with the
effect of fog.
All of the music videos I analysed are performance and narrative based videos which work
really well together. Avril Lavigne‟s and Greenday‟s music video has the performance and
narrative separate from each other and works like a story with moving images to emphasize
the meaning behind the lyrics. Whereas Christina Perri‟s music video has the performance
and narrative elements mixed in with each other where they are both in the same shot.
All what I have discovered has helped towards story boarding my own music video.