Music Video analysis for OCR A2 Media Studies by Sam Hodgson

1. “What’s my age again?” by
blink-182 Music Video
Analysis
By Sam Hodgson
Goodwin/Farahmand
Intertextuality

2. Initial Analysis
• The video was released in 1999 and was directed by Marcos Siega, a music video director who had previous success
creating products for bands such as Alien Ant Farm, All American Rejects and Anthrax. The video was majorly
funded by Blink-182’s record label MCA, a sector of Universal Music Division. The video itself consists of the
members of the band Tom Delonge, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker running around the streets of Los Angeles
while completely nude. The product heavily relies on the “rebellious” attitude and nature of many modern
alternative punk bands of the early 2000’s in an effort to truly capture the artists’ demographic. The video itself is
both concept and performance as it features consistent sexual allegory including many subversive enigmas as well
as the band performing the song within the chorus. The producers have utilized the technique of featuring the band
playing in the chorus to exploit their use of “star power” and capitalise on the artists’ unique selling point, the band
are however the main objective and aspect of this video as they are the main characters featured and are visible in
almost every shot. Intertextuality also frequently occurs within the product to present the artists’ superiority and
connect alternate media forms and products to the band themselves and henceforth adding to the star power that is
being created.

3. Relationship Between Lyrics and Visuals
• The songs lyrics contribute greatly to the underlying, sexual theme running through the course of the video. The band
make consistent references to the idea of sex or sexual relationships within the first verse of the lyrics which read “I took
her out, it was a Friday night, I wore cologne to get the feeling right. We started making out and she took off my pants”.
While these lyrics are sounded through audio format within the video we are shown the first shot of the band in full
nudity. This creates a direct link between the lyrics and visual to the present theme of sex within the product. The lyrics
also make reference to the idea to growing up and tell the narrative of a person who is struggling to find his maturity
despite understanding that he is on the road to adulthood hence the name “what’s my age again?”. This idea is
completely contradicted by the music video as the band running through the street nude presents a certain level of
immaturity and henceforth creates the idea that the artists’ are trying to create the stereotypical punk rock attitude of
not conforming to how society wants you to behave and creates a direct link to the lyrics about making “prank calls” and
being told to “act your age”. The sexual aspect of the lyrics through the use of words such as “sodomy” and the consistent
reference to a girl as “she” rather than a name relate to the appearance of the adult actress Janine Lindemulder, her
inclusion also displays a level of immaturity as the band slow down and run back to stare at her in an objectifying way
which again links to the immaturity being heavily referenced in the song.

4. Relationship Between Genre and Visuals
• The genre of the song is “pop-punk” or “punk-rock”. The genre is conveyed exceedingly within the music video through
the narrative and series of visuals. The genre of punk is renown for having a stereotypical attitude of “fighting the
power” or “fighting the system” by not conforming to the norm of everyday mundane life. This can be seen in respected
products from early punk acts such as The Sex Pistols and The Jam. The “What’s My Age Again?” video is a perfect
example of punk-rock conventions being displayed through a medium, this is largely due to the videos ignorance
towards respecting society and common courtesy. The bands rebel agenda is a large feature of this video, from
destroying fruit stands to running completely nude down the streets we can tell the artists’ are ignorant towards the
mundane normality of society and are not conforming to what is expected of them. In essence by running down the
street naked they are issuing an insult to modern day society and are presenting joy in doing so despite disrupting the
common flow and structure of a normal day, this is shown through the variety of close up shots in which the band
members’ are shown grinning and laughing at their havoc they have wreaked. We also achieve the stereotype of the
elderly being out of touch with the new “rebellious” attitude of modern society, this is best presented towards the end of
the product when the elderly man is struggling to work his television before staring confusingly at the naked artists’
surging past him. This stereotype is common within punk-rock as the elderly are often seen as ignorant to the modern
youth and henceforth much of the genre’s standards revolve the rebelling against the “old-fashioned” ideals and
standards of these elderly people in an attempt to create a revolution. Punk rock is influenced by more than chaos and
rioting however, sex also plays a big role within the genre. Obviously as previously referenced sex and sexuality is a
crucial staple within the “What’s My Age Again?” music video and this could be Blink-182’s way of paying homage to the
previous recurring themes created by bands like “The Sex Pistol”. Alternatively it could also present the band
conforming to the heavily sexual expectations of a young punk rock group to challenge or ridicule the stereotype by
over-exaggerating the “extreme sexuality” of a punk rock product.

5. Camera-Work
• The camerawork within this product truly contributes to the fast paced atmosphere being created. Throughout the video the
camera has a habit of focussing on the band members’ face or body through a close up of their face of medium shot of their naked
bodies. This has been done by the producers in an attempt to create star power and draw an audience of Blink-182 fans towards
the video as early as possible while also selling the artists’ instantly within the product, hence the reason the camera performs the
master shot of the video as an extreme close up with tight framing around Mark Hoppus’ face before executing a zoom out to
reveal all three band members. The first shot is seemingly enigmatic as the audience can tell that the band are running but no
explanation has been issued until the camera performs a wide shot featuring all three members without their clothes on and the
comedic aspect of the product truly comes into play. At first we achieve a shot which shows only the bands shirtless bodies, this is
effective as it creates the idea of reverse male gaze or the female gaze which implies sexuality within the first five seconds of the
product. This has also been done to perhaps ridicule bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers who are renown for performing
shirtless and henceforth the band are exaggerating the stereotype. The initial shot transition from the close up of Hoppus’ face to
the long three shot the band is an extremely significant one. The zoom out that is used is extensive and is performed at a rate
which keeps the full nudity enigmatic and hidden until the main vocal section begins. Obviously the video is intentionally comical
and by prolonging the zoom out the group are able to allow a neutral audience to make stereotypical preconceptions of the band
before the full shot is composed, When the zoom out has come to a halt the audience release the comedic intentions of the video
and artist alongside the lyrics which also portray a sense of humour. There is an extensive amount of camera movement within this
product, especially trucking. The camera tends to truck the band as they run through the streets of Los Angeles, this is effective as
it keeps up with the fast paced momentum of the video and the music and presents an energetic and erratic atmosphere within
the video. The camerawork is also relatively smooth which is seemingly ironic given the theme of the video, this contrasts the
camerawork featured in many videos from artists’ of a similar genre which could be a purposeful decision by the producers to
stem away from the typical stereotype of a punk rock video and to make the product easier to watch and assist to the humour
aspect of the video by allowing smooth visuals compared to the harsh and “shaky” handheld camera movement which the genre is
commonly associated with. The male gaze theory can also be applied to this product.

6. • The male gaze theory can also be applied to this product. The shot of adult actress Janine Lindemulder is a medium shot
of her wearing a nurses outfit while exposing her body. The medium shot has been applied here to truly capture the
actress’ face and chest in an attempt to create the male gaze and display the intentions of the band and their rebellious
attitude while further adding to the underlying sexuality within the piece. The shot featuring the younger girl is
composed from a high angle, this immediately builds up tension as the band are not in sight for the first time within the
product and we understand that the young girl which obviously represents innocence is about to experience the
rebellious anarchy of the artists. The camera then performs a focus shift from a point of view shot of the young girl
which changes the focus from the surrounding areas of the magnifying glass to the inside of the magnifying glass to
reveal a fish-eyed view of the lower body of the naked band members running towards the young girl. The framing used
within the performance section of the chorus is also significant, the camera tends to be constructed from a low angle
looking down on the band, this is effective as it relates to how society are looking down on them within this video and
relates to the lyric “the state looks down on sodomy”. The camera also performs a tight framed close up Mark Hoppus’
face yet again to promote his star power to the audience. Occasionally a three shot is also seen is relatively loose framing
showing all three band members to truly sell the artists to a neutral audience and showcase each individual.
Camera-Work cont.

7. Editing
• The product begins with a fade in from black, this directly parallels the soft and relaxed introduction guitar yet
ultimately parallels the chaotic and rebellious nature of the video. We are then shown a series of cuts which are majorly
timed to the beat of the music which allows the product to be easily viewed without disorientating the viewer allowing
the audience to focus on both music and visual. These sharp cuts have a tendency to increase within the chorus to keep
true to the tempo of the product, this is similar to the shot length within the chorus as it greatly decreases to create a
form of energy and excitement through a wider variety of shots at a much more rapid tempo. There is also a use of on-
screen special effects which have a permanent staple within the video, the super-imposing use of “blur effect” to truly
censor the parts of the band member’s is prevalent within the entirety of the video, this is effective as it makes the
product more comedic and largely more appropriate in a way which allows the product to still be enjoyable with humour
without crossing the boundaries. Slow motion is also featured in the music video. This is effective as it truly emphasises
the effect of the music video and their “rebellious” actions on society while retaining a dramatic effect of intensity. The
slow motion is executed so that the audience can appreciate the largely controversial context of the product in a lighter
sense, almost like a comedy film. It isn’t used to necessarily present great intensity or danger as slow motion is
stereotypically intended to be, it is more likely used to ridicule slow motions placement and effect within alternate
products such as action films and henceforth could be considered as intertextuality.

8. Themes and Motifs
• Sex and gender are the most obvious and recurring themes running throughout this product. We are immediately
introduced to the theme of sexuality within the first shot which features the band in a three-shot while being completely
nude, this instantly sets to tone for the rest of the product and creates the prolific, underlying sexual tone which will be
consistent throughout the video. In the early stages we see a man dressed in a banana suit who is selling the fruit. The
band push past him and steal some bananas before throwing the fruit at the public. This obviously has connotations of
rebellion and anarchy however it is possible to question the presence of the bananas as enigmatic symbolism which
represents the male genitalia. This would directly link to what we as an audience have already witnessed within the
music video through the form of strong nudity, alternatively we could configure the assumption that the band are
mocking their inability to be completely nude within the video due to the censorship laws and henceforth are adding to
the comedic atmosphere by creating hidden symbolism in which the more mature audience will understand. Sexual
imagery is also created during the scene outside the florist with the elderly lady who is watering plants. As the band run
past she turns round and stares at them in a daze and in doing so she squirts three people sat on a street bench in front
of the store with her watering hose. It is possible that the artists and production team have included this in order to
again create enigmatic symbolism through a crude and dry representation of climatic intercourse. This code is an
enigma in order to not break the boundaries of the video and create multi-interpretations which allow humour to be
presented regardless of the interpretation. It is from this use of symbolism however that we can understand Blink-182
are targeting a teenager/adult demographic. The final exploitation of the sexual theme is through the intertextual use of
adult actress Janine Lindemulder who directly relates to the sexual motif within this video. She appears baring little
clothing which presents an objectified and overly-sexualised stereotype of women from the artists’ perspectives which
again represents the video obsession with sex and sexuality.

9. Goodwin's Theory
• If we apply Andrew Goodwin’s music video theorem to the “What’s My Age Again?” music video we achieve an
interesting correlation of results.
• Stage One - Music videos more often than not tend to include a demonstration of typical genre characteristics. Stage
one is applicable to this particular product as the genre itself is pop-punk or punk-rock. This genre relies heavily on it’s
foundation of rebellion, anarchy and sex which are consistently featured throughout the whole of the product.
• Stage Two - There are frequent references to the notion of looking and the voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
Stage two is also applicable to the music video. The voyeuristic portrayal of women through the use of adult actress
Janine Lindemulder is extremely significant as it presents the over-sexualisation of women through a use of the male
gaze.
• Stage Three - There is a link between music and visuals. This stage also functions well with the product. The lyrics run
the theme of sexuality and immaturity which links to the visual experience of disobeying society and the use of creative
sexual imagery.
• Stage Four - The demand of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artists and the artists may
develop motifs which recur across their work. Obviously within this video there is a prevalent use of star power which is
presented through the form of close up shots, the label have done this to assist not only with the sale of the product but
with the sale of the artist hence the reason the final shot is an extreme close up of the lead singers face. The band also
continue to construct their “rebel” image due to this video, a motif which has been repeated across a wide variety of their
products.
• Stage Five – There are often intertextual references. The “What’s My Age Again?” music video features a great degree
of intertextuality through the form of television. At the end of the music video we see the band running through different
live sets of American broadcasting shows such as “The Last Word”.

10. Intertextuality
• Intertextuality is a common feature in this music product. This is largely due to the use of the television within the final
stages of the video which showcase the band running naked through various television sets for multiple American
broadcasts. This has been done to create a direct link between the two forms of medium and connect audience who are
appealed to both platforms. Product placement is also used within the product. During the television scenes we see
advertising placements for “KTLA5” an American TV network and “Fox News” a conglomerate broadcasting institution.
It is also possible to argue that the band are promoting their instrument sponsorships within the chorus by using
signature drums, bass guitars and electric guitars from brands such as “Zildjian” and “Fender”. By promoting these
instruments they are creating the opportunity to develop the manufacturers and their brand image while also creating
investment purposes from alternate institutions through the form of advertising and product placement. The inclusion
of adult actress Janine Lindemuller is also intertextual. The form of medium in which she stars in is clearly being
promoted by the band who selected an adult actress instead of a model for the sole purpose of promoting the industry in
which she works in, this again contributes to the artists anarchical image which they are trying to construct.