Sum 41-Walking Disaster.
The video opens from a black blank screen and the song starts straight away, this gives the assumption that the music video will not be a hugely complicated storyline as these often start with some pre-song dialogue and shots.
For the first three shots the camera is jerky and goes in and out of focus as it cuts between the three band members, this creates a sense of an confusion for the audience and also makes the video appear more ‘homemade’ and amateur, whilst still showing the audience the band and therefore acting as a promotional video for them.
It then changes to an outside location; the shot is a close up. The mise-en-scene in this shot contrasts a lot to the previous, which we have yet to see much of but from the background behind the band we can see bright colours and balloons. In the second location its evening and sunset, which can have connotations of being romantic, but it this one there are clouds covering a majority of the sky, taking away from that effect. Also in the shot is a fence topped with barbed wire, this makes the location appear dangerous and not somewhere you would like to be, this is backed up by the bars that are in the very foreground of the shot. The shot then flashes to the same location by more zoomed out and after short while a toy robot walks into view which at this point seems rather random. The lighting is quite blue and black, especially in the foreground on the robot which makes the scene appear cold and contrasts with the orange sun the background. This shot lasts for about eight seconds, which is quite a long time for one shot particularly one with very little going on in it, like this.
It then flashes back to the front man, Deryck Whibley, and again the camera moves focus from the background to Deryck. In the next shot the robot is seen walking again and more of the location is exposed, it is an urban city like environment, rubble lines the road that the robot is walking on and there is a lot of industrial looking structures. Again the scene is tinged with a blue light apart from the robot which we can now see is gold and silver and looks like a very standard toy that could be bought in any shop.
After this there is then a short shot of the drummer but it is quite hard to distinguish him, due to the camera shot and the way that the camera has been angled, this helps to break up the scenes of the robot and also to keep establishing the band. This single was the first released after the departure of one of the original guitarists and this was the first music video without him in it, it would have therefore been important to show that there are now only three of them and reestablish themselves as a band without him. When we next see the robot it is lying on a bench covered in newspapers much like a homeless person could do and this presents the idea that the toy robot is being personified and is living on the streets. The bench its self has the words ‘keep our city clean and safe, do your part.’ written on them which creates an irony between the words and that the robot is sleeping on it. This adds humour to the scene which could have otherwise looked quite sad. There is then a close up on the robots face which somehow looks quite sad even though it is an emotionless face.
This is contrasted with the next shot of the robot which is taken from a low angle which makes it appear strong and powerful and shows the robot slowing looking around, the camera slowly rotates around the robot which makes the rays from the sun change place within the shot and adds effect to the scene. It also shows how the shot has obviously been very carefully set up by the director. This shot presents completely different image of the robot than that seen in the first few shots, in this pone it looks in control and content, this reflects the lyrics ‘the king of all that’s said and done’ that is sung at the same point of this shot and the lyrics ‘I’m just a kid with no ambitions,’ when the robot is lying on the bench, this could suggest that the robot is the narrator of the lyrics, or can just relate to them.
For the next lyrics ‘the forgotten son.’ it shows Deryck singing in the foreground and Cone, the bassist, in the background, the next shot is of the drummer and this highlights my previous point about the band having to now establish themselves as a trio. At the subsequent lyrics ‘I walk along these no-name streets.’ There is a close up of robots feet as it walks and this compliments the lyrics. In the background there are pigeons and litter which represents the typical idea of a city that is run down.
Then we get an establishing shot of where the band are playing and it is a toy store, they are surrounded by colourful toys and objects the band name Sum 41 are pinned up on a screen behind the drummer in bright and bold colours and this is a good promotional technique as people who are unfamiliar with the band will more likely remember their name. As Deryck sings ‘as I fall’ we see the robot falling off the edge of a curb and into a puddle as the music slows down, this creates a sense of sadness and makes you feel sympathy for the robot pas though it were actually alive.
At this point the tempo of the song picks up considerably and so does the editing of the video. The footage itself has been sped up and it plays in double time whilst jump cuts are used to show how the tempo of the song has changed. For the next part of the song the video flashes quickly between shots of the band, mainly Deryck, and it is not uncommon for the front man to get more screen time that then rest of the band as they are often thought of as the most integral part of the band and the most easily recognised. When Deryck sings ‘I pledge allegiance to a world of disbelief.’ There is a standard mid-shot of the band playing and we see Deryck salute the same as you would when you pledge allegiance to the United States, there is also a life size statue of a Native American in the background who is also saluting, and this creates a subtle sense of irony. As this part is the chorus the focus is on the band and the camera changes between different shots of the band.
At the instrumental leading into the second verse the video returns to the robots, this time waiting for a train in the subway, this may back up the point of the robot being a homeless person as the subway is a common place where they are portrayed as hanging around. Here the video matches up perfectly with the music with the train jumping positions where the music jumps and then slowing down into slow motion when the music is flowing. The video jumps back to the band just as the singing starts again.
The video continues to flash between the band members playing and the robot in the city. It then shows the robot drinking what appears to be beer from a bottle and attempting to stand up and walk in a rather unstable manor , just as though it were drunk, by this time it is quite apparent that the robot seems to be alive like a human. It is then picked up and thrown into a bin which creates sympathy for it as the audience has come to realise the robot as alive whereas the man in the video obviously does not regard it as such. After jumping out of the dumpster the robot is seen walking again but this time it appears to be out of the middle of the city and is not surrounded in what looks like a dessert landscape, although there are plants it still looks quite dead and barren. The robot comes across a ripped apart teddy bear which is quite a distressing image. As the drums speed up the editing does to, the camera zooms in to the face of the robot and teddy bear before jumping to back to the band. We then see the teddy bear from a number of different angles before seeing that it is actually Deryck that rips it up. This makes the audience question the storyline and now it seems that although they were playing at the same time the two storylines were taking part at different times. At this point the music stops and we have a shot of the bear deserted in the barren place with only the sound of the wind whistling and then we have the robot turning its head. The lack of music here helps emphasises the sadness of the ripped apart teddy bear and the robot all only. It also gives the music a chance to have an extra impact as it starts playing again and drops.
The next shots of the band differ between them playing music and them causing destruction in the toy shop such as Cone smashing his guitar into a table full of toys. This is highly stereotypical of this music as smashing up things with instruments has connotations with more ‘rock’ and ‘punk’ music and so it could be said that this shows what type of genre music Sum 41 is considered as it is unlikely to see such destruction in a ‘pop’ music video.
As the music slows down again we see the robot is still walking and the editing slows down again as the camera shots become longer again to match the tempo. Then the robot walks into the toy shop and we have the last look of the band standing in the middle of the wrecked shop as the stuffing from the toys falls down around them. When the scene goes back to the robot we see it look up and see a box full of robots just like itself but they are smiling. The music fades out as the camera lingers on the face of the robots. Then the last shot is of the robots all dancing top techno music and close ups of their face smiling, which makes the video end on a happy tone as the robot finally found where it belongs.
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