"Closure" Video Analysis

Conventions

The song "Closure" by Asking Alexandria, from the album "Reckless and Relentless" is a live video with the band performing on stage at a festival with snippets of interviews the band did while at the festival, shots of the crowds reaction to the band and backstage footage of the band's highlights of the festival and them interacting with the other bands and crowd. The band and the crowd portray the modern metal scene, through the use of clothing. Skinny/drainpipe jeans, band t-shirts, stretched ears, long hair and tattoos are very common in the video amongst the band and fans. There are many close ups of the 2 most popular members of the band (Danny Worsnop - Vocals and Ben Bruce - Lead Guitar) because these were seen as the most eye catching. The band themselves have the looks of a typical metal band, and also use the same style of stage moves as modern metal bands do these days. The video uses many camera effects; half of the video is bright and colourful, mainly the backstage shots and the other half of the band performing on stage and the audience is bright and colourful. This could be used to signify the upbeat atmosphere you get when you see the band live.




Representation

The whole band are represented as the 'next best thing' in the video. There are many shots of the crowd going crazy for them, shots of the band signing band merchandise portray the bands popularity. They appear have a somewhat 'on top of the world' attitude, the majority of the video is them having fun drinking alcohol, smoking and just generally having a good time. This is shown as the penultimate reason the band is around, so people can have a good time listening to them. Danny is portrayed as an icon a lot of the time, because of the fans reaction to him, and the fact that he is the main person on screen throughout the whole video.




Audience

The target audience for the video will be mixed gender teenagers aged 13-20. Asking Alexandria lead the lifestyle that most people this age would love to have given to opportunity. People will watch the video and look up to them and think that they want to live the same lifestyle. Andy Biersack, from the band "Black Veil Brides" also cameos in the video having a picture taken with Ben Bruce and he is seen as a role model to people of the same age so people who like both bands can see them both together. People also will watch the video to seek new trends, so if they see something they will like, they will latch onto it because music is very inspirational.




Institution

The song Closure is a single released after "Reckless and Relentless"hit the shops from the record label Sumerian Records. Fans can be seen giving copies of the album to the band to sign, but Sumerian Records themselves do not play a big part in the video.Product placement of beer cans can be seen throughout the video.