Textual Analysis Essay
Throughout this essay, I will be analysing the music video “Numb”, performed by the American rock group, Linkin Park.
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Once formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory. The specific music video that I am analysing is a song taken from their second album, Meteora (released in 2003). The video itself shares a combination of both narrative and performance based features, providing the viewers with a story to go alongside the lyrics of the song. One of the ways in which the story is portrayed throughout the video is through the camerawork. From the beginning, there is a wide range of shots used, one of which being a medium shot of the protagonist; shown at the very beginning of the video. This shot in particular allows the viewers to identify the character behind the narrative. This is then followed by various long shots of the city used for the video; Prague, Czech Republic. This again allows the viewers to identify setting and scenery at which the narrative will take place. After the short intro, the music begins to intensify in terms of its volume. At this point, the viewers are introduced to the band. This is portrayed through a number of different camera angles and movements, including high angled shots, close-ups, slow zooms and pan shots; all of which are edited in sync with the sound, creating a comfortable flow of continuity throughout the video. These shots also allow the viewers to establish the setting used for the bands performance. In this case, the band is shown to be playing in a dark, worn down church. This I believe creates a cold and uncomfortable presence to the video, showing strong relevance to the song title, “numb”. Also, the only source of light displayed in the church is that of natural light – candles, windows...etc. This produces a low key pallet, resulting in a dark and depressing atmosphere. The pallet stays this way throughout the whole music video. Throughout this scene, we are also able to identify the numerous props and clothing used by the band. In this case, the band are shown wearing their own clothing, a well known and commonly used genre characteristic for rock music videos.
This also shows the bands passion for music in that they do not show too much interest in their image, a well known genre characteristic for hip hop music artists. The band is also shown to be playing their own instruments throughout the video, another genre characteristic for rock/ indie rock music videos.
Once the lyrics begin, the narrative becomes the dominant factor of the video. A close-up of the young girl sketching provides the viewers with information about the girl in what she enjoy doing in her spare time; the sketching suggests that she alone a lot of the time. This shows that the band and producer have gone into great lengths to show the characters personality and hobbies, resulting in the viewers to show greater forms of sympathy for her throughout the video – notions of looking. During the narrative, the bands performance is continuously brought back in and out of different shots through cross-cutting. This prevents the viewers from becoming too enticed to the story, and more inclined to the bands performance and musical achievements. Once the chorus begins, people that are currently surrounding the girl begin to move at an extremely high speed, whereas the girl remains normal. This I believe is used to reflect the influence the song title has on the girl’s story; through its lyrics – “I’ve become so numb”. The way in which everybody else is moving so quickly in comparison to the girl creates a strong feeling of numbness and inability to move or feel like everyone else. This brings a great sense of sympathy and emotion towards the girl. As the video approaches its end, reality takes its toll on the girl and as a result, she becomes overwhelmed by her “numbness”. This is shown through various close-ups, tilts and pans in and out of her home life. During these shots, she is shown to be aggressively hitting a canvas with paint, showing that the numbness has even taken over her most loved hobbies. The song concludes with the girl running into the church where the band is playing, only to find that there is no-one there. This is portrayed through numerous shots, including; a low shot, a high angled shot and a high zoom. This I believe provides the video with a slight sense of realism in that the girl was so close to coming into contact with the band, even though no-one was there when she arrived. The fact that they never come into contact with each other brings a more realistic approach to the narrative of the story, suggesting that she could be a real person rather that someone simply acting.
Daniel Lisle
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