JP: Deconstruction of Music Video 2

 
Blink-182 - 'All The Small Things'


Institution and Audience

• This video would be consumed  through ambient viewing due to its performance basis and bricolage for comedic effect; the core of this comedy stemming from the irony of its likelihood to be shown on the same channels as the music videos it parodies (i.e. MTV).
• With the band being known for the humerous approach to the industry, this video would further represent that image especially as the song was made quickly and easily to be for radio simply because they thought the record company would "need a hit"; again highlighting the comedic star image.

Genre and Narrative

Using Archer Goodwin's theories (from "Dancing in the Distraction Factory"), you can see clear conventions of performance based music videos as a whole such as:

• Its predominantly performance based concept demonstrating pop-punk genre characteristics
• A disjunctive relationship to the lyrics (due to the video consiting of parody performance, there's no real link to the lyrics so to achieve a comedic purpose)
• An illustrative relationship to the music (the entire video demonstrating performance that's directly in sync with the music)
• An extreme amount of focus on the performers with many CUs (such as the fast zoom to a CU on the lead singer's face during the lyric "Always I know")
• A large amount of reference to the notion of looking (such as the CU of Thomas by a telescope and then a POV shot of him looking though it at Mark being attacked by a dog)
• Many intertextual references to other music videos with the entire video being a parody (bricolage) of popular music

Media Language

• There is a strong social message in this video which is not to buy into commercial "garabage" as it takes very little effort and harms the development of new, innovative talent.
• The use of generic shots, such as tracking around a dancing performer and CUs of their faces singing and, in one instance, by a telescope, highlight this message with the use of no unique or innovative visual techniques.

Representation

Using Richard Dyer's theories (from "Stars" and "Heavenly Bodies: Film Stars and Society"), you can see the conventions of stars and stardom being explored through the band such as:

• Star qualities including youthulness and sexual magnetism.
• Adheering to the two paradoxes of being simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary as well as present and absent for the consumer. 

The video also challenges dominant ideologies towards stardom stating that they should not be 'worshipped' for having very little talent and originality but instead mocked.