Advance Portfolio
A2 Media
Emilie Bowes-Read Media Studies
Twenty One Pilots - Stressed out
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The Twenty One pilots song 'Stressed out' is about wanting to go back to the period of childhood when you have no worries. This is emphasised by the artists riding around on tricycles whilst wearing backpacks which is often the image associated with children and childhood. The video also includes the artists families in the video which brings a more personal element to the video and so makes it more relatable to the audience as they can see a real interaction between the family and not one that is staged just for entertainments sake. The purpose of the family is also to aid in talking about their own personal struggles of growing up and how they want to go back to a carefree childhood. The song itself is very relatable as the lyrics refer to many things typically found in childhood and so has a nostalgic theme to it as well as talking about the stresses of growing up. It touches on many things that the audience would have experienced and is a topic that is a key part of our lives when growing up and so with the combination of the lyrics and codes of dress referring to childhood makes a very successful video.
Camera:
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In this video the camera angles are usually taken from a low point of view or eye level to reinforce the idea that the artists have now grown up and are children no more despite their longing to return to their childhood.
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The lighting used tends to be quite low key lighting which could emphasise their resentment of growing up and their unhappiness which is reflected by the lyrics 'now we're stressed out'.
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In the shots when the two beds are back to back the camera is steady and uses an establishing shot before cutting to a close up of the singers face.
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There are several long shots showing the duo's families with medium close ups between to show their faces.
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There are also some shaky camera shots throughout the video especially when the duo are in childhood scenes. This could emphasise the possible mental illness aspect that is visible throughout the video.
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During the chorus they are shown performing their song in the singer and drummers bedrooms which again links to the idea of children as they play in their rooms.
Editing:
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The editing used in this video is very dependant on the stage of life that is being shown in the video. When they are shown as 'children' on their bikes, doing the handshake and out on the streets the editing tends to be slow paced with longer shots between each cut showing how childhood tends to be quite relaxed. Whereas when shots of the teenage or adulthood phase are shown the editing tends to be a lot quicker which could show how that phase in life is a lot more manic and stressful.
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It is interesting seeing how they have used editing to portray this and it is definitely a technique that we could use.
Mise-en-scene:
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In the mise-en-scene, the band are all wearing their 'classic' outfits which appear throughout all their videos with the main singer wearing a hat and dark clothes.
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Later on he gains red contact lenses for the parts when he is personifying Blurry face to put emphasis on the change.
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In the beginning the duo exchange a 'secret' handshake which shows how they are acting like children and then later how they are acting like teenagers when they are shown staying in bed whilst their parents shout at them.
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The makeup involved in this video is a running theme throughout the music videos and tours that Twenty One Pilots do to symbolise that his mental illness and the darkness of it is constantly present.
Sound:
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In this song the lyrics are strongly linked to the visual and all of it is synced except for the pre-chorus where the singer stops syncing as they are outside riding bikes.
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The lyrics used point out the pressures of adulthood and longing for childhood such as with the line "out of student loans and tree house homes we would all take the latter". It also discusses mental illness with the line "I was told when I get older all my fears would shrink, but now I'm insecure and I care what people think." and uses the character Blurryface which is used to depict the singers illness.