All I Want Music Video Analysis - In Full

Music Video Analysis of “All I Want” by A Day to Remember –

Released in 2010 from the album What Separates Me From You, the music video for All I Want conforms to many of the conventions for music videos of the same genre, such as having the lyrics added in post-production. This can be seen as conventional when compared to videos like All Time Low’s “Weightless” in which the same thing is used. Other conventions it follows are things like having a small scene acted out before the music begins to play (such like Mayday Parade’s “Miserable at Best”), signing gestures related to the lyrics, in this case signing the heart (which is identical to Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down”). It adds its own conventions to the mix however, such as featuring members from other bands of similar genres in the video to lip sync and having motion lines and small effects added in post-production.

This video has a formulaic but diverse range of shot types on show. For the most part, medium close-ups are used for a single person lip syncing, with medium shots used for shots of full bands (both A Day to Remember [ADTR] and others featured), close-ups and extreme close-ups are used for backgrounds in in-between shots when no action is occurring such as showing the band’s name in newspaper clippings and when no lyrics are being sung (in an instrumental section of the song) backgrounds and settings will be shown, generally with close-ups with no people within frame. The camera tends to keep moving throughout the video, with pans and tracking shots opted for when performances are being shown. Still shots are present, but are mainly used on backgrounds and none-moving objects.

The video is heavily edited with fast-paced cuts done to the beat of the song, showing a link between the music and the video. A lot of the cuts also appear at the end of a line in the lyrics, showing a link between video and lyrics. The video features an intertextual reference with a shot of Vic Fuentes of Pierce the Veil (PTV) holding a payphone, matching a similar shot of Jeremy McKinnon (the lead sing of ADTR) in PTV’s music video for Caraphernelia. The video features performance as the main content of the video, which is conventional of heavy rock music videos. All of this matches with Andrew Goodwin’s codes and conventions for music videos.

Post-production is very evident in this video. As mentioned, the pace of editing is based on the music and lyrics. This keeps the video at a consistent speed with the music, with no shots longer than a couple of seconds long. Lip syncing is used for almost all words, which is done in post-production to make it look like other bands are performing the song as well as ADTR. Filters, noise and other visual edits are added in to give a specific style to the video. An effect is added to make the video look like a film at the cinema with small crackles in the image. At the beginning of the video, a quieter, jumpy version of the song is played for around 7 seconds, made to sound like it is on an incorrectly tuned radio, this is then interrupted and replaced with the actual performance of the song.

The mise-en-scene of the video features many different settings, both in and outdoor, offering a contrast being the black, white and grey of indoor settings and the sky blues and yellows of outdoor. The band’s name is featured multiple times in close-ups, shown on newspaper clippings, which could be done in an attempt to help the audience remember their name and establish a fan-base, as this was released when they were gaining popularity and trying to capitalise on this and grow further. The costumes of ADTR (besides the lead singer) are all black t-shirts or vests, which are typical of band members and fans of heavier music, and dark jeans. This then allows them to stand out from the white background of the walls behind them. The lead singer is wearing a checkered red and black shirt, allowing him to stand out as the lead singer. Members from other bands are shown wearing something relevant to their own iconography, such as Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy wearing a beanie hat and purple hoodie, which at the time was his iconic look. Doing this allows the other bands to be easily recognised within the video and helps advertise them to viewers of ADTR’s videos who may have not seen them before, or potentially helping the fans of other bands to like ADTR’s videos.