Music Video Analysis 5: Stressed Out - Twenty One Pilots

Stressed Out - TØP (Mark C. Eshleman) 2015

The music video 'Stressed Out' has a connection between the lyrics and the visuals throughout the music video with certain shots  having a direct link to what is seen on screen, while having this link it also features a lot of performance from the band. In the chorus of the song the lyrics say 'Wish we could turn back time, to the good ol' days, Whenever these lyrics are sung in the chorus the visuals will link, they link by showing stereotypical activities that were done when you were a child, things that are acceptable to do as a child. These are some examples: 

 In this shot the artist is riding a tricycle, riding a tricycle is stereotypically a childs activity which is linking back to the lyrics that they wish they could go back to their childhood and relive activities from their past, when they didn't have to care about anything but playing out in the street.         

 Here they are doing a long handshake which is something children do as a greeting when they meet. 

They are sat on the pavement drinking juice which is another children's activity.  

The band are in a bedroom playing music which is something that they most likely did for fun when they were children. 

All these things are activities which are done when you're a child, when you didn't have any worries, this links to the lyrics 'now we're stressed out' because they are no longer playing games with no worries they are now adults living a life which has lots of responsibility which has caused him to become stressed. The artist is clearly not happy and would prefer if they go back to when they were not stressed again linking to the lyrics 'wish we could turn back time'. The whole idea of the song is about how he wishes he could go back to when he was younger because things in his life are a lot harder now and the music video links to this and keeps reminding the audience of this meaning throughout the video

This music video doesn't follow genre characteristics, the genre of music in this video is pop. Pop music videos are usually bright bold and colourful, they usually feature lots of dancing and performance. In this video it is mainly dull and boring colours not like pop videos which are very colourful this is more sad, this is not following the usual characteristics of a pop music video. It is also not very fast paced which is often the case for pop music videos and the amount of performance isn't has much as which would feature in a normal pop characteristics. 

                                               

Stereotypical Pop Music Video                                                 

Stressed Out

There is a little bit of performance involved in this music video but it is different to a usual performance, it is less professional because they are performing in a bedroom with just a drum kit and a mic. Throughout the video the artist is singing a lot at different parts but he is just singing so the performance is very stripped back. 

Shot Types:

In the music video for stressed out there is a variety if shot types used, a lot of the shot types are usually repeated throughout the video, here are some examples:

Long Shot

 Mid Shot

 Over the shoulder

 Two Shot

 Medium Close up Shot

 Wide Shot

Close Up Shot

In this video there is references to 'looking' this is when the singer directly looks into the camera lens, this happens in Close Up style shots, doing this can create a sense of direct connection with the audience. Linking to this is the use of star treatment, the singer is singled out in a lot of the shots used, this is done with many shot types and the editing will keep returning to shots of this person.

Pace:

The pace of the video changes appropriately throughout the video. The video is edited to fit the change in music, for example when it is the verse the shot change will be slow and shots will last a long time on screen but when the song reaches the chorus this changes and the shots change a lot quicker fitting the pace of the music, this then repeats when the song goes to another verse.

Mise-en-Scene:

Looking at the mise-en-scene the video includes a lot of red the video is discreet places such as all the cars in the background are all red. The colour red links to the colour of the band, the colour red also appears on the clothing of the artists, this is to remind the audience who they re watching and listenig to when they are looking at the video.