Textual Analysis 1

5 Seconds of Summer ‘She’s Kinda Hot’

Mise-en-scene

• Nice looking house
• Garage/basement – looks like a workshop
• Shows them using tools- they are making something
• Shows his living area- it isn’t what you would expect the house to look like from what it looked like outside-starts the narrative
• Cuts to being inside a therapists office-shows the young people in the narrative have problems
• Shows the teenage boys to be tired and have some kind of problem
• Playing instruments and lip syncing-performance- telling the narrative
• The teenager is ignoring the girls around him even though they are shouting at him
• The girls are dressed in bright colours-trying to be noticed
• Animations used to help tell the narrative
• Therapist is moving around the boy-trying to intimidate him
• Shows the moon-shows that they are performing outside
• The background is dark in contrast to the machine they have made-they are trying to stand out and be noticed
• The teenage boy runs out-shows him looking down the street then cuts to a shot of the band performing-shows what he is looking at
• Big crowd of teenagers around the thing they made-they have now become part of the narrative
• Flags-a sign of revolution/rebellion

Cinematography

• Establishing shot (house) – camera zooms in a little bit
• Low angle shot-makes what they are doing with the tools seem important
• Camera is at an angle that makes it look like the camera is the TV
• Camera wobbles slightly when he is eating his breakfast-shows he is tired
• Low angle shot-trying to show the therapists dominance compared to the teenager
• The camera freezes on a shot to emphasise how tired he is of being treated this way
• Rule of thirds-boy in the middle is being picked on and is lower in the shot than the two boys who are picking on him
• Low angle shot to show they are proud of the work they have been doing
• Low angle shot to show the garage door opening
• Close shots of it-like it is being revealed
• Low angle shot from the front of it to make it look really big and powerful
• Shots of the teenagers clapping-they are part of the song they are singing
• Close-ups of the band-shows they are leading the rebellion ‘we are the leaders of the not coming backs’
• Low angle shot-the teenagers are looking up to the band

Editing

• fast paced editing to show them all making something
• cuts between the narrative and them making something-shows that this is happening at the same time
• split screen to show what the girls are doing to the boy
• split screen to show the therapist and what she has written about him-the love heart on the ‘I’ shows that she doesn’t really care
• split screen to show the boy and what he is looking at
• cuts between performance and narrative
• split screen shows them ringing a doorbell to invite people out
• quickly cuts to a blueprint of the thing they have been making
• split screen to show all the teenagers coming out to see them perform

Sound

• Insect sound at the beginning- house is in a quiet neighbourhood
• noises of the tools (verisimilitude)
• the song-does have some of the noise from the narrative
• as the music gets faster-it shows the two teenage boys rebelling
• police sirens-the adults have reported them for rebelling

Textual Analysis

In this essay I am going to analyse ‘She’s Kinda Hot’ by 5 Seconds of Summer.

Mise-en-scene:

The video starts by showing a nice looking house. This is then contrasted by the inside of the house which looks like a workshop.  It doesn’t look like what you would expect from a house that looks so nice from the outside. It then shows them all using tools to make something, this is what properly starts the narrative because you are wondering what they are making.

The next shot is of a teenager in his house. The camera is quite far away from him so that it is able to show his living area and it makes t clear that it is his house based on what it looks like. It is a very conventional looking room for a teenager with music everywhere and it is quite messy. The camera then cuts to another teenager who is in therapy. Both teenagers are shown to have some sort of problem. One of them is in therapy so he must be suffering mentally problem, and the other teenager is being picked on so he is suffering physically.

It then shows the band playing their instruments and singing. This performance part of the video is not part of the narrative but it is helping tell the narrative. The video then returns to the narrative when the teenager in his living room is being shouted at by some girls. All the girls are dressed in bright clothing; this is to make them stand out and makes them difficult to not notice. But the camera shows the teenager ignoring them.

The therapy scenes are used to help show how the other teenager is being intimidated by someone who is stereotyped as being there to help him. The intimidation is shown when she is stood over him trying to make him feel small and powerless.

When the chorus of the video plays it cuts to the band on the machine they have been shown making. The machine is really bright compared to the street they are on which is dark. This is so that they can be noticed by the people they are trying to reach out to (teenagers). The teenagers are all shown running towards the machine they have made. The camera shows them looking at something then it cuts to what they are looking at. It also creates the idea that they are all in it together and are all aiming for the same thing. A lot of the teenagers are shown holding and waving flags. This is to symbolize the sign of revolution/rebellion.

Cinematography:

The video starts with an establishing shot of the house where the machine is being built. The camera also zooms in on it a little to make it seem like the house is drawing you in to see what is happening inside. The low angle shot of them making the machine makes it seem like what they are doing is really important. When the shot of the teenager in his house is shown, the camera looks like it is the TV he is playing his game on.

When he is eating his breakfast, the camera wobbles slightly; this is to create the idea that he is really tired of being treated this way. When the camera freezes, it is emphasising how annoyed he is by being treated this way. When the people are picking on him come into shot, it is in the rule of thirds. Both the boys are higher in the shot than the teenager is; this shows that they think they are better and more dominant than him.

When the band all come into shot, a low angle is used. This is to show them all taking a step back to admire the work they have done. It makes it look like they are really proud of what they have created. Another low angle is used to show the garage door opening, this is so that what they have made isn’t revealed straight away. Close-ups are then used in order to show what they have made. This makes it feel like the big reveal. A low angle is used to make the machine look more powerful.

When the teenagers are all outside, it shows them all clapping and dancing to the music. This is to show that they are now part of the song that is being sung and that it is for them. By showing them clapping it shows that they are being united by the music. Close-ups of the band show that they are the ones who are leading the rebellion (‘we are the leaders of the not coming backs’). This is then re-enforced by the low angle that makes it seem like the teenagers are looking at them as role models.

Editing:

There is a lot of fast paced editing used to show the fast progression of what the band are making. The camera cuts between the teenager being bullied and them making something, this is to show that they are happening at the same time. Split screens are used quite a bit throughout the video; this is to show more than one aspect of a single narrative. A split screen is used when the girls are shouting at the boy, this is to show that it is more than one girl doing it and that they are doing it at the same time. Another is used to show the therapist and what she has written on her piece of paper. The love heart on the letter ‘I’ makes it seem like she isn’t taking it seriously what he has been saying to her. The video cuts a lot between the performance and the narrative. This is so that the performance is still able to tell the narrative while the narrative is happening. There is a quick cut to the blue print of the plan of the machine they are making. This is to show the audience what they have been up to for a large portion of the video. Another split screen is used at the end to show all the teenagers coming out of their homes. The split screen is used to emphasise how many teenagers there are.

Sound:

At the beginning of the video, there are insect sounds while the house is in shot. This is to show how quiet the neighbourhood is. This is completely different to how the video ends because at the end it is really loud. When they are making their machine, the sounds of the tools they are using are heard. This is to create verisimilitude and to contrast how quiet outside the house is. As the music gets faster, it shows the boys rebelling. The fast music is what represents the rebellion. At the end of the video, police sirens can be distantly be heard. This is to show how much of a disturbance they have been to the normally quiet neighbourhood.

Through the use of Mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound, the video is able to convey a message of revolution and rebellion.