Music Video Analysis - 'Weightless' by All Time Low

The video I am analysing is for the song ‘Weightless’ by American pop-punk band All Time Low. The video was directed by Matthew Stawski and was released in the summer of 2009. This song belongs to the pop-punk genre and characteristics of this are used in this video, with it being played in a small venue, screaming female fans and the band performing onstage.
The opening of the video features Alex, the lead singer of the band, backstage surrounded by young female fans all wearing yellow t shirts with the band’s name on them. Excitable screaming can be heard and the ranting voices of the fans become sped up, representing that all the attention is getting boring to the band. This matches Alex’s face which looks fed up and slightly bored. When the camera switches and shows shots of the girls and handwritten text appears next to them with insulting comments such as ‘tease, ‘stalker’ and ‘obsessed’, with these comments depicted from Alex’s point of view.
The music then fades in and Alex begins to sing the lyrics, with the message ‘backstage groupies freak me out’ appearing either side of his face, showing that he is getting used to being well known, and getting slightly bored of it. He then begins to walk through the room and out of the door whilst still singing, staring into the camera, his band mates then appear on shot following him. This shows that he is the main member of the band as he is the lead singer and the most recognisable.
As the band head onto the stage, a tech guy hand’s the guitarist Jack his guitar, with ‘this tech guy can barely tune a guitar’ appearing in text next to him, showing what he is thinking, and that he believes he is in power due to him being in the band. This comment is then countered when the shot shows the tech guy handing him the guitar with ‘this guy can barely play a guitar’ appearing in text. Text then comes between them; stating ‘nothing personal’ referring to the situation and it is also the name of the band’s album. A shot showing heavy metal punks with spiked hair appears next, with text saying ‘more like all time blow’. This is referring to the band’s name and that fans of different music genres will most probably dislike their music. When the band is shown beginning to play onstage, a close up is used of the lead singer. This shows that music videos require the stars to be shown to portray a bigger interest, and that it is predominantly the lead singer who is the star of the band. Separate shots of the other band member are then shown, depicting that they are all placed slightly behind the singer onstage and that they are not key in gaining the audience’s attention.
As the chorus begins it cuts to a shot behind the crowd focusing on the band playing. It shows the audience jumping up and down, showing that although they have their critics in the video by fans of different music genres, they still have loyal fans of their own. A crowd member is then shown to be stood onstage next to guitarist Jack, who then punches her so she falls offstage, with text stating ‘standing onstage doesn’t make you cool’, which suggest that the band have got fed up with fans invading their space. Close ups of the band members of the band are then shown with them playing the song, depicting that they are key to drawing in the audience for the video. The camera then zooms into a crowd member stood watching, wearing a Fall Out Boy t shirt, with text next to him stating ‘I’d rather be watching Fall Out Boy’, which shows that All Time Low are not the most popular pop-punk band around and that this fan would prefer to be watching one of the leading bands in the genre. A number of straight cuts are used showing different members of the band playing the remainder of the chorus, showing that performance is a key part of music videos.
A mid shot then shows a woman walking towards the camera with text next to her head stating ‘I need band shirts’. The camera then pans to show the merch guy playing air guitar with ‘wishes he was in the band’ appearing next to him, he then hands the woman a t shirt, which has overpriced wrote next to it, and she walks off with ‘I don’t tip creepy merch guys’ next to her. This is a key part of the pop-punk genre as many fans wear the bands t shirts and they are predominately bought at their gigs. Shots of the band are shown, so that the audience can still see the stars of the video. The camera then focuses on a crowd member with his shirt of, showing his tattoos, which are then insulted when ‘You’ll regret your embarrassing tattoos’ appears in text with cartoon birds flying of it, referring to the bird tattoos. ‘Nothing personal then appears tattooed on his chest, reminding the audience of the bands album and also showing how dedicated some of their fans are, as they get tattoos related to the band. The camera then pans to show a shot of 4 male fans doing ‘gangsta’ poses whilst wearing over sized v neck shirts. Text appears stating ‘nice v neck, idiot!’ along with a diagram showing why it is too big. This refers to pop culture as they are insulting the fashion that some of their fans wear.
As the chorus kicks in again it show numerous shots of the band playing onstage, including close ups of them. It then cuts back to the v neck guys and the shamed tattooed fan, as they go for a ‘ fake bro hug’ with All Time Low criticising the way that men now great strangers and treat them like friends. A wide shot showing fans stood in a line on their phones is used, with text above them stating ‘no one cares what you’re doing right now’ as well as blue birds flying across the shot. This refers to social networking site twitter as a blue bird is their logo and these fans are all ‘tweeting’ with messages such as ‘what’s up with Zach’s hair’ and ‘this band sucks bad’. This refers to popular culture and how people are addicted to technology. The band is then shown playing the end of the chorus onstage with over dramatic playing of their instruments.
A long take then shows a number of girls labelled ‘band sluts’ staring at the camera as they walk past. The camera then pans to the guy in charge of the VIP area, who waves the backstage passes, with text saying ‘good personalities don’t get you backstage’. This shows that the pop-punk music industry and its fans have become more about the looks than the music itself. A shot then shows the girls walking towards the camera with ‘♥ Jack ♥’ in text next to them. The shot then cuts to a scared looking Jack who is then forced into a room, in which ‘sleeping with band dudes doesn’t make you famous’ is displayed. This suggests that groupies will do anything it will take to become famous, even if it won’t.
The next clip shows, the band’s bassist Zach lifting weights, a tour member then walks in looking scared with the text ‘all this working out is getting weird’ following him. This shows that the male figure has been increased in music. It then shows drummer Rian, signing pictures that were ‘leaked on the internet’. This shows that with technology and the paparazzi, problems like this occur to a number of artists.
The final shot of the verse is of Alex surrounded by makeup artists and reporters, with the text ‘lead singers are pampered too much’, depicting that too much attention is spent on the lead singer, because they are usually who draw the audience in.
As the final chorus starts the band re enter the stage, and start to play. I then cuts to a shot of Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz stood up and Blink 182 bassist Mark Hoppus sat at a table next to him. Text appears next to Wentz stating ‘@markhoppus ALT rips of FOB’ which means that he has tweeted him that message. Mark then responds by stating that ‘ALT and FOB rip of blink 182 so bad’. By using 2 of the leaders of the pop-punk genre, it generates a bigger audience by using stars. The next shot, is a girl in the crowd who is taking big sunglasses off, to reveal she has wonky eyes. This shows that not everything is what it seems and sends a message to the bands fans.
The song ends with the band and fans going crazy to the songs, with Alex doing a guitar spin and Jack crowd surfing. After the song ends, signs appear above the crowd member with arrows pointing at them reading ‘loser’. There is then a wipe to a black screen with the band’s album name ‘Nothing Personal’ being displayed. This refers to the fact that people don’t realise how much they are being judged and that it is not always personal to them but a stereotype.
This music video is both performance and narrative based, and this is done by it being set during one of All Time Low’s live gigs.