Music Video

The Script ‘Nothing’ music video analysis

In this essay I am going to analyse The Scripts-Nothing music video; the song which is part of their second album ‘Science & Faith’was released the 13^th of September 2010 in the UK.    

As most of their songs, being an Irish alternative band, they all have a sentimental narrative rather than being based on a big performance and/or on appearance. Nothing is about a man (played by Danny,the main singer) who is going through a tough break up; the audience do not ever find out the reason for this break-up but through the detailed explanation of the music video they are able to comprehend better the sentimental  concept of this song as they are drawn into his private life. This is an example of voyeurism or more precisely notion of looking.

One of the general purposes of a music video is so that the audience can understand further the concept of the song, by directing them into a certain view or idea, as songs can easily be interpret in many different ways. Another purpose could be to promote the artist or song, by making the target demographic buying into the artist’s lifestyle. This helps to build a relationship between the artist and its audience, as they can relate to them or be inspired by them; it also helps to create a short narrative or representation of the artist himself. 

A music video is also used to show different generic conventions of a genre, in this case soft rock. Soft rock songs usually utilize themes of love, relationships and everyday life; in fact in the Nothing music video, all of these themes were present.  The instruments mainly used in this genre of music are the piano, acoustic guitars, bass and the drums. In this particular music video shots of the Script making use of instruments such as the drums and the bass or acoustic guitar, helps to enlighten the audience about their style of music (genre characteristics).

The close up of Dan in a bar with his friends (band members) helps to show the demographic his emotions as he is trying to get over, what seems to be a tough break-up. As a consequence the audience feel closer to him, and can be involved in his private life, sympathising with the artist and his pain. The target demographic for this video are adolescents and young adults with an age range of between 16-26; it is clear that that is the targeted audience as the setting of the video is in a club/bar which is more appealing to older teenagers. Girls are more targeted than boys as the song is about love which is most likely to appeal to a girl as she is most probable to empathise with the artist.

The mid shot of the band sitting at the bar shows ,helps the audience to visualize the background so that they can have a better understanding of the situation and the scene, resulting in them feeling more involved in the video. The juxtaposition between the people partying and having fun in the background and then the three band members drinking at the bar was used so that the demographic can comprehend better the artists sorrow and at the same time help to build a strong narrative. This shows the vulnerable side of the artist as he is trying to forget about this girl who has put his life on hold since she has left him.