Madina Lake is a rock band from Chicago, USA. The song above "One Last Kiss" was released in 2007 and is from their debut album, "From Them, Through Us, to You". The album was released in the United States on March 27th 2007 via their record label Roadrunner Records; for the UK it was released a day earlier.
The song is a typical break up song. The front man of the band, Nathan Leone sings about the heartbreak of his girlfriend leaving him and finding someone new has caused.
Establishment of a relationship is created from the very beginning of the video when we see a wide shot of singer Nathan and who appears to be his girlfriend stood next to each other. This then moves to a close up to draw attention to the formulation of them holding hands.
The location of the band is on what appears to be the top of a sky-scraper which I believe gives connotations of freedom, expression of emotions to be “let loose”,” set free” which emotion/expression of emotions is often a dominant theme of the rock-pop/pop-punk genre and I believe is amplified through this open, visually pleasing location. The way they perform can also be viewed as typical of the rock-pop/pop-punk genre. Nathan and his band members are jumping in mid-air which many would say is a stereotypical, well-known stunt of this genre as for most it presents a sense of the rock-pop care free attitude. This care-free attitude continues as the beginning of the song begins in an almost mechanic, muffled sound but as the beat becomes heavier and more intense, the sound returns to “normal” to make way for focus on the heavy guitar and drums rhythms which are continually emphasised throughout the music video via shots of the band continually jumping around, expressively, almost aggressively playing their instruments and stereotypically “rocking out”.
After the band is first introduced the audience are then reintroduced to the shot of lead singer Nathan and the girlfriend figure standing next to one another, first seen at the beginning of the music video. This establishing shot of the relationship then triggers a rapid flash sequence which indicate to the audience a sense of past, happy memories and flashbacks. Then as the guitar and drum beats come to an almost abrupt end and the music becomes softer and we see a shot of the couple standing facing one another and lead singer Nathan starts to sing emotional lyrics such as “she looked at me her eyes were watering” and the emotion implied in these lyrics are conveyed through close-ups of Nathan singing and the facial expressions he expresses, almost playing to the camera, a typical generic convention of the rock-pop genre.
This variety of close-ups of the lead singer and wide shots of the band which emphasise the promotion purpose of the music video are intertwined with narrative shots of the couple and in particular a significant close-up shot of the girlfriend figure placing a ring in lead singer Nathan`s hand which confirms to the audience that the relationship is over, further amplified by the lyrics, “that’s when I knew that this was about to end”. As the girlfriends walks away from Nathan and a fade transition to highlight her exit is used. I believe these narrative shots indicate to the audience a typical convention of the rock-pop genre of visuals matching lyrics to amplify the emotion within the music video and song.
This exit of the girlfriend then makes way for the heavy guitar and drums beats to be reintroduced which then puts focus back on the band via close ups of the drummer and guitarist putting emphasis on the heavy rhythms which have been reintroduced and general focus on the band and their heavy, expressive performance which amplify lyrics such as: “and i gave you every waking moment I gave you everything you wanted and now, I know your giving me up” and the typical rock-pop emotion this provokes.
The use of fades are particularly prominent towards the end half of the music video in which the audience see lead singer Nathan sat in what appears to be his bedroom, a domestic, often private location used with the rock-pop genre as this type of location is identified as a place in which expression of emotions can take place freely. This intimate location makes way for many close ups of photo frames filled with Nathan and his ex-lover in which she fades out further highlighting their faded relationship.
Towards the end of the music video the audience sees a repetition of the flashback used at the beginning of the production and also the shot of Nathan and the girlfriend figure stood side by side which changes to view the “new” boyfriend figure in place of Nathan. A similarity in shots at the beginning and end of a music video is a typical convention used within the rock-pop genre to confirm to the audience the final result of the emotional narrative the video has portrayed throughout, “summing up” the consequences and effects of emotions as it were in order to keep the audience satisfied because they know the outcome of the relationship they have almost been a part of throughout the production.
Overall, I believe this music video by Madina Lake has effectively expressed the stereotypically emotions that are seen when a break up occurs which I believe audiences will be able to relate to as everyone at some point has been through heartbreak and this topic is typical of the rock-pop genre. However, the producers have not lost sight of the promotion of the band through the constant close-ups and wide shots of the lead singer and band which are all effectively teamed with the narrative scenes putting greater emphasis on the emotion being sung about and the impact of this reflected in the expressive visuals the audience sees.
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