Smash Mouth- Walkin’ On The Sun

In order to understand the conventions of the specific ‘rock comedy’ genre further I chose a range of music videos to analyse, the first of which being another Smash Mouth video- Walkin’ on the sun. My reason for this is simply to get a better understanding of the band’s style and conventions that run within their videos, so that I may then look for these in similar artist and see whether conventions apply, or whether other bands play with typical conventions in order to create a different image for themselves.

The first thing you notice is the use of special effects. This gives the video a modern feel, and new often means better. It also instantly suggests that the narrative in this video is going to be a bit playful and comical, rather than a serious on conceptual.

The director uses low angle shots of the band playing to give them a sense of power, raising them above the audience as though fans are looking up to them. It also helps to give a more establishing shot of the set which includes all the band members, and in contrast to this we then get close ups of the singer as he moves in to the camera and also of instruments being played. The use of close ups refers to Andrew Goodwin’s Dancing in the distraction factory video conventions, one of which suggests that the music industry calls for close ups of artists in order to satisfy fans.

Fans will follow all forms of social media sites and watch copious interviews in an attempt to relate to artists and get inside their personal lives, and giving close ups of the face or other recognisable features (such as instruments being played or tattoos) helps to give fans what they want to see. So, by interacting with the camera through body movement and eye contact the singer is directly addressing the audience, making them feel part of the video. This then has a knock on effect and will increase sales of the track which is one of the main purposes of creating music videos- Promotion. The use of live or simulated performance is also a typical convention of the rock genre, as it emphasises that idea of artists having a personal connection with their music, composing and playing their own songs. It shows talent, and this is shown throughout the music video as it creates the basis for the whole narrative.

Another of Andrew Goodwin’s conventions shown here is the notion of looking, or voyeurism, in this case towards woman which is common in the music videos of male artists and boy bands.

At first the women are trapped in a glass bubble, giving the band a sense of power and ownership. The use of a remote also explicitly gives the band control over the woman, transferring them from inside the bubble into the room where they’re able to dance around the band members. The notion of looking then comes in through a panning shot across the guys faces all looking towards the woman and smiling/nodding their heads in approval. This is suggested through the sequencing of the shot. As well as this, the women’s costumes are revealing and quite provocative, which links to ideas about the male gaze, where the attractive women are helping to sell their record.

I think this typical rock/pop convention has been used here as it suggests the band to be inferior in a way, almost like because they’re in a band they attract lots of women. This will make male viewers jealous that they get such girls, but it will also make female viewers jealous as these girls are getting to dance with the band they love. Either way it gives the band a very masculine, cool image which will boost their appeal to fans and help sell their music.

Split screens is an editing technique displayed in this video, and seems to be typical of most music video genres. Here it just multiplies the number of girls dancing on screen, almost to emphasise the point made earlier about voyeurism. The cuts between the number of split screens is also very rhythmical- something to consider when we come to editing our own music video.

When the change of location happens we’re taken to a beach, where live performance continues and the number of dancing girls increases-this time wearing bikinis. Something about the style of the video creates a very comedy/parody feel, even though the conventions shown are all typical and logical for this genre. I think the colour scheme contributes to this, as they’re bright colours, both in the set and costumes. This links back to the band’s album art, as well as building the foundations for a comical, fun performance that instantly gets translated to the audience. As well as this, the performance is very theatrical and overplayed, both from the band and the extras. This is shown through actions, facial expressions and also editing, such as slow zooms that create drama.

There’s also a vague relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, giving the music video a slightly interpretive style too. The lyrics and title ‘walkin’ on the sun’ have a word association with the beach.