Video Analysis: Smash Mouth - All Star (2001)
Song title: All Star
Artist & Label: Smash Mouth & Interscope Records
Release Date: 2001
Video Director: McG
Genre: Power Pop / Pop Rock
Video Style: Performance / Narrative
Music Video Conventions (Andrew Goodwin Theory):
A relationship between lyrics and visuals:
Throughout most of the video, Steve Harwell, the singer of the band, lip syncs the lyrics to illustrate them.
At several points in the video the lyrics are also illustrated through minor gestures of characters, such as Harwell pointing to himself when he says "I", a child imitating an L-shape on his forehead when the lyrics describe it, and near the middle of the video when Harwell gestures around himself while saying "This place".
A relationship between music and visuals:
There are many times in the video where shots are cut on beat, to compliment the rhythm of the song.
Near the start of the video, a shot of the guitarist strumming the guitar is shown in parallel with the guitar strums in the music. This is done to illustrate the sounds of the song and focus the viewer's attention on that aspect of the track.
Also near the start of the video, there is a wavy synth sound effect that is illustrated by a ripple transition between 2 shots.
During the second verse and dotted elsewhere in the video, There are some shots of the rest of the band playing their instruments, including another close-up shot of the guitar in which the guitarist strums in sync with the guitar strums in the song, which again illustrates the music.These shots of the band help to focus the audience on particular instruments in the track to emphasise their presence at certain points.
During the first chorus, the intensity and dynamics of the music changes to become louder and more intense, which is reflected in the visuals by a sudden dramatic scenario occurring where Harwell saves a dog from a burning building. The increase in pace and sudden presence of fire complements the sudden increase in intensity of the song.
All Star has many shots of Harwell and the rest of the band, partly due to the performance nature of the video and partly due to the Record Label's desire to feature the band in the video to build their brand identity to associate with the song. Heavily featuring Harwell and the band links their face and image with the song, therefore enforcing the identity of Smash Mouth for viewers. This helps the marketing of the song as viewers have a recognisable image of the band in their mind, making them more likely to recognise and buy a CD from the band, for example.
Artist Iconography:
Smash Mouth has a few distinct features that are somewhat consistent throughout their music videos and live performances. Firstly, in a significant number of their videos, CD covers and live performances, Smash Mouth, and Steve Harwell particularly, often wear sunglasses. This is especially prevalent in All Star. Another common costume choice is that they wear casual, somewhat baggy clothes. These choices are to present themselves as relaxed and laid back, which is reflected in the style of many of their songs.
Intertextual References:
The Video features direct references to the 1999 film "Mystery Men", which itself features All Star. At the beginning of the video, before the music starts, there is a scene including some of the Mystery Men cast, in which they act as the Mystery Men characters. They also feature at other points in the video for the same purpose. This is done to synergise All Star with Mystery Men; people who watch Mystery Men may also listen to All Star after seeing it in the film, and people who watch the video for All Star may also go and watch Mystery Men. This helps to boost the exposure of both Mystery Men and All Star, mutually benefiting both parties.
Genre Conventions:
Most pop rock videos have a mixture of performance and narrative elements, often alternating between shots of the band and the narrative, which also features the band playing themselves or fictional characters. All Star follows this performance/narrative structure to the letter.
Another narrative convention of pop rock videos is that the narrative part of the video complements or illustrates the lyrics to help bring more meaning to the song. In All Star, the general narrative is that Harwell, the lead singer, goes around saving people from various perilous situations. This complements the positive message of the lyrics that motivate the viewer to do something good in the world.
Another common convention is the choice of clothing. In pop rock videos, the band members usually wear casual clothes, such as jeans and a t shirt to appear laid back. This is certainly shown in All Star and is also incorporated into Smash Mouth's iconography.
Pop Rock videos usually have lots of natural lighting, as middle ground between bright and vibrant pop and dark and dull rock. All Star leans more towards the bright and colourful side of pop, which is not so much conventional for pop rock, but it does reflect the positive and upbeat nature of the song.
A final main convention of Pop Rock is the shots of the band and their instruments. These are usually in a studio, stage or outdoors and are lit up well to focus on the instruments, sometimes using close-up shots. This helps to convey the member's passion for their music and make the video feel more natural and "real" as though the band were actually playing the song. This is very evident in All Star, as it does feature many shots and close-ups of the instruments.
Mode of Address:
All Star has a mixture of direct and indirect MoAs in different shots, but overall it is more direct, as if the viewer is a part of the events in the video. The main direct MoA sections are during the more performative scenes, where Harwell sings directly at the camera.
Mise-En-Scène and locations:
All star primarily takes place outside, in a suburban area. This is done as part of the pop rock genre conventions as it helps to convey the natural, "real" feel that is common of pop rock videos.
The costumes of the members are casual, laid-back clothes which, as earlier described, is conventional of pop rock videos.
In terms of props, there are of course the instruments that are used by the band members to imitate playing them. As mentioned, this is also a convention of pop rock videos.
All Star also makes heavy use of vehicles. In most scenes, there is some kind of vehicle. This is perhaps to complement the upbeat rhythm of the song by including imagery of speed and fast movement. This also complements the lyrics, which often reference things that are considered fast, for example "shooting stars" and "meteor men".
Camera work and Shot variety:
All Star has several shots of the members of the band (besides Harwell, who is in many more shots) playing their respective instruments. For the most part, these members do not actively take part in the narrative aspect of the video; instead, they focus on the performance aspect and act as though they are playing the song. Their movements are in time with the music to make the viewer feel more connected with the band (as described earlier). These shots range from long shots of the whole band to close-up shots of single instruments to emphasise certain components of the music.
All Star also makes use of several low-angle shots where Harwell, and sometimes other members, sing directly into the camera. This is the direct mode of address, where actions are directed to the viewer. This makes the viewer feel more connected with the band members as the camera is being directly interacted with. This helps the band to convey their passion and emotion, as well as complementing the lyrics of the song; the song frequently mentions "you" which is also direct address, so it works well with direct visuals.
Camera movement:
Camera movement in All Star is predominantly used to reflect the motion of a subject in the frame.
The first shot when the song starts is a slow pan focusing on Harwell's feet as he walks on the pavement. The pan is used to keep the subject in the frame throughout the shot, allowing the movement to be shown without going offscreen.
This is another pan used for the same purpose as the previous. It follows Harwell as he moves, keeping him in roughly the same position in the frame during the shot.
This is a dolly shot that follows beside Harwell as he moves, keeping him in the same position of the frame. Again, this allows the shot to show his movement without him leaving the frame.
This is a tilt shot as Harwell jumps onto the bonnet of a car. This retains the space of headroom at the top of the frame so that the shot doesn't feel cramped or uncomfortably tight.
This is a zoom shot that is used to emphasise the focus on Harwell as he takes off his sunglasses. It highlights his hand movement and also shows more of his reaction to what he is looking at.
This is an aerial shot that has been filmed using a helicopter or drone to position the camera above the subject, looking down. The camera follows the subject as they move, keeping them in the same position in frame. This serves the same purpose as the other dolly shots and pans/tilts.
Editing and Special Effects:
All Star uses a variety of editing techniques and special effects for a range of purposes.
In This opening shot of the song, and in many other parts of the video, slow motion is used to artificially alter the pace of certain shots. Slowing a shot down causes it to appear more relaxed and reduces the pace of the shot. This complements less intense sections of the song, such as the opening. Slow motion is also used in some shots, such as the one below, to create a more dramatic feeling and drag out the action of a shot over a longer period of time.
Cross-cutting is when a shot is repeatedly cut to another shot and back. It is done for a variety of reasons. In this case, I believe it is done to further extend the duration of the car crash shot, by splitting it up among another shot, in this case a man dancing.
Cross-cutting is also used frequently at other points in the video to cut between shots of the narrative and shots of the band members performing. This is a common convention of pop rock videos as it emphasises the presence of the band and, as earlier mentioned, creates a connection with the viewer. This technique is used in many other genres that also utilise a dual narrative/performance style, such as modern pop.
All Star also uses many cutaway shots to give more detail on the narrative elements, or as an alternative to cross cutting. A cutaway is similar to a cross cut, but it is usually to cut to another subject that is in the same space as the previous shot. In the cutaway pictured, the video cuts from a medium shot of Harwell and 2 kids, to a close-up of one of the kids to emphasise his hand gesture, and then back to the original shot.
This flame wipe transition is used a few times in the music video to transition between scenes. This is often done when a vehicle is in shot, to complement the movement of the vehicle during the transition. The flame aspect also complements the vehicles because of the connotations between vehicles and fire (combustion engines, classic flame paint etc.)
Here is the use of a green screen to make Harwell and the dog appear to be in a burning building. This is a cheaper technique than actually coordinating a building to be on fire operating in it, as well as being much safer. Green screens are commonly used across a wide range of video media to give the appearance of characters being in dangerous or impossible circumstances.
Finally, here is the ripple transition used near the start of the video. As earlier described, it illustrates the wavy sound effect that plays at that part of the song. It also helps break up the normal cuts with smoother, more gentle transitions.
Some dissolve transitions are also used in the video at various points to slow down the pace of the video with a slower scene change.
Representation:
1. What sense of the world is it making? Ideals and attitudes?
The world presented in All Star is very bright and vibrant, always full of action and excitement. It is very positive, pushing an optimistic attitude to the viewer in an attempt to motivate them to do something.
2. What does it imply? Is it typical of the world or deviant? Whose world is it?
The message of the song implies that everybody can make a positive difference to the world; everybody is an All-Star. This view is somewhat deviant, but it's message can still apply to the real world as it is theoretically possible for everybody to be the best they can be, even if not everybody "succeeds" in life. Because of this open-ended world view, the video does aims to portray the world of, what could be, anyone's world as long as they are optimistic and do their best. Realistically, the world presented in the video is a very extreme version of this optimism, but the message still applies.
3. Who is it speaking to? For / To whom?
The video is speaking to everybody; the artists want their message of optimism to reach as many people as they can no matter who they are. However, I would say that it is more focused on young people due to the genre choice and the cartoon-like intensity of the events in the video. Young people would also be the logical choice of direction as they are not only more impressionable to motivational messages, but also have more of an opportunity to start acting on the message conveyed in the song.
4. What does it represent to us and why? How do we respond?
As previously mentioned, the video represents optimism; at points in the video, something bad happens such as a dog caught in a house fire, but the situation is resolved (with the implication that you can do it too). The audience is inclined to use the song as motivation to act positively and bring something positive to the world, whether it be helping others or simply doing your best no matter what.
5. What stereotypes can you identify and why are they used?
The video uses a few small stereotypes subtly to help the audience to easily identify minor characters. An example of this would be the two women outside the house fire near the start of the video; they are stereotypically helpless and weak women. This is evident in their clothing and body language. The clothing is a typical dress wear that is not practical at all, and their body language is very extreme during their panicked state when they appear in the video.
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