My Favourite Music Video

We were told that we had to bring our favourite music video to class, we were to pick our favourite and then we had to justify to the class why so.

Points we could expand on were those such as the lyrics, the location, the genre, the visuals, the period of time in which it happens, costume, props and the general content of the video.

I chose "Kings And Queens" by 30 Seconds To Mars.

30 Seconds to Mars is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1998.

reasons why i chose it?

• visually overwhelming, the location was downtown LA which was emptied for filming, and hundreds of people on an array of bikes in a variety of costumes were the focus of the video itself, the video uses the sunrise and a white horse, all majestic and powerful symbols.
• i really like 30 Seconds To Mars and i really like this song personally.
• the lyrics fit the video content well..

"We were the kings and queens of promise

We were the victims of ourselves

Maybe the children of a lesser God

Between Heaven and Hell

Heaven and Hell"

I researched the lyrics and the intention of the band was to show how humans have devastated the natural world, and now we suppress each other. They use the terms of Heaven and Hell which brings it back to natural imagery of the sunset and horse, but shows how they are trying to find the defining difference between right and wrong. The use of the cyclists was to show freedom of speech and identity, they are all dressed outlandishly and creatively, and they ride their bikes freely in wide open space despite the location which would nor ally be full of vehicles and crowds. This could be juxtaposition, as the cyclists roam freely in an area that they never would normally be able to.

"You get the sense, from listening, that something MASSIVELY IMPORTANT is going on, something that Jared needs to HOWL AT THE BLAZING SKY about. He is so good at this that he often makes me think of a man with a flip-top head, hinged just behind the ears. His high notes are there to speak for every one of us who has found themselves needing to express an emotion which combines total FRUSTRATION with NOSTALGIA FOR THE BEST OF DAYS."

- BBC CHART BLOG

I then decided it may be helpful to analyse the lyrics, as i could decipher the real meaning behind the song, and make my own interpretation.

This way i could also put myself in the mind of the video director, consider what they were trying to convey through the video, upon sighting the lyrics.

30 Seconds To Mars - Kings &Queens on Prezi