This is gospel analysis

This is gospel music video analysis - using theorists

1. “This Is Gospel” by Panic! At The Disco Analysis Shannon fowkes

2. Theorists: Andrew Goodwin: Andrew Goodwin's theory is that there are three different ways a music video can link back to the song. Theses ways are illustration, amplification and disjuncture. Todorov : Todorov's theory is that all stories follow the same narrative structure: Equilibrium Disruption of equilibrium Recognition of disruption An attempt to repair the damage New equilibrium Propp : Propp's character theory is the argument that the same type of characters appear in nearly all stories. These characters are: 1) The hero 2) The villain 3) The princess 4) The helper 5) The dispatcher 6) The false hero 7) The dispatcher Strauss: Strauss believed that they way we understand words is by understanding the difference between the word and it's "opposite". Strauss liked to call this "binary opposites". Binary opposites are used a lot in the media. The most obvious and most common binary opposite is good vs evil. The binary opposites are becoming less obvious over time.

3. Genre Characteristics: Unlike other pop rock music videos, this one only includes the lead singer and does not include the band at all. The performance parts are also part of the narrative. This challenges the convention of using the whole band in the performance and/or having some form of stage performance. This may be because Brendon Urie wrote the song himself was the only original band member left. However, this also may be because it flows with the concept of the video and a stage performance could have ruined the flow. The video includes both narrative and performance, which is a common convention of modern pop rock music videos. However, this music video has a symbolic narrative, which is not as common within the pop rock genre.

4. Relationship between lyrics and visuals: The lyric “If you love me let me go” from the first chorus is paired with a visual of Brendon suddenly sitting up and trying to get away, but the ‘doctors’ keep holding onto him and pulling him back. This visual matches the lyric as Brendon is fighting to break free, but the others characters won’t let him go. Before Brendon sings “these words are knives and often leave scars” his mouth is covered by 4 hands. He then pushes his head forward, which forces the hands off him and delivers the line. This shows the hands are trying to stop him from talking as what he says can hurt someone.

5. Near the end of the song there is a lot of onscreen action as the line “this is the beat of my heart” repeats. The main image is Brendon trying to run forward, but keeps getting pulled back by rope that is wrapped around him. This matches the overall theme of the song of trying to break free. This visual does not match a specific lyric, but matches the meaning of the song. The song is about drug abuse and how it’s hard to break free from addiction. This visual shows that their addiction is forcing them to continue to take drugs. This is another visual that does not match a specific lyric, but matches the meaning of the song. The visual of Brendon being put in a coffin by the ‘doctors’ represents the drug addiction being the death of him.

6. Relationship between music and visuals: The beginning of the song is slow, which is represented through the minimal visual. The start of the video is Brendon lying down singing the first verse. The symbolic narrative starts during the pre chorus and the visuals also increase in pace at this point. This is because the music starts to build up to the chorus. Up until the first chorus, the visuals are one clip – no cuts. The first cut is when Brendon quickly sits up and sings “if you love me let me go”. Slow motion is used during the visuals of Brendon trying to break free. This matches the long note of ‘go’ and is a good contrast between the quick movements before and after that line. A lot more cuts and quick movement are used in the chorus whereas the visuals for the verses are a lot more calmer and use less cuts. Near the end of the song during the last chorus and where “this is the beat of my heart” montage and quick paced editing is used to match the beat of the song. A lot of short quick paced visuals are used, which go well with the tempo of the song.

7. Selling the artist: In order to sell the artist, many close ups have to be used to create a bond between the artist and their audience. This is what makes the audience dedicated to the artist as it creates an ideal version of the artist that the audience feel like they know. This method is also used in this music video. Many close ups of Brendon Urie are used. He is usually singing during these close ups. At the beginning of the song Brendon is wearing a white shirt, black skinny jeans and converse. Brendon is known for wearing this look, which makes the audience connect more to him as the video shows the Brendon the audience are used to seeing. Brendon is later in a suit, which became a more common outfit for him when this song was released. It was new to the audience, which helped sell the artist.

8. Notion of looking: A lot of music videos use the notion of looking. This music video uses it too. Brendon Urie looks directly into the camera many times in the music video. This creates a bond between the audience and the artist as the it makes the audience feel like the artist is looking at them. Every time Brendon looked into the camera, a close up is used, which helps reinforce the connection between the artist and their audience.

9. Primary Structure: The main structure of the music video is performance and concept based. The performance is part of the narrative instead of being a part of a montage edit. The concept of the music video is personifying addiction. The doctors play the role of the addiction that keeps pulling Brendon back in each time he tries to ‘let go’ of the addiction. Brendon often sings in the video, but the performance does not break the narrative.

10. Narrative: Equilibrium – The equilibrium was hard to notice. After taking the whole narrative into consideration I noticed the equilibrium is the artist being alive at the start of the video. He is alive and being checked over by ‘doctors’. Disruption – A disruption occurs when the artists suddenly sits up in an attempt to get away from the doctors. This occurs during the chorus. This is the recognition of the disruption. Attempt to repair – The ‘doctors’ attempt to repair the disruption is to put the artist into a coffin (when they’re not dead). New equilibrium – Finally, the new equilibrium is the artist being dead. This occurs at the end of the video and is shown by the artist running towards a bright light and paired with the sound of flatlining. Even though this music video has a more abstract narrative it still follows Todorov’s narrative theory structure.

11. Characters: The only character types that appear in the music video are the hero and the villain. These characters are not that easy to spot. The other roles play one villain as they keep trying to keep the artist and literally put him in a coffin. They are also shown in a creepy way as you do not see any of their faces and their moves are quite robotic. Brendon plays the hero as he tries to fight against the villain. However, there is no other signs that the artist is the hero, so he may just be the victim. This means that the video does not follow Propp’s theory as only one character type is present. The other roles all play one villain as they represent addiction.

12. Binary opposites: The most obvious binary opposite present in the video if life vs death. The video starts with the artist alive and fighting against the other characters. In the second verse the other characters put him in a coffin, which he breaks out of (fighting death). However, at the end of the video the artist loses the battle and dies. The other opposite present in the video is your typical good vs evil. Brendon is the good character who is fighting to stay alive. The other characters are evil as they try to keep Brendon tied down and appear to be trying to kill him.

13. Codes: The music video has quite a tense atmosphere as we are seeing the artist fight against the other characters who are tying him down against his will. The needle being forced into Brendon also creates a tense atmosphere as most people don’t like seeing that sort of image. The needle being forced into the artist represents addiction. This represents how addiction forces you to do things you would not normally do. The characters always pulling the artist back. The characters represent addiction and them pulling the artist back implies that the artist wants to be free from addiction, but is unable to leave.