Foo Fighters; Everlong Deconstruction

The music video for the song Everlong, performed by the popular rock band Foo Fighters, is very strange, showing mainly a narrative portraying two characters, who are both band members, and showing their dreams while they sleep. The variety of effects used make the music video one of the most unique, and memorable music videos out there, certainly for the genre of music. The video begins with an opening, establishing shot of a tranquil American house. It is noticeable that in the shots that portray reality, the video is in grayscale. This familiarises to the viewer that all of the monochrome scenes are in the present, so they dont feel confused. It also has an effect of adding to the night-time atmosphere. The next shots show the camera focusing in on the house, and the camera switching to the interior. A tracking shot leads the viewer upstairs, notably past a wall of family photos. These are important because they show an obviously happy couple (Although the female is actually the male drummer to the band, which adds to the humour and cheesiness of the video). The fact that this couple is happy adds to the feel that this is a happy, tranquil American lifestyle. The camera soon shows the lead singer, and main characters sleeping face from an aerial shot, and water drips down the camera to represent reality washing away, and bringing the viewer into his dream. This is effective because it ties in

with the sudden boost in energy that is portrayed through the music. The dream then awakens colour, to represent the dream feel. The main character is seen imagining himself as a punk style guy suggesting he wants to be tough and rugged. Two other, cheesey looking characters are shown, and through the rest of the video are seen to be antagonists. After showing an old party scene, with the protagonist walking through the room, the water again fades the dream out, again tying in with the musical bridge that follows. The wifes dream is then presented, with the clever effect of water fading into the dream. An establishing shot of a shack in the woods is shown, and I personally find the camera effect because for this scene in particular, it creates a strangely claustrophobic scene. The dreams fade in and out, with the same water-transition, and as the chorus of the song approaches, the male protagonists hand, for some reason, grows, as he attacks the two antagonists. The blows match the drumbeat and tempo of the song, with the shot suddenly speeding up to add effect. This causes the viewer to link the music to the shot.

The next scene, in which the punk protagonist, still in the dream, attempts to answer a giant phone, presents a humorous, typical feature that films and videos use to wake characters from dreams. It presents the phone ringing in real life, although the protagonist fails to awaken instantly, and so tries to answer to

the sound in his dream. It also gives a thought that the phone alarm sounds loud in reality, and so is presented as massive in the protagonists mind. The phone breaking away from the dream also ties into the end of the chorus, snapping back to reality. The two defeated antagonists seem to reanimate, merging into the wifes dream. The wifes dream is now presented again, in the cheesey, and claustrophobic shack, which humorously shows typical conventions of a horror film ( and it is also said that this environment is also a parody of the film Evil Dead ). The male character, shown in a colourful, stripey jumper, seems to be dressed as a young, innocent grandson of some sort, reflecting the cheesey feel of the music. The camera shots add to the claustrophobia by being jerky, and showing the characters to look almost robotic in the way they move. The banging of the cellar door, the revving of a chainsaw, and actions of such, mach the drumbeat again of the pre-chorus, keeping the viewer synchronised with the video. Another horror reference is visible from the camera shot, with what looks like a parody of the conventional axe man chopping at the door. This, again, presents a cheesiness, and the way the camera is angled again keeps the claustrophobia. The merging of dreams now becomes visible, as the protagonist in reality merges himself into the wifes dream. It becomes clear this is a lucid dream, and the water effect again shows the reality change. The speed of the shot is soon merged with the tempo of the breakdown, which shows the fight scene to be very effective. The video, and song, come together with peace, and reality is brought back, in monochrome as usual. A strange camera effect then shows the two antagonists in reality, who pull their skin off and are revealed as members of the band in disguise.

The part of the video that makes this most memorable is the upbeat outro, which revamps the chorus, and all the outfits and props reveal instruments, which I feel is a very clever effect, breaking away the narrative and showing the actual band playing the music. This almost gives the song a pump of adrenaline. It again synochronises the music to the video, and shows the audience the band, playing the music. I feel the video for Everlong is extremely clever. Although the video seems to make no sense at all, it presents the lyrics to the song as if it is a trance. I believe it creates an interesting, albeit strange narrative, ending in a set for the band to play, which I find extremely inspiring for a music video. The use of camera, colour, mise-en-scene, and effects make it one the most unique videos in my opinion, which advertises the song extremely effectively.