As you may know, I am a Video Editor – and one of the things (probably the main thing) that inspired me to work in television post production was actually music videos.

Music videos are one of my favourite things in the world and I spent hours and I MEAN literally hours when I was growing up watching them Even now in the modern world, I can find myself getting lost on YouTube watching music videos for hours on end – they are an addiction.

This month we are going to be taking a look at the music videos of Alkaline Trio. I have been listening to this band on and off since I was a teen but I had never seen their music videos. It was only when I met Matt Skiba last year and he was so nice to me that I started to take a huge interest into all of his music. The band have some really great videos but since I only discovered them recently I thought it would be a nice contrast to last months feature band.

Alkaline Trio – Time To Waste

Why did you choose this particular video?

I have been listening to this song as long as I can remember – when I was a kid it was part of a Compilation CD that I got with Kerrang! magazine – right from the start the piano solo at the beginning hypnotized me and it is still one of my favourite pieces of music played in any rock song to this day. I went and learnt it on the keyboard pretty much straight away when I was a teen. Watching this video it is pretty simple but I really actually adore it and I felt that I had to start with this song,

So, what is the narrative?

The band turn up to a Hangar in lots of black cars wearing black outfits and play the hell out of their instruments.

Favourite parts of the video?

The introduction shots and the way that cars driving to the Hangar are dramatised, it is such a simple set of edits but it really creates emphasis on the build up and waiting for the band to approach the stage – it sort of connotes the feeling you get when you are waiting for you favourite band to walk on stage at a gig.

As an editor one thing I absolutely adore about this video is the use of colour grade and lighting. The fact that a lot of the surroundings and the set are quite dull colours the lights around them and the flairs create such an strong impact on the video. I adore the flares that pop up around Matt’s face when the song gets more dramatic. It may be a simple edit but it is so effective.

I also like how the ending of the video sort of contrasts with the opening of it – the beginning is slow, dramatic dark and welcomes you into a darkened world but by the end the editing is quicker, the light sort of connotes to me lightning that feels like a metaphor for the music bringing light into their emotion and that the lyrics and music are allowing them to be heard.

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