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 look at a band that I spent a lot of time watching their music videos when I was growing up. I used to love going to the music store on Saturday mornings as a kid / teen and would always use my pocket money to buy a new album and I used it once to buy a DVD that was full of Green Day music videos. Like I have said I was obsessed with music videos and I spent a lot of time watching this DVD, there was so many videos I loved and there were so many reasons why.

A lot of the videos in this months list are the old school Green Day because these music videos inspired me a lot growing up. I watched them so much and was fascinated by them and thinking about it now I strongly believe the editing of them has a strong role to play. I owe Green Day alot, they were the band the that used their songs to learn the guitar and they were one of the first punk rock bands I really listened to. So if you are used to only newer Green Day videos, you are in for a treat.

Green Day – Waiting

Why did you choose this particular video?

There is one thing that I have always liked about this video and that is the way that it plays around with slow motion and normal time. The fact it’s based around a house party also means the slow motion section connote a lot of the things in time with the music.

So, what is the narrative?

A house party that the band is playing at and the young adults jump around a lot and destroy things as well as have fun.

Favourite parts of the video?

I really like the opening shots at the beginning of the video before the drums kick in. The editing jumps from close ups to long shots of an empty house to the members of the band. The editing sort of creates a sense of tension and anticipation as to what is about to happen.

As soon as the young adults enter the house it starts to play around and with the speed. As soon as they run through the door the speed is slowed down so it really sort of emphasizes the amount of people entering such a confined space.

The kitchen scene is a really good example of how the video plays with the speed throughout. In the video, all of the youths are slow motioned whilst the bend is at regular speed. Throughout the video the band and slow motion juxtapose together and it works so well. This kitchen scene is a perfect example of the two speeds together and play on the fact that they are both in the same world. The youth pouring drink in slow motion and Tre Cool has to put a glass underneath it. The play on speeds creates so many connotations for me – does it mean that the people get lost in music? Do people act like they are in slow motion when they are drunk? So many, I could go on.

Near the end of the video everyone including the band end up being the same speed, for me, i find that this is a connotation of the link and connection that music makes with the audience.