Media Language (complete)

Visual codes

This music video acts as a semi- autobiographical video following Sam Fender as a working class teenage boy

Clothing:

  • Clothing is relatable to young audience and carries cultural connotations

  • Fender wears understated, non branded clothing which draws attention away from him as the ‘star’ of the music video — additionally signifies the music genre

  • He establishes himself as a part of the group and yet distanced from it — this is shown in the shot on top of a cliff where he is surrounded by a group of young people yet seems isolated and alone

Settings and iconography/ mise en scene

  • filmed on location in real locations — creates realism e.g car, domestic situations, urban streets

  • The houses are council estates which anchors the video in a working class realism — this was his reality — presents everyday life as emotionally complex

  • Desaturated earthy colours reinforces the sense of real life happening.

→ juxtaposed by sunn beach scenes (carefree times/ happiness)

→ and shots of his mother, driving at night, clubbing (darker/ bleaker times)

Expressions and gestures:

  • focus of the track is introspective

  • Fenders expression is serious all throughout

  • Direct mode of address involving the audience in his thoughts and narrative, challenging them to listen

Audio codes:

  • The only audio codes are the narrative lyrics Fender lip syncs at the camera however this allows all the attention to be drawn towards the story and emotion he’s putting into the words

  • However Fenders Geordie accent is clearly heard in his singing reflecting his identity

  • He also uses North Eastern dialect words in his lyrics

→ e.g ‘bizzies’ , ‘nowt’ and ‘chanter’

This reinforces how the themes of his songs are defined by his experience and upbringing specifically his North Eastern local community

Technical codes:

  • Frequent use of close up shots which forces the audience to focus on Fenders raw emotions and the narrative he is telling

→ close up shot of bloody knuckles (analysed in slides)

  • establishing shot of urban, working class milieu anchor — sets a realistic setting and suggests a representation of real life

  • It slowly zooms down a long street with Fender positioned in the middle clearly placed as part of the environment but also establishes him as the protagonist in this narrative

→ the street reflects a typical NE mining town

→ reflects how the song depicts scenarios from Fenders real life as his 17 year old self

E.g social housing in the background — representative of Fenders working class upbringing

  • The use of editing cuts between the performance of the artist and naturalistic vignettes — convey disparate narrative of Fenders youth, romance, friends and conflicts

→ Reflects how the narrative in the music video isn’t linear however this with the combination of the editing cuts could act as a symbolism for Fender’s memories, as he thinks back to 17 his memories are a blur, often disrupted with random memories (jumping back and forth in the story line)

  • montage editing sequences convey the chaos of being 17: dancing at a club, walking in the dark etc.

  • the cuts become quicker and more frantic — matching pace of the music which signifies desperation — however it could also reflect rush of emotions Fender is feeling through the floods of memories (Almost overwhelming)

  • Hand held camera — creates instability and mimics the emotional turbulence of adolescence

Narrative:

  • non linear narrative, moving between past and the present featuring disruptions and a sort of resolution — could reflect fenders dominant message of learning from your past mistakes and understanding the angst of his 17 year old self

  • Also shows that adolescence is not a clear transition but continuous changes and pressure — reinforces realism and emotional authenticity

  • The scenes that re construct situations from his youth are universal and relatable to a young target audience regardless of their living situation

  • Narrative shows Fenders viewpoint that you are the product of where you live and what happens to you in the former years

  • As video progresses artist grows larger than his environment and moves above the streets of his youth — transcending the past + leaving w a hopeful vibe

  • Different narrative strands are dominated by the performance of the artist who acts as the storyteller, a typical convention of this style of music video

→ repetitive lyrics of the chorus reinforce the narrative of his youth ‘im seventeen going under’

  • images are highly illustrative, featuring a literal interpretation of the lyrics this adds to the sense that a vivid story is being told with a clear message

This music video acts as a semi-autobiographical video following Sam Fender as a working-class teenage boy.
Clothing:

  • Clothing is relatable to a young audience and carries cultural connotations. Fender wears understated, non-branded clothing, which draws attention away from him as the 'star' of the music video — additionally signifies the music genre.
  • He establishes himself as a part of the group and yet distanced from it. This is shown in the shot on top of a cliff where he is surrounded by a group of young people yet seems isolated and alone.
    Settings and Iconography / Mise en Scene:
  • The video is filmed on location in real settings — this creates realism, e.g., cars, domestic situations, urban streets.
  • The houses are council estates which anchor the video in a working-class realism — this reflects his reality and presents everyday life as emotionally complex.
  • The desaturated earthy colors reinforce the sense of real life happening, juxtaposed by sunny beach scenes (carefree times/happiness) and shots of his mother, driving at night, clubbing (darker/bleaker times).
    Expressions and Gestures:
  • The focus of the track is introspective. Fender's expression is serious throughout.
  • There’s a direct mode of address involving the audience in his thoughts and narrative, challenging them to listen.
    Audio Codes:
  • The only audio codes are the narrative lyrics Fender lip-syncs at the camera; this allows all the attention to be drawn towards the story and emotion he’s putting into the words.
  • Fender's Geordie accent is clearly heard in his singing, reflecting his identity. He also uses North Eastern dialect words in his lyrics, e.g., ‘bizzies,’ ‘nowt,’ and ‘chanter.’ This reinforces how the themes of his songs are defined by his experience and upbringing, specifically his North Eastern local community.
    Technical Codes:
  • There is a frequent use of close-up shots that force the audience to focus on Fender's raw emotions and the narrative he is telling. For example, the close-up shot of bloody knuckles (analyzed in slides).
  • The establishing shot of the urban, working-class milieu anchors the setting, suggesting a representation of real life. It slowly zooms down a long street with Fender positioned in the middle, clearly placed as part of the environment but also establishes him as the protagonist in this narrative. The street reflects a typical NE mining town and symbolizes the scenarios from Fender's real life as his 17-year-old self, e.g., social housing in the background — representative of Fender's working-class upbringing.
  • The editing cuts between the performance of the artist and naturalistic vignettes convey the disparate narrative of Fender’s youth, romance, friends, and conflicts. This reflects how the narrative in the music video isn’t linear; however, the combination of the editing cuts could symbolize Fender’s memories, reflecting how, as he thinks back to 17, his memories are often disrupted with random memories (jumping back and forth in the storyline).
  • Montage editing sequences convey the chaos of being 17: dancing at a club, walking in the dark, etc. The cuts become quicker and more frantic, matching the pace of the music, which signifies desperation; however, it could also reflect the rush of emotions Fender is feeling through floods of memories (almost overwhelming).
  • The use of a handheld camera creates instability and mimics the emotional turbulence of adolescence.
    Narrative:
  • The narrative is non-linear, moving between past and present, featuring disruptions and a sort of resolution; this could reflect Fender's dominant message of learning from past mistakes and understanding his 17-year-old self's angst.
  • It also shows that adolescence is not a clear transition but characterized by continuous changes and pressures, reinforcing realism and emotional authenticity.
  • The scenes that reconstruct situations from his youth are universal and relatable to a young target audience, regardless of their living situation.
  • The narrative shows Fender's viewpoint that you are the product of where you live and what happens to you in your formative years.
  • As the video progresses, the artist grows larger than his environment and rises above the streets of his youth, transcending the past and leaving with a hopeful vibe.
  • Different narrative strands are dominated by the performance of the artist, who acts as the storyteller, a typical convention of this style of music video. Repetitive lyrics of the chorus reinforce the narrative of his youth, ‘I’m seventeen going under.’
  • The images are highly illustrative, featuring a literal interpretation of the lyrics, which adds to the sense that a vivid story is being told with a clear message.