My chosen band- Twenty One Pilots

Genres: Alternative Hip-Hop, Electropop, Indie Pop, Pop Rock, Rap Rock, Alternative Rock

Twenty One Pilots is an American band formed by lead vocalist Tyler Joseph in 2009, with him is Josh
Dun who plays the role of drummer. Previous members where Nick Thomas and Chris Salih, who left
in 2011. The group received Best Pop Duo performance at the 59thAnnual Grammy Awards.

My chosen song: Stressed Out

Stressed Out is from Twenty One Pilots’ album ‘Blurryface’ released 10th of November 2015, on CDs
and available as a digital download, as well as uploaded to several platforms such as YouTube and
Spotify. It became the first album in history where every track received at least a gold certification
from the Recording Industry of America. It reached number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and
number one on Hot Rock Songs and Mainstream Top 40. It is tied with "Heathens" as the duo's
highest ranking single to date. As of December 2016, it has sold over 2.4 million copies in the U.S.

The lyrics of the song Stressed Out discuss the harsh end of an innocent childhood and the transition
to adulthood. The song focuses on nostalgia for childhood, the pressure of adulthood, and family
relationships. It also speaks from the point of view of "Blurryface" a character created for the album,
who also symbolises the figures of people in society you don’t know, yet are judged by.

Label: Fuelled by Ramen

Song Writer: Tyler Joseph

Producers: Mike Elizondo

Genre of song: Rap Rock (a fusion genre that fuses vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with
various forms of rock.) Some popular Rap Rock artists include Eminem, Linkin Park, Bring me the
Horizon, Dead by sunrise and Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

Twenty One Pilot’s Logo

How does ‘Stressed Out’ show the narrative/meaning of the song?
What techniques do they use in their videos like this one?

-Mid shot, fairly low angle

-Tyler is riding a bike down an empty road- This creates
conventions of childhood, when friend groups would go out on
their bikes together and hang out near each other’s houses or
around the neighbourhood. This can make the audience relate
and connect to the video’s message. Linking with the lyrics said in
this scene, the repetition of ‘I wish’ reminds us of innocent
childhood dreams, however these expectations are subverted
with the sad and more harsh wishes Tyler says, followed by ‘but
now I’m insecure, and I care what people think.’ This reminds us
of the unfairness of life and how it dulls the lively/hopeful
imaginations of younger people as they grow older, now having to
worry about how they are judged and how successful they are
etc. This mindset is further expressed by the empty road,
suggesting isolation and loneliness as fun childhood times are lost
in the past you can’t go back to.

-Wide shot, camera shakes to the movement of his

walking which allows the viewer to feel they are moving
with him. It then cuts to his perspective as he approaches
a door. (Often uses simple transitions like cuts and
alternates from fast to slow paced)

-Wide shot, Side view

- We see the them both do a friendship handshake
which is a clear representation of childhood, possibly
creating the feeling of nostalgia to viewers of more
relaxed times of simple games with friends. This is
emphasised with the lyrics ‘Wish we could turn back
time, to the good old days.’

They also often use close

Throughout the video there are more semiotics of childhood to reinforce
ups/extreme close ups, showing
those themes. Such as this scene of them drinking capri suns or when the
deep shadows and their facial
characters visit each other’s houses. The fact that they are representing
expressions clearly. The negative
these characters of their younger selves as adults implies the transition to
space surrounding him suggests
adult hood and their reluctance to leave behind what they used to do as
uncertainty, isolation and sadness
kids. To add to this depressing mood, their surroundings maintain a drained
with the contrasting red possibly
and gloomy appearance, with dull colours, dead grass and trees.
implying frustration and anger.
Example of Twenty One Pilots using performance
elements in their video: Like most of Twenty One Pilots videos and songs (e.g. Ride
Top image- Stressed Out and Heathens), they focus largely on darker themes about
Bottom image- Ride life and the world (Lots of dark colour schemes and mise
en scene). This is also a common representation in Rap
Rock genre, for example Linkin Park with their song ‘What
I’ve Done’ which focuses on the issue of war, poverty and
general destruction of the planet. Also, similarly to Twenty
One Pilots, they often show lots of performance elements
with the band playing their instruments in one or more
location. This is very common in rap rock, and could be
used as a way to emphasise a feeling of passion and
expressing their strong emotions by showing them
perform in a desert (What I’ve Done) bedroom (Stressed
Out) or woods (Ride.) Furthermore, they also use lots of
imagery and visual effects (such as flashing lights/blurred
shots and fast-moving ones) or the singers themselves
play characters in the video to tell the narrative, which is
popular in Twenty One Pilots videos.

Example of Linkin Park showing performance elements:

Most commonly used shots in the music video Stressed

Out:
Close Ups/Extreme Close Ups-
Extreme Wide Shots/ Long Shots and Establishing Shots-
Wide Shot-
Low and High Angles-
Side profile view and forward-facing views-

They also use camera movement in a variety of ways. Sometimes

is moves towards or away from the singer, other times they use
a shaky camera technique to imply you moving with them, or
rotational pans with the camera which is also used in Linkin
Parks ‘What I’ve Done’

These shots are also used in other rap rock music videos

Examples of visual effects used (flashing

lights/blurred effects/fast moving
images/extreme close ups/ dark lighting)
These are all used to help reinforce the
narrative behind the song and establish
the tone of the video.