This is gospel music video analysis - using theorists

1. “This Is Gospel” by Panic! At The Disco Analysis
SHANNON FOWKES

2. Theorists:
Andrew Goodwin:
Andrew Goodwin's theory is that
there are three different ways a
music video can link back to the
song. Theses ways are illustration,
amplification and disjuncture.
Todorov:
Todorov's theory is that all
stories follow the same
narrative structure:
1) Equilibrium
2) Disruption of equilibrium
3) Recognition of disruption
4) An attempt to repair the
damage
5) New equilibrium
Propp:
Propp's character theory is
the argument that the
same type of characters
appear in nearly all stories.
These characters are:
1) The hero
2) The villain
3) The princess
4) The helper
5) The dispatcher
6) The false hero
7) The dispatcher
Strauss:
Strauss believed that they way
we understand words is by
understanding the difference
between the word and it's
"opposite". Strauss liked to call
this "binary opposites". Binary
opposites are used a lot in the
media. The most obvious and
most common binary opposite
is good vs evil. The binary
opposites are becoming less
obvious over time.

3. Genre Characteristics:
Unlike other pop rock music videos, this one only includes the
lead singer and does not include the band at all. The
performance parts are also part of the narrative. This challenges
the convention of using the whole band in the performance
and/or having some form of stage performance. This may be
because Brendon Urie wrote the song himself was the only
original band member left. However, this also may be because
it flows with the concept of the video and a stage performance
could have ruined the flow.
The video includes both narrative and performance, which is a
common convention of modern pop rock music videos.
However, this music video has a symbolic narrative, which is not
as common within the pop rock genre.

4. Relationship between lyrics and visuals:
The lyric “If you love me let me go” from the first chorus is
paired with a visual of Brendon suddenly sitting up and
trying to get away, but the ‘doctors’ keep holding onto him
and pulling him back. This visual matches the lyric as
Brendon is fighting to break free, but the others characters
won’t let him go.
Before Brendon sings “these words are knives and often
leave scars” his mouth is covered by 4 hands. He then
pushes his head forward, which forces the hands off him
and delivers the line. This shows the hands are trying to
stop him from talking as what he says can hurt someone.

5. Near the end of the song there is a lot of onscreen action as
the line “this is the beat of my heart” repeats. The main image
is Brendon trying to run forward, but keeps getting pulled
back by rope that is wrapped around him. This matches the
overall theme of the song of trying to break free.
This visual does not match a specific lyric, but matches the
meaning of the song. The song is about drug abuse and how
it’s hard to break free from addiction. This visual shows that
their addiction is forcing them to continue to take drugs.
This is another visual that does not match a specific lyric,
but matches the meaning of the song. The visual of
Brendon being put in a coffin by the ‘doctors’ represents
the drug addiction being the death of him.

6. Relationship between music and visuals:
The beginning of the song is slow, which is represented through the
minimal visual. The start of the video is Brendon lying down singing the first
verse. The symbolic narrative starts during the pre chorus and the visuals
also increase in pace at this point. This is because the music starts to build
up to the chorus. Up until the first chorus, the visuals are one clip – no cuts.
The first cut is when Brendon quickly sits up and sings “if you love me let
me go”. Slow motion is used during the visuals of Brendon trying to break
free. This matches the long note of ‘go’ and is a good contrast between the
quick movements before and after that line. A lot more cuts and quick
movement are used in the chorus whereas the visuals for the verses are a
lot more calmer and use less cuts. Near the end of the song during the last
chorus and where “this is the beat of my heart” montage and quick paced
editing is used to match the beat of
the song. A lot of short quick paced visuals are
used, which go well with the tempo of the
song.

7. Selling the artist:
In order to sell the artist, many close ups have to be used to
create a bond between the artist and their audience. This is
what makes the audience dedicated to the artist as it creates
an ideal version of the artist that the audience feel like they
know. This method is also used in this music video. Many
close ups of Brendon Urie are used. He is usually singing
during these close ups. At the beginning of the song Brendon
is wearing a white shirt, black skinny jeans and converse.
Brendon is known for wearing this look, which makes the
audience connect more to him as the video shows the
Brendon the audience are used to seeing. Brendon is later in a
suit, which became a more common outfit for him when this
song was released. It was new to the audience, which helped
sell the artist.

8. Notion of looking:
A lot of music videos use the notion of
looking. This music video uses it too.
Brendon Urie looks directly into the camera
many times in the music video. This creates a
bond between the audience and the artist as
the it makes the audience feel like the artist is
looking at them. Every time Brendon looked
into the camera, a close up is used, which
helps reinforce the connection between the
artist and their audience.

9. Primary Structure:
The main structure of the music video is performance and
concept based. The performance is part of the narrative instead
of being a part of a montage edit. The concept of the music
video is personifying addiction. The doctors play the role of the
addiction that keeps pulling Brendon back in each time he tries
to ‘let go’ of the addiction. Brendon often sings in the video, but
the performance does not break the narrative.

10. Narrative: Equilibrium – The equilibrium was hard to notice.
After taking the whole narrative into
consideration I noticed the equilibrium is the
artist being alive at the start of the video. He is
alive and being checked over by ‘doctors’.
Disruption – A disruption occurs when the
artists suddenly sits up in an attempt to get
away from the doctors. This occurs during
the chorus. This is the recognition of the
disruption.
Attempt to repair – The ‘doctors’ attempt to
repair the disruption is to put the artist into
a coffin (when they’re not dead).
New equilibrium – Finally, the new equilibrium is
the artist being dead. This occurs at the end of
the video and is shown by the artist running
towards a bright light and paired with the sound
of flatlining.
Even though this music
video has a more abstract
narrative it still follows
Todorov’s narrative
theory structure.

11. Characters:
The only character types that appear in the music video
are the hero and the villain. These characters are not
that easy to spot. The other roles play one villain as they
keep trying to keep the artist and literally put him in a
coffin. They are also shown in a creepy way as you do
not see any of their faces and their moves are quite
robotic. Brendon plays the hero as he tries to fight
against the villain. However, there is no other signs that
the artist is the hero, so he may just be the victim. This
means that the video does not follow Propp’s theory as
only one character type is present.
The other roles all play one villain as they represent
addiction.

12. Binary opposites:
The most obvious binary opposite present in the video if
life vs death. The video starts with the artist alive and
fighting against the other characters. In the second verse
the other characters put him in a coffin, which he breaks
out of (fighting death). However, at the end of the video
the artist loses the battle and dies.
The other opposite present in the video is your typical
good vs evil. Brendon is the good character who is fighting
to stay alive. The other characters are evil as they try to
keep Brendon tied down and appear to be trying to kill
him.

13. Codes:
The music video has quite a tense atmosphere as we are
seeing the artist fight against the other characters who are
tying him down against his will. The needle being forced into
Brendon also creates a tense atmosphere as most people
don’t like seeing that sort of image.
The needle being forced into the artist represents
addiction. This represents how addiction forces you to do
things you would not normally do.
The characters always pulling the artist back. The
characters represent addiction and them pulling the
artist back implies that the artist wants to be free from
addiction, but is unable to leave.