The music video depicts 4 Roman gladiators portrayed by Fall Out Boy. It shows a linear narrative of a gladiator battle in ancient Rome for entertainment. The video contains heavy religious iconography like paintings of Jesus and the Virgin Mary that could link to criticism of the Catholic Church. It is set in ancient Rome with establishing shots of the Colosseum and city to emphasize the time period and grandeur. While unconventional for this genre by lacking a performance narrative, conceptual videos are common in pop music.

1. Chloe Gilmour
The music videoforFall OutBoy’s‘Centuries’depicts4maincharacter whoare portrayedbythe
band.The charactersare 4 romangladiators.The representationsof malesinthiswayare
stereotypical.Gladiatorsare oftenthoughtof tobe strong,powerful andintimidating.Insociety
todaythese are also connotationsformen,whilewomenare stereotypedasbeingsubmissive,shy
and compliant.There are alsofemale representationsandreligiousfiguresseenthroughoutthe
video,howeverthe portrayal islimited. There isalsothe male antagonistfighterwhopossessesthe
qualitiesof awildanimal withinhisfightingtechnique.He once againisportrayedas powerful and
intimidating.Onthe otherhandthere withwhatlimitedrepresentationthere is,thereisalsoa
female portrayed. Withinthistime we establishthatshe iseitheraqueenorprincess.While we do
associate the queenashavingpowerwithakinginvolvedaswell herpowerisquicklydiminished,
whichisa stereotype of female power.There isalsoascene withthe pope atthe time with3 women
belowhim.Inthe pastand currentlyCatholicismhasbeencriticised,especiallyinAmerica,asbeing
corrupt. Thisportrayal of the pope couldbe linkingtothatideaof corruptioninthe church.
Narrative events:There isalinearnarrative withinthismusicvideo.Itdepicts agladiatorbattle
whichwascommon in ancientRome.Theywere asource of entertainmentforthousandshowever
were sadlysometimesusedtoexhibitthe strengthof aromanfighteragainstan untrainedperson.
The narrative linkstothe song name,Centuries.The name couldalso be linkingtothe religious
elementsastheyhave beenpresentwithinthe Western
culture forcenturies.There isnoperformance narrative
whichisuncommonfora songof thisgenre,howeveris
commonfor popvideos.
Iconography:The videoisheavywithreligiousiconography.
For example,the image “Maternal HeartOf Mary” is
parodiedwithinthe video. The sinisterlookonthe video
print-screenseenabove linkstowhatwassaidpreviouslyof the CatholicChurch
beingcriticised.Inadditiontothe paintingof Mary there isalsoa shot of Jesus on
the cross and a character that couldbe portrayingAngel Gabriel.Thiscouldlinkto
the stereotype of rockbandsinthe pastbeingdefiantandrebellious.Inthe past
Christianitywasamassive partof westernculture soto parodyit would’vebeenan
act of rebellionandlinksintowhatLyotard saidaboutthe deathof meta-narratives.
Alsothe throwingof the pebble linkstoone of the storieswhere awomanis about
to be stonedforadulteryandJesusasks“He whois withoutsincanthrow the first
stone”.Theycouldbe implyingthattheyare pure and innocentwhichremovesthe
stigmaof rock artistsbeingrebelliousanddefiant. Inaddition,the iconographyof
the coliseumandestablishingshotof the citygive us an ideaof the settingandtime
periodinwhichthe videoisset.Alsowhenthe title of the videothereisareligious
cross inplace of the t.
Setting:Fromthe establishingshotof the cityand the CGI iconicbuildingwe know thatthe settingis
ancientRome.The stadiumislarge and full of people emphasisingthe grandeurof the video.Itcould
alsobe a representationof the growingpopularityof the band.The settingalsolinksinwiththe
narrative withitbeinga famouslandmark,knownforitsbattlesusedasentertainment. Inaddition,
withinthe paintingsthe backgroundsare cloudsinall of themThislinkstowhatmost people
imagine Heaventolooklike withwhite cloudstosuggestinnocence andpurity.

2. Chloe Gilmour
Technical andaudiocodes:Firstly,when the wordcenturiesappearsonthe screenthe t appearsto
be a religiouscrossingraffiti form.Thiscouldbe meantasa parodyof the cross as graffiti isanact of
defiance andcouldbe offensive tosome people whoidentifyasChristian.Itlinkstothe stereotype
of people wholistentorockbeingrebelliousanddefiant. Atthe startthere isalsodiegeticsoundto
helpestablishthe settingof aincentRome withhorsesandpeople inthe village.Furthermore,there
are alsoclose upsof mainantagonisttomake himseemlargerand more intimidating.There also
seemstobe a browntintwhichcouldbe emphasisingthe time periodaswe know oldfilmswere
oftenblack/whiteorbrown/white.Lastly,there are longshotsof the paintingsof the characters.
These paintingscenesallowustofocuson the narrative forsome of the characters e.g.the angel or
the King.
Neale’sMental Machinery: The videoisnotstereotypical of it’sgenre asitisconceptual andlinear
withno performance.Howevermostmusicvideo’s withinthisgenre have atleastsome
performance basednarrative.Howeverfullyconceptual videosare seenofteninthe popgenre for
example inTaylorSwift’sWildestDreams. Itcouldsuggestatransitionfromindie rocktobeingmore
presentwithinpop culture.