The Foo Fighters music video for "Learn to Fly" parodies the 1975 film "Airport" by depicting the band members in various roles on a commercial flight. The video uses quick cuts and a natural color scheme to match the fast pace of the song. It shows the characters interacting comedically while the band also performs on a TV screen. Towards the end, drugs that were secretly added to the coffee cause the pilots to hallucinate and the band must land the plane. The video pays homage to the original film through similar scenes and references Dave Grohl's past in Nirvana.

1. Foo Fighters
Learn to Fly
By Alyshia Knowlson

2. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. Stage performance in rock or
mental videos and a dance routine in a girl/boy band videos.
• In Goodwin’s theory it sates that every musical
genre has certain characteristics that define what
genre of music the video is. Foo Fighter’s Learn
to Fly video is again a rock genre music video
and is taken from the bands 1999 debut album
“There is Nothing Left to Loose”.
• The concept of the music video is that it is taking
the fun out of all the stuff that happens at an
airport and on a areophane
• Unlike Paramore’s The Only Exception, this must
video moves along at a much quicker with the
use of quick short paced shots, with each scene
moving to the beast of the song.
• The colour scheme that is used is very natural as
there are no colour pallets used. This is different
to Paramore’s The Only Exception where the
each scene had it’s own colour scheme.
• The music video is based on the film “Airport”
which was released in 1975, where some scenes
from the film are used in the music video.

3. There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (either
illustrative, amplifying or contradicting)
• The music video is narrative based as it follows on particular fight where we see all of the members of the
Foo Fighter’s playing different roles as air staff. There is no relationship between the lyrics and the visuals
apart from the chorus “Learn to Fly” The video opens with Jack Black and Kyle Gass (Tenacious D) play
two mechanics who are getting the plane ready for take off where we see Jack Black smuggle and hide
their narcotic known as "World Domination brand 'Erotic' Sleeping Powder" in the coffee-maker as Dave
Grohl ( Foo Fighters singer) who plays a gay air staff enter the plane.
• After this intro the song begins we see each band member Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, and Taylor Hawkins
portray themselves as well as several other roles such as the pilots and air staff. At the start of the song
we see them welcome people on board of the plane especially a fat women who Dave plays. The reason
for this is that it is mocking those who are overweight and struggle on planes. Also on boar the plane we
meet a whole lot of other passengers who are played by the band, such as a Foo Fighters fan girl who
sees Dave Grohl who plays himself as a passenger on the plane and gets her album signed.

4. There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (either
illustrative, amplifying or contradicting)
• Whilst all of this is going in we also get to see the band perform through a TV on a wall of the plane, tis
could imply that the plane journey could be a long time and therefore the passenger could need to be
entertained.
• Referring back to the story of the music video there is a cameo of Dave Grohl playing Kurt Cobian
(Nirvana singer). This was the first band Dave Grohl was ever in which he played the drums until Kurt
committed suicide. After Kurt death Dave went onto form the Foo Fighters. After this cameo we see
another Foo Fighter member start to make the drinks for the passengers where he fails to notice the
drugs that Jack Black had hidden. The coffee if then given to some of the passengers and the air staff
including the piolets where the start hallucinating.

5. There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (either
illustrative, amplifying or contradicting)
• Towards the end of the music video the drugs start to have an effect to the pilots flying which
leads Dave Gorhl and the rest of the band who are playing themselves as passengers to take
control over the plane as they did not drink the coffee and they safely land the plane. Finally
the last scene shows Dave playing an FBI agent who arrest Jack Black and Kyle Gass for
sneaking the drugs onto the plane.

6. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of
close-ups of the artists and the artist may develop motifs which
recur across their work e.g. visual image
• The music video uses a lot of different camera especially close ups of the front man Dave Grohl as he his
a well known frontman so it will be key that the camera gets as many close ups as they can throughput
the music video. As well as Dave Grohl the music video also features Jack Black who is a famous well
known actor, although he and is band partner Kyle Gass are making a brief cameo in this music video it is
still key for the camera to get enough shots and close ups as the can of the two.
The main start image of this music video is Dave Grohl who is the frontman of the Foo Fighter and through he
years has created his own visual style, his iconic symbolic look is his long hair and his beard.

7. There are frequent references to the notion of looking (screens,
telescopes etc.) and particularly voyeuristic (sexual) treatment of the
male body
• This music video shows no sexual treatment of the male body as it would be completely out od
context with the whole music video. The concept of the music video could be classed as a
comedy stench as the band are taking their song “Learn to Fly” as an opportunity to mock the
reality of working on an aeroplane. The music video does uses a lot of the same scenes and it is
telling a narrative story of one flight, so there is a need to recap to the scenes to show the
passing of time.
• The mise en scene of this video is set in the present day (1999 when the music video was
released) maintains to use a high key lighting throughout the scene which involve the
passengers as it is key for the audience to see what is going on. Plus a low key lighting is used in
the control room is very dark which could illustrate the time to day it is, according to the music it
looks like the plane set off early evening. The costumes that the band where are very simple and
they reflect the character that the band are playing this is key for the audience to know what
character each band member is mean to be playing.

8. There is often intertextual references (to films, TV programmes,
other music videos etc.)
• The music video is a is set on a commercial airliner, which parodying the movie “Airport !”.
Clips of the film are used in the take off and in the landing sequence of the music video. The
band members also mirror Karen Black’s role in the movie as each band member avoids
drinking the coffee for liquor instead of the coffee that has been intoxicated with the drug.
The film “Airport” was released in 1975 and was the
and was the main basis for the Foo Fighters music
video as wells as parodying the movie “Airplane”
1980. In 2015 a video was published of 1,000 Italian
musician in Cesena, Italy all playing and singing to
the song in unison, which was followed by a plea for
the Foo Fighters to come and play a concert is
Cesena, which the eventually did and the music
video gained more that 22 million views.