The music video for "Stressed Out" by Twenty One Pilots uses a mixture of narrative and performance elements. It tells a story of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun wanting to return to their carefree childhoods. Various settings like streets, houses, and bedrooms are meant to look like places from their past. Costumes feature childhood-inspired drawings and styles. Lighting creates warm, happy moods. A oversized tricycle symbolizes Tyler Joseph's desire to recapture his youth. Overall, the video explores the theme of nostalgia for adolescence through its settings, costumes, lighting, and props.

1. Review of Original Music Video
Jasmine Rodrigues-Campbell

2. Twenty one Pilots
Stressed Out

3. • Stressed outs music video is a mixture because it has a narrative
throughout but it also has a performance in the same shots as the
narrative. As shown below the main singer, Tyler Joesph is going
somewhere on a tricycle but is also singing the song. This shows it is
a mixture music video.
• As well as this being a mixture the music video is also thematic as it
has the theme of the journey from adolescence to adulthood. It
shows this because they are adults that are going back to there
childhood homes to record there songs. You see it is their old rooms
because it has pictures of their younger selves and all their trophies
they won from when parents forced them to play sport

4. Settings
The first setting in ‘Stressed Out’ is out on the
streets in a neighbourhood. This setting along
with the fact that Tyler Joesph is on a tricycle
suggests that he is trying to go somewhere,
maybe back to when he was younger. The
setting suggest this because it looks like
somewhere he could have lived as a child with
his family. This is relatable to the American
audience because they travel on tricycles around
their estates as children.

5. Setting
This setting is outside some ones house. This house might be Josh
Dun’s house because he is the one coming out of the house. Him and
Tyler meet each other and do a handshake. Handshakes are usually
made up by children so because they are both doing it as adults it
implies that’s they both want to be younger again when it was socially
acceptable to do really long handshakes.
Also this setting suggests that they are knocking on each others doors
like children do when they are younger because children don’t have
phones so they would knock for each other to ask if they could play
together and this shows that they are wanting to be children by still
doing this. This makes it relatable to the audience because this is
probably what the audience used to do when they were children.

6. Setting
This next setting is in the house is a living room. This is
the heart of the house because everything happens here.
When children are little they may play in the living room
of someone else’s house. This is relatable to the audience
because they would have probably gone to other peoples
houses and played in their living room when they were
younger.
This setting is suggesting that they are doing this as well
because they are playing with their instruments but have
continued doing this from being children into adulthood.

7. Setting
This setting is in a child’s room. You can tell from
the amount of trophies for sport and the fact that
there are lots of photo frames with pictures of a
young boy.
This is implying that they are ‘playing’ at each
others houses just like they used to when they
were little. This is relatable because as I said
previously, the audience are likely have gone to
their friends house to play which is what these guys
are basically doing.

8. Setting
White usually represents happiness and purity
but in this setting it suggests that both Tyler and
Josh are in their dream world being happy
because they are laying on their beds. Their
dream worlds turn from good to bad when their
family shout at them reminding them that they
are grown men who need to make money then
their beds disappear.

9. Setting
Black represents unhappiness and impurity. This
image above shows Tyler Joesph in a black room
with red eyes. This suggests that he is unhappy
with his life as it is and he wishes for it to be
different. As well as this it also suggests that he
would rather be with the devil than continue the
life he is living where he has to be an adult and
not have fun.

10. Costumes
One of the main people in this music video is
wearing a black top, tights, shoes and shorts
with two white strips. Red hat, bag and socks.
These are shown in the pictures to the right
and above.
These are sort of relatable to the target
audience which is teenagers are young adults
because they will probably be quite trendy
and will wear a lot of black clothes however
Josh’s costume is suggesting that he doesn’t
care what people think because he is dressing
like a child has dressed themselves because it
isn’t a very flattering outfit.

11. Costumes
The main colours Tyler Joseph is wearing is
black, red and white. These are also the only
colours in their logo (shown below) which
shows that by wearing these colours they will
also promote themselves and will make the
audience remember them when their logo is
not shown everywhere in the video. The colours
are also relatable because their fans will
recognise these and the fact that black and
white will be similar colours to what their
audience wears. The fans will recognise these
colours because the logo is plastered all over in
their music videos and on tour.

12. Costumes
These small illustrations on the bag shown in the top right corner
of the screen look like children drawings that have been drawn
by an adults suggesting that he still loves to act childish and
graffiti on his possessions but he has done them for so long that
his art skills have got better. The design of these drawing are also
similar to the logo of Twenty One Pilots shown underneath
which means it is also slyly giving the audience more references
to themselves. This is relatable because all children draw and
doodle just like what the audience would have done when they
were younger.

13. Costumes
Tyler Joseph is wearing black paint on his hands and neck.
When young children are given paint they usually paint
their hands and anything they can find because they are
experimenting as well as that they are young enough not
to care about what people think.
In the picture above, Tyler is showing off the paint on his
hands and neck which is what children do. This is
suggesting that he is wanting to act like he is free from all
judgement that he gets for being himself and acting
younger.
This is relatable because a lot of kids do this especially
because a lot of kids have dirty hands.

14. Costumes
The tattoos on his arm also look similar to the
drawings on his bag as they are the same style
of drawing. It is showing that even whilst an
adult he still wants a reminder of his childhood.
Tattoos are relatable because anybody is able to
get them and they are seen as quite fashionable
because they look nice.

15. Costumes
Josh Dun is wearing a black cap, jeans and
shoes and a black and white top. He also has
red hair which are the colours of the Twenty
One Pilots logo which is shown above.
Josh is wearing skinny jeans because they are
relatable to the audience that listen to them
such as teenage boys and girls. His hair is
trendy because it is a bright colour and there
are always fashions of people dying their hair
weird colours like grey and rose gold which
goes with the codes and conventions of the
genre.

16. Costume
Below are Josh and Tyler laid on a bed in their dream world.
They are wearing a red shirt and jeans and black shoes. The
red represents passion and determination. These two have all
of that with trying so hard to act how they like from when
they were younger with no responsibility or judgement.
The beds are identical to suggest that they are both in their
dream world together the only difference is that its their own
family that is shouting at them.
They are in beds because it is relatable because their target
audience is teenagers and young adults so it is relatable for
them to stay in their beds all day and not want to get up.

17. Costume
Above shows the families of Josh and Tyler are stood
above their beds, just like they would be when they were
teenagers, telling them they need to get up, grow up and
get a job. Their parents, brothers and sisters are all
wearing black because black represents power and they
all have a higher authority than then because they have
all grown up but Josh and Tyler are still in their dream
world with still being young teens.
They families are also wearing black to show the contrast
in positive and negative because the background is white
to show positivity and happiness where as them wearing
black represents the negativity and the unhappiness they
are bring about on their lives.

18. Lighting
The lighting at the start of the music video has natural
lighting because they are outside. This creates the mood
of happiness because he is doing what he wants to do.
You know he is beginning to be happy because the early
daylight represents the happiness he is feeling.
The day is quite cloudy as that reflects back on his mood
as he feels quite down about the fact that he is all grown
up but he doesn’t want to
If he was really upset and possibly even crying then the
weather would be raining. If he was extremely happy
then the sky would be really bright with the sun.

19. Lighting
The lighting in this scene has quite a warming
feeling. It is suggesting that the are all close friends
in the room and are like family. The lighting is
yellow which represents happiness, suggesting that
they are happy with what they are doing and being
in the company of each other doing what they love.
This is relatable because most people having living
rooms that they feel at home in because of the
warming light.

20. Props
This setting, shown above, along with the fact that Tyler
Joseph is on a tricycle suggests that he is trying to go
somewhere, maybe back to when he was younger as tricycles
are used by children. The tricycle that he is using is over sized
which shows he is an adult on the outside but is a child at
heart trying to get back to what he was like when he was
younger. As well as, this the tricycle goes with the colour
theme of red, black and white.
The tricycle is setting the era because it is showing that he is a
fully grown man however he is on a tricycle suggesting that he
is trying to act like how he could when he was younger. The
tricycle is too big for him to compensate for the fact that he is
an adult trying to be a child.

21. Props
These props are instruments. They are used to make the
music video look a lot more realistic. Their group name is
clearly draw on the drum suggesting that these are just
starting out and not really big as they can't afford to get it
professionally printed on. This is also suggested by the
fact that they are performing in their living room and not
onstage in front of thousands of people.
These are relatable to the target audience because a lot
of people who will like this sort of music will either be in
a band, learning an instrument or wanting to learn an
instrument. If they are wanting to learn one then they
might aspire to be as good as these people playing so will
look up to them and listen to all their music.

22. Props
These drinks are Capri Sun's that children always
drink when they are little and the fact that they are
doing this while they are adults suggests that they
are trying to remember the times when they were
little and used to sit with each other on the curb
before going back to someone's house, which is
what they are doing now.
This prop is also relatable to the audience because
every child when they were little used to drink
these little drinks, bringing make memories and
nostalgia to the audience.

23. Props
This scene shows lots of different props, all are
suggesting it's a child's room because of the trophies
that are scattered around the room and the fact that
there are two or three single beds and there are photo
frames of a young boy. These suggest a boys room
because a lot of children do sport at a young age due to
their parents encouragement making it relatable to the
audience since most children did sports at a young age
because of their parents encouragement. This could be
Tyler’s room as we already know that he wishes to be
child like again because he doesn't.

24. Props
Two beds are shown here. As I said previously, I think this
scene is them in their dreamland of not being adults so the
beds are used to make it more realistic to allow the
audience to make their own interpretation of the events.
Them lying in bed is relatable to their target audience
because their audience will be teenagers who like to spend
all day in bed and like to sleep all the time therefore the
audience will be able to relate and think that these people
like to do this too.
Using beds makes it more realistic because if they were
both laying on the floor, no one would have any idea what
they are doing.

25. Body Language
• Through out most of the music video the two
main characters would act awkward like they are
somewhat shy in front of each other. They do this
because they are acting like they are new friends
again like when they were younger.
• Below shows Josh’s reaction to when Tyler says
something weird in the lyrics.
• The facial expressions of Tyler occasionally look
quite distant like they are in thought, reminiscing
on the past and they are stuck in their dream
world.

26. Camera Angles
Above, shows the first shot in the music video
meaning it is a master shot. A wide shot is used
for the master shot as it clearly depicts the
subject, which is Tyler and the background
which is setting the scene for the rest of the
music video. The background is a road with lots
of houses, cars and trees which is showing us
that it is a neighbourhood estate which is likely
where he lived as a child with his parents.

27. Camera Angles
This shot is a midshot which allows the audience to
see the subject in more detail. They use this as their
second shot because the first shot shows one of the
main people from quite far away then the next one
shows the same person but closer to him so is
made to seem like the audience is getting to know
the person over the two shots.
This shot also allows the audience to see his
costume in more detail because it helps set us up
for the rest of the video because we are starting to
learn about him by the way he dresses and acts.

28. Camera Angles
The close up is used to show the audience the drums that
they have wrote the name of their group on. This is
relatable to some of the audience because as I said
previously, some of the audience who like indie music will
be in a band and may pretend they are big and famous by
writing their group name on the drums to feel better
about themselves.
Close ups are also used to show the finer details of
something the audience might miss otherwise such as
facial expressions of someone being killed or a person
leaving something in a room for someone else

29. Camera Angles
Another close up is used in this music video.
This time it is used to show the audience the
facial expressions of the artist and the passion
he has for this song. This is relatable because a
lot of people are in bands trying to get big but
they wouldn’t try if they didn’t have passion so
will enjoy seeing other artists of the genre they
like also having a lot of passion for what they do.

30. How it follows the genre codes
The music genre for this is alternative/indie.
One of the codes and conventions this music video
follows is shots that are cut to the pace. This is
mainly used at the start every time you here a "du
dum". They change shot each time so the audience
can have a closer look at the artist.
This will keep the audience engaged because it
allows them to have a different view or angle every
time instead of just having one really long shot that
will make the audience not care any more and
possibly turn off the music video.

31. How it follows the genre codes
Another code and convention used is simplistic setting.
The only settings they used is their own childhood
houses, a studio for the white/black room and the
streets. None of these would a lot cost money but still
makes the music video look good. This way they are able
to show off their talents without having to fly out to an
African zoo to film like other artists have.
The settings are relatable because all the young adults
and teenagers watching will have been children at one
point so will be able to relate to the houses and the
bedrooms shown.

32. The genre codes it didn’t follow
Live performances were not used in this music
video. The only performances shown were built into
the narrative making the shots of the narrative and
performance making the shots a mixture. I feel they
didn’t have a live performance as it would ruin the
feel of the music video because they are trying to
build the feeling of nostalgia and unhappiness with
life but then the concert shots would show energy
and everyone being happy so would ruin the feel of
the music video

33. Was it successful?
They successfully used some of the codes and
conventions for an indie song however they didn't have a
live performance which are commonly used in these
types of music videos because it allows a wide range of
camera angles and it is used when the a group don't have
a large budget for the music video because you don't
have to film in expensive locations just where the group is
performing anyway.
Therefore I believe that this music video is successful
because they managed to create feeling and moods
within the audience as well as successfully tell a story
with their narrative.