Shinedown Bully -

inspiration for our music

video production: We, The
Broken by SilverbySkyline.
By Thomas Cutmore
Background information about the band
Shinedown is an American hard rock band from Jacksonville, Florida,
formed in 2001 and founded by members Brent Smith (vocals), Brad
Stewart (bass), Jasin Todd (guitar), and Barry Kerch (drums).
The song Bully was first released as a single of their forthcoming album
Amaryllis. The song itself was released as a single on the 3
rd
of January
2012. The song reflects the personal experience of the band members,
especially Brent Smith who suffered from bullying and alienation in high
school and outside in his social life, which in the end he fought back to
stand his ground against the alienation and the bullying.
In an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine he explained that the song
meant: - "about not feeling like you can't stand up for yourself and take
back your self respect if you feel as if someone is belittling you or trying to
push you around. The song is not condoning violence. What it is condoning
is survival. I don't think that anyone should ever have their self-respect or
their dignity taken from them."
The music video
Why this music video is inspirational
The music itself is inspirational to us as it emphasises the constant
fear that the victim suffers when they are bullied as it uses short and
sharp shots of the victims along with what they are afraid of. It also
helps bring up the feeling of fear as the victims are scared even
though they are on their own, showing the mental suffering that
bullying and alienation could bring as well.
The music video also shows the idea of society rejecting you, treating
you as if you were invisible. This is shown through how the victim is
being bullied and abused, where everyone around them just watches
and/or ignores and refuses to help.
Screenshots of this
Ignorance showing
alienation/the lack of care of
society for the individual
Bullying taking place The individual (society) ignoring it
Bullying taking place The individual (society) ignoring it
Demonstration of genre characteristics
The song itself has a post grunge, alternative metal, hard rock genre
towards it.
The band themselves are enforcing their music genre as their fashion
emphasises the alternative genre to their music as they are seen mostly in
black and gothic attire.
The scene itself and the colour used in the edit also creates a darker genre
and atmosphere as the colour which is mostly used for the band uses a lot
of only black and white colouring, emphasising the darkness of the genre
and theme of the song.
There are also a lot of aggressive shots of the band, especially close ups of
the lead singer Brent where as he sings into the camera the camera shakes,
emphasising the hard rock and the power of the song.
Screenshots of the demonstration of
genre characteristics
The use of
shadowing
upon band
members
Close up
aggressive shots
of Brent, -
emphasising the
power of the
music
The dark, gothic clothing
The relationship between lyrics and
visuals
There is a strong relationship between lyrics and visuals in this music
video as some of the lyrics which are mentioned then link with the
visual picture straight after or during the singing. An example of this
would be Make another joke/While they hang another rope, and at
the same time these lyrics are mentioned there is footage of a rope
hanging.
There is also another strong relationship with the lyrics and visuals as
in the music video and the lyrics it mentions; - Whenever I see black
and blue/I feel the past/I share the bruise, the visuals show the bully
who is dressed in black (black) beating the victim (bruise) in a blue
lit mise en scene, which the women who is focused upon is also
wearing blue (blue).
Screenshots of the relationship between
lyrics and visuals
Whenever I see black and blue/I feel the
past/I share the bruise
blue blue clothing blue blue
mise-en
scene
black the bullys
clothing
Make another joke/While they hang another
rope as these lyrics are mentioned it cuts to
this rope scene indicating the relationship of
the lyrics and visuals. The editing and camera
work along with the mise-en scene gives the
rope a sinister and unpleasant feel towards it.
The relationship between the music and
visuals
The music and visuals itself also link as the music has a fast paced beat to
it, which is matched with the quick cuts and edits of the music videos
visuals.
There is also another relationship with the music and visuals as during the
opening 6-8 seconds of the music video, the music itself builds up during
the opening titles, until then when it moves to the performance it shows
the bullies beating someone but as their stick they are using to beat drops,
the drums and guitar kick in, giving the music and visuals synchronisation.
There are also synchronisations with the chorus and the visuals as when
the music first kicks into chorus beat, the victims shown are all attacked
according to the tune of the guitar, i.e. as the chorus kicks in, the victims
are all attacked by the bullies who cover their faces with bags.
Screenshots of the relationship between
music and visuals
As the chorus kicks in the victims get
attacked in almost a blink of an eye
movement showing relationships
between the pace of the music and
the visuals of the video
0.04
0.05/6
As the song starts,
the visuals of the
beating kicks in the
drum and guitar as
when the sticks drop
so do the drummers
Demands of the record label/The
Creation of Visual Style
The music video does touch on demands of the record with aspects
such as close ups. These close ups both focus upon the lead singer
Brent and also the actors/actresses in the scenes that they act.
In terms of the lead singer, the close ups bring about the power of the
music and the meaning of the lyrics. It emphasises the strength in the
lead singer and how strongly he (and the band) feel against this issue
of alienation in society.
The close ups on the actors and actresses show the true emotion of
how they feel, emphasising the fear, regret, shame and
Screenshots of close ups
Intertextual references
As well as the music video reflecting a more personal experience of the
band members, the music video also has intertextual references with other
media texts such as The Suicide Room (film), and also a documentary film
entitled BULLY. Both of these films intertextually link to the song as they
both show the mental and physical abuse that bullying causes, which is
also what is shown in the music video by the victims and the audience who
are placed in their shoes, feeling the paranoia that bullying brings
However though BULLY also links well, intertextually, with the music video
as it shows how people can stand up towards bullying and make a change,
in an individual and a group unity, which is also the meaning and
inspiration of Shinedowns song as Brent stood up and fought the bullies
who were oppressing him.
Screenshots and examples of intertextual
references
BULLY plot summary: -

This year, over 13 million American kids will be bullied at school,
online, on the bus, at home, through their cell phones and on the
streets of their towns, making it the most common form of
violence young people in this country experience. BULLY is the
first feature documentary film to show how we've all been
affected by bullying, whether we've been victims, perpetrators or
stood silent witness. The world we inhabit as adults begins on the
playground. BULLY opens on the first day of school. For the more
than 13 million kids who'll be bullied this year in the United
States, it's a day filled with more anxiety and foreboding than
excitement. As the sun rises and school busses across the country
overflow with backpacks, brass instruments and the
rambunctious sounds of raging hormones, this is a ride into the
unknown. For a lot of kids, the only thing that's certain is that this
year, like every other, bullying will be a big part of whatever
meets them at their school's front doors.... (source -
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1682181/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2)
The meaning behind Shinedowns Bully

In an interview with Rolling Stone
Magazine he explained that the song
meant: - "about not feeling like you can't
stand up for yourself and take back your
self respect if you feel as if someone is
belittling you or trying to push you
around. The song is not condoning
violence. What it is condoning is survival.
I don't think that anyone should ever
have their self-respect or their dignity
taken from them."

Both media
texts show
how bullying
can be
devastating
towards the
victim. The
two texts also
show how the
victims are
not alone and
that they can
stand and
fight against it
The narrative of the music video
The music video has a closed narrative as it reflects and enforces a
strong and straight forward meaning as it shows the impacts, physical
and mental impacts of bullying. It shows this visually through abuse,
mental suffering of fear and social alienation.
It also shows it through the lyrics of the song. In the lyrics it reflects
that the lead singer and yet others could have gone through, such as:
Make another joke/While they hang another rope, and; Push him to
the dirt/Til the words dont hurt. The lyrics reflect a rather aggressive
yet dark nature as they tell real life sufferings and abuse that people
could be put under from bullies.