Video 3 Textual Analysis.

The video starts with lots of quick wide shots of buildings and skyscrapers being covered in large banners saying 'Transformers', instantly promoting the film from the start, and instantly giving the impression that the video will have faced paced action within it because of this. There are also some long shots through a high angle shot of lots of cars and roads around the buildings to show they are small and insignificant compared to the huge dominating posters, conveying the ideology from this that the film is powerful and important, and has that impact on the audience.
The video starts with a birds eye view of the top of the skyscraper with the poster on, followed by promotional shots of the band and the lead singer playing guitar on the top just shown. This establishes the location of the band, and then introduces them to the audience. The use of wind and smoke behind the band influences their look of power over the audience to match the film, stating they are both equally important, but also to appeal to a younger audience such as teenagers, as they are dressed casually and are placed in an informal environment. The fact they are at the top of the skyscraper also shows rebellion within the band, and at the same time relates to the action-packed film by doing so, to show it is not an ordinary video of a band playing in a standard place. As they are alone with no one else and no audience, this also gives the impression that they are brave and unafraid of anything.
The next scene shows a car speeding down a dusty, empty road, followed by a medium close up of the female in the film lifting up the bonnet, showing that it is her car. The next shot is of a medium close up of part of her body, slowly zooming closer as the male now shown beside her, watches. This instantly establishes her as the more powerful, attractive character, and that he is like her follower, gazing at her in amazement, giving the impression she is the character he notices and wants to be with. The desolate scene they are in also makes a romantic suggestion of them as they are alone togther, and suggests from this attention to these characters that they are dominant roles within the film.
We then go back to the birds eye view from the start, to suggest we are being brought back to the band singing and telling the story as the film inserts illustrate this, rather than them theirselves. There are many different types of shots for promotion of the band, which also relate to the lyrics, such as a blurry shot of a band member to relate to the line 'I wondered through fiction to look for the truth', giving the impression that the band are the truth, and that they cannot be seen clearly. There is then also a high angle shot with the camera slowly moving over the top of the lead singer, giving a literal meaning to the lyrics 'Buried beneath all the lies' as though he is being buried by the camera. The singer is then shown with a microphone and stand, and pulls it away from him as he says 'stood at a distance', with more fast paced shots of the band for more promotional value to them. The next scene shows the film clip inserts of a transformer infront of the couple, with a cut to a shot of a two shot showing both of the couples' eyes looking up at it, relating to the next line 'Hiding myself in your eyes' as they are afraid and want to hide at the start from the transformer, followed by a close up of their hands joining together, again showing that the ideology of the film and that the genre shown is a hybrid of both romance and action. There is then lots of faced paced edits for promotion of the band as the chorus gains in compositional speed, with drums coming in faster, electric guitar more distorted and raised in volume, and a shakey hand held camera for realism and drama as the film inserts are put in, showing the two central protagonist characters holding onto the end of a helicopter in the air. There is also a helicopter that passes by the band in the promotional cuts before the one shown in the film, to link the two together and give a sense of fantasy and action in the band's part of the video. From the camera angles used, the use of camera techniques such as the hand held camera intertwined with fast paced shots, and the film inserts combined with the band promotional shots, along with the increase in composition and speed of the music, a feeling of energy and excitement is shown to the audience, telling them that this is what the film and the band are all about. We are then brought back into the verse again as the music softens and there are shots of the transformers emerging, combined with shots of the band in close up and medium close up form to show expression and emotion through the lyrics they are singing. The next chorus shows lots of slow motion shots of the transformers raging through a town/city, showing the female protagonist watching helplessly from a low angle shot to give a sense of dominance to the transformer approaching.As the street is empty, it feels like a showdown between her and the transformer, and that she is totally isolated from everyone else. This gives a sense that she is the stereotypical powerless 'damsel in distress' and that something will happen to save her, before showing fast paced slow pans of cars speeding away, the female beside the male in the car as though he has come to her rescue. We can see the basic structure of this video by the verse and chorus style of the music, the verse being soft and gentle with slow motion shots and band promo shots, contrasting to the fuller compositional values with crashing drums and guitar, showing fast paced cars and destruction around the two lead roles.
The transformers are first showed as destructive creatures, and are portrayed to the audience as the antagonists, or the villains of the plot, however, as the action builds, we see that some of them are helping the two characters, and that there is actually a war between two different tribes of transformers; the good and the evil, therefore changing the audience's initial perception of these characters.



Goo Goo Dolls-Before It's Too Late Lyrics (Transformers)


I wander through fiction to look for the truth
This line, the starting line of the video, shows promotional shots of the band in colour, to make the scene look brighter and more exciting, and to pick up all of the features of the mise en scene, a smokey, dangerous top of a skyscraper on which they are all stood. Just before this, there are clips of the film 'Transformers', which the video is also linked in to to promote it's release. Because the film is a fictional story, these clips help represent the meaning of the first line literally, as the band are real beings, or the 'truth' of the video, and the story is just fiction.


Buried beneath all the lies
This line is shot of the band's lead singer from a high angle point of view, the camera slowly moving over him as though he is 'buried', before going back to more promotional band shots of a close up of one of the member's guitars, before moving back into the film clips to show more of the story to the audience. These clips all transfer from one to another in time with the music, also linking the band's song with the film.

And I stood at a distance
The previous clip from the film shows the female character walking away from the car the male is in, linking to this line as though she is 'at a distance' from him. The singer is also shown in this shot moving away from his microphone, to give another literal meaning of being at a distance.

To feel who you are
This is a close up of the lead singer back into a medium close of of him and another band member, to prodominantly show expression and feeling in the line.

Hiding myself in your eyes
This shows another promotional clip of a close up of the lead singer as he begins to sing this line, followed by a film clip of a transformer approaching the male and female, to a close up of their eyes in a two-shot to show they are afraid and 'hiding themselves' from this creature. There is then a close up two shot showing their hands joining, again to rehiterate the romance/love part of the story. Again this sequence of cuts follow the music to fit with the song.

Hold on before it's too late
This shows the lead singer as the camera quickly moves up his body into a shot of the top of the sky craper, making the lyrics 'hold on' literal, as they are stood on a dangerous building taking a risk, again making reference to the band's image to the audience. There is then a high angle shot of helicopters flying low to the ground, followed by film inserts of the couple hanging from a helicopter. This links the film and the band, as the helicopter first seen after the band's shots gives a bridge over to the next scene from the film.

We'll run till we leave this behind
This is a sequence of shots from the film giving a literal meaning to the lyrics, as we see a low angle shot for dominance of a speeding yellow car as the lyrics 'we'll run' are sung, giving the interpretation they are running away. There is then a cut to show a high angle shot of the couple falling from the helicopter they are holding on to, followed by a downwards pan of them falling to the ground, but being stopped suddenly by a transformer, who picks them up and carries them away, shown through a cut into a horizontal pan. This is also showing they are leaving things behind as the lyrics state.

Don't fall just be who you are
This firstly shows the lead singer singing the part of the line 'don't fall', with the camera quickly panning up and down on this word. We are then brought back to clips of the film, showing a low angle shot of a Transformer transforming from a truck, and back into a point of view shot of the couple, from the transformer's point of view, as he rises to transform and they stare in amazement. This is relating again to the lyrics 'just be who you are' as it is revealing what it really is.

It's all that we need in our lives
This line shows the transformer approaching the couple in a very slow, calm way, giving us the impression it is a good character in the film and wants to help the couple, followed back to shots of the band, as though both the transformer and the band are all that the characters, and the audience need in their lives.

And the risk that might break you
Is the one that would save,
A life you don't live is still lost
These lines are all showing promotional band shots of them and the smokey atmosphere they are surrounded by at the top of the building, to give a very dramatic but realistic effect. The band are shot through medium shots, high angles, and low angles to show their body language and performance as they sing, and to give a professionalism to their performance. At the very end of these lines, there is also a band member stood within the smokey atmosphere, blending his body in so he is almost unable to be seen, with only his black silhouette visible, giving him a mysterious approach to the audience, again referring to the band's personality as a whole.

So stand on the edge with me
This shows a transformer taking off infront of the two central characters as they are being dragged apart, going to a shot of a close up of the male looking at the female, and back to a point of view shot of a close up of her to show what he is looking at, and also to express emotions and the closeness between the two characters, again being reminded of the aspects of love the film contains, after the impact of all of the action.

Hold back your fear and see
This shot goes straight from a medium close up of the lead singer into a close up of him to show his expressions and emotion as he sings this line, to stress its importance as he delivers it to the audience.

Nothing is real 'til it's gone
This shows a high angle shot of the car in the film, back to a low angle of the couple jumping inside, before a very quick shot of the car speeding away infront of the camera, followed by a long shot of the singer singing, into a close up of his face saying the word 'gone' to give emphasis on it, before going back into a long shot of a truck being chased by two transformers, with fire being shown behind them as the car attempts to speed away. All of these shots in this line are very fast paced in contrast to the previous lines as it builds to the chorus, which we are recognising to be structure as quick and exciting compared to the more paced verses, which focus more on the romance and the promotion of the band. This also makes it more exciting for the audience to watch, as they constantly being transferred visually from the more peaceful and steady genre of love and romance within the film, before being quickly pulled back into the fast-changing shots of the action.