The Pretty Reckless – Make me wanna die

Immediately the beginning of the video showcases the gothic/punk elements throughout the use of low key, dark lighting. The singer is stood alone which clearly emphasises the idea of the star image. The music is lighter and has more of a pop feel to it. Despite it being difficult to see due to the extremely dark lighting, you can still make out her costume to be of a gothic character. For instance, the necklaces and chains she appears to be wearing are very pop punk and therefore represent the genre through her appearance. Her makeup is also very dark and smoky which gives off a scarier vibe to the audience to once again illustrate her gothic image. There is an extreme close up on her eyes to show this in more detail. There is also light flashing onto the girl to give a mysterious effect as we don’t get a full look at her, only the occasional glimpse when the light is shown. This way it keeps the audience engaged as they want to see more of the singer as the song progresses. The smaller lights flashing in the background are also important as they indicate a party atmosphere which suggests the pop element to the song as well. It also is effective as it slightly disorientates the viewer as they watch and adds suspense to the video. Then at 12 seconds in the music drops into a heavier beat which then results in the rest of the band being shown. The pace of the editing increases to thought beat with the song and allow all members of the band to be seen through little snippets of editing. The lighting and hue also increases as they begin to show other members and instruments such as drums and guitar. The overall image of the set becomes a lot clearer too as it seems to be a fiery, sci-fi background. This most definitely creates an image of the band being scarier and trying to look intimidating to viewers. The black clothing, the background and everything else within the video are all mainly connotations of a gothic/punk genre. We begin to get a few close up of the lead singer’s face which promotes her image and can also let the audience recognise who she is. It also creates intimacy with the audience and sells the artist not only the song. It also briefly shows

a clip of her watch which is an example of product placement to promote the bran which is very common in the music industry. It then moves onto a different scene where the singer walks into an alley way. Thought beats is also incorporated as the beat of the song is matching with her walk. I would say this particular music video in relation to the visuals of the song it is to amplify as meaning and effects are manipulated and constantly shown through the music video. This could represent the image of her being bad and scary as typically alley ways connote trouble and a thug like persona. Now you can also see she is wearing a leather jacket too which is another indication of being rebellious and gives off a tough look from the girl. She is also wearing a cross necklace which she later rips off highlighting the fact she is rebelling and clearly she is not obeying anything. There is also a little girl stood in the alley way with a red cape on. This could possibly represent the idea of little red riding hood and her innocence which the lead singer used to be but is now leaving behind. Also the lead singer was also known to be the little girl in the film ‘The Grinch’ which could be related to this as the little girl. It shows the idea of that was her as a child but now she is leaving it behind as she passes the little girl her cross necklaces. It shows the comparison in images as she is the innocent and pure little girl in contrast with the punk, gothic teen who is promoting a worse behaved image. In addition, when she throws off her jacket she reveals a more exposed look with her cleavage showing. This also represents the male gaze theory and her mischievous, sexual appearance is being emphasised. She is also wearing a corset type dress with stocking which is highly represents the sex appeal and again her nature of rebelling. In addition, it is the band’s first video therefore the fact she is mainly walking around with little clothing and lingerie on is a very bold statement. At the end of the song the lead singer is shown to be burning in a graveyard which illustrates the idea of hell and that she is going to the dark side. There is a wide shot to show all the scenery of the graveyard so the audience can clearly see what is happening to the singer.