The Killers are an American rock band who formed in LA, Nevada in 2001. The members of the group are Brandon Flowers (Lead Vocals), Dave Keuning, Mark Stoermer and Ronnie Vannucci. The band has released four chart studio albums and are seen as one of the biggest rock bands of the 21st century and have sold an estimate of 22 million records worldwide. They have also achieved worldwide success as a live band where they have performed to over 50 countries. The Killers are under the genre of Indie Rock. I would say their target audience is aimed at teens and the 20s/30s. Although Indie Rock is a very popular genre for a range of people to enjoy I feel their music is specifically aimed at this targeted age. The music video 'The Man' is about how the band felt invincible when they were younger. Its about showing how a man would act in his 20s, feeling like nothing could stop him. At the end the video shows that feeling invincible is not about being 'the man' at all, it is actually about showing compassion and empathy.
From looking at Railton's theory, this music video is categorised as a Narrative / Staged Performance Music Video. This means the footage tells a story throughout the video along with the lyrics to the song and was specifically designed for this song. It matches this category due to the video including Lip-Syncing and being in many incongruous locations. Also, the video extends the lyrics with its content.
When looking for each band members screen time, the only member who receives any screen time is the lead singer Brandon. This is due to the music video being a narrative and telling a story about a man which they have chosen the lead singer to be. This makes sense as it still advertises the band and viewers can see who the lead singer is within the band. It also allows the main singer to Lip-Sync the song. Mid and close-up shots are mainly used throughout the video to keep the focus on the main role/characters of the video however, the focus of what is going on in the setting of the shots are still clearly shown due to the video having 5 different settings and characteristics of a man. These 5 settings are shown at the start of the music video by including 2 second shots of the back of the man in each of the locations. An example of a mid-shot within the video is when he walks into a posh hotel full of girls that are a fan of him due to his money income or fame. This mid shot shows him walking in knowing he is 'The Man' and again showing that feeling of him knowing he is invincible. This is clear and is the main focus of the shot however, the girls are still a focus as they are the background of the shot and their reactions towards him helps explain his role. Many mid shots are used throughout the music video as the characters background/setting is always shown due to it translating a different message for each man. The lighting in the music video varies however, is mostly quite dark and subtle. This is due to most of the characters having a 'rich' background and going into environments such as clubs or hotels or going on stage which all mostly consist of dark/fancy lighting. other lighting used is quite natural due to the environment being outside or in daylight.
The use of editing within this music video relates to some of Keazor and Wubenna's theory. The music video contains some of the specific conventions most music videos follow such as cutting to the beat and synchronising the footage with the lyrics and the movement of Brandon. In addition to this, the footage is also cut to show the location and environments of where the video is set. Mid shots and long shots are using to address the location however, some locations within the video have been changed from their natural environment to match the context of the song and footage. For example, the casino used is very empty which is shown when he enters the place. The footage only shows people within the location when they are needed to be included in the video. Also, following Kaplan's theory, you can understand that their footage has been edited unlike how you would notice a film has been edited which is recognised a lot in music videos.
Use of Mise-en-Scene within this video are mainly focusing on costume and location. Due to Brandon portraying 5 different characters within the video he continues to wear 5 different outfits to show the characteristics of each character. The clothing includes a vest and jeans, a suit, a typical cowboy-like outfit, a glittered suit and a casual t-shirt and jeans. All outfits are different from each other which help show each character of a man. Vernailles believes that verbal and visual codes combine to create representations of race, class, gender and sexuality an performance. Class and performance are mainly shown in this music video due to Brandon portraying 5 different characters all of different class and personality. Additionally, all of the characters appeal to different target audiences for example, each character has a different cultural background which is shown from their locations and outfits and characteristics.
Goodwin's theory of there being a relationship between lyrics and video content is shown within points of the video. A main example of this is when he sings the chorus. The footage shown are the multiple characters that he portrays which show different gestures of how they think that they incredible. Furthermore, the use of performance within the music video is seen as 'commercial exhibitionist' as claimed by Carlsson's theory. This means that Brandon was used within the music video to sell their own body image, voice and face etc to gain success for the bands videos and music.
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