Textual Analysis- Even Flow (Pearl Jam)

Artist: Pearl Jam

Genre: American Rock

Who Directed/Produced it?: Rick Parashar

When was it created?: April 6th 1992

Record Company: Epic

Mise En Scene
The video looks to be set at a rock concert where Pearl Jam were playing, this is noticed as the band are playing on a stage, and there is a audience standing in front of them, apart from having the shot from the stage the camera man also gets shots from the audiences perspective.


In this screenshot you can see the scene of where the band are performing, and what the whole stage looks like. As this song is rather old the band probably didn't have enough money and time to make their own separate music video so they just hired a camera crew to film their performance and made that a music video, quite a lot of bands back in this era did that.

Costumes and Makeup
The costumes of the band (Pearl Jam) looks to be wearing everyday clothes, such as jeans and a shirt, this shows that they are being informal, and do not think of this as an important meeting or occasion, they just want to play their music, but be comfortable and fashionable whilst playing. The audience also look to be wearing everyday clothes, so they are also wearing t-shirt, vests, shirts and jeans. This tells the audience that they came for fun and personal entertainment, and are not at a meeting or job interview.

Props
The props that can be seen in this video are the bands instruments, this is so the band can play their music to the audience, plus the music video would not be very popular if the band were just standing there. Other props that can be seen are lights that allow the audience of the band, to see the band. Also if the lights the were not there then the audience would not be able to see the band, making the music video useless.

Lighting
The lighting in the video is genuine, meaning that the lights were set up with the setting, for example the lights that are used in the video are lights that were used at that gig/concert. The lights are focused on the band members, meaning if the band members moved around then the lights would follow them, so that the audience can still see them. The drummer on the other hand has lights coming from beneath him, so that he looks like a shadow playing the drums, this adds effect.

In this screenshot you can see all of the lights that is being used to keep the band visible to the viewer and the audience in the video, another light thats beam can be seen but that the actual light can't is a big powerful light that is above the audiences seats, this means that if the lead singer moves around then the light would follow them, so that they can still be seen.

Colour Palette
The colour palette of the music video is mainly dark, the light parts of the setting is the lights that are shining on the band members. This makes the band look like they are glowing. Also there is a red filter light in the background which adds colour to the setting, and makes the setting more exciting.

Camera Techniques
There is a variety of camera techniques used in the video. There are pans of the audience, this allows the viewer to see all of the audience and makes them feel like they are there looking at the audience. There are long shots of the band and a few of the audience, this shows the band from a distance, and from the top of where the audience are sitting, this make the viewer feel like they are there watching the band from the top seat, and also allows them to see more of what is going on, such as people jumping off the stage. There are medium shots from the back of the stage, so that the viewer can see what is going on from behind the stage, and it feels like they are looking through the eyes of one of the crew members. There are also mid shots of the vocalist singing, these shots only show the top half of the vocalist, this allows the audience to see a close up of the vocalist singing at full force, and means they can see the vocalist's expressions.

Editing Techniques
There are a few different editing techniques used in the video. There are lots of cuts in the video, in the first minute of the video there had been at least 30 cuts, this is because the song is relatively fast, so that the cuts have to keep up with the music, or else the music video would be wrong, and would not look right. There is also some slow motion in the slower parts of the song, this makes the slower parts of the song more intense and memorable than if it was just someone playing the guitar. There is a blue filter that is also seen in the video, this looks to be a transition from one clip to the next. This too adds colour to the video and makes the picture a little brighter.

Target Audience
The target audience of this video are people that like the American Rock genre of music or like listening to Pearl Jam. There is not age range for the target audience of this video as any age of people could listen to it, also the song was published in 1992, so it is also aimed at people like music from that year. The gender of music could be male or female, as the music genre is not gender specific.