Textual Analysis of Videos- Testify, Rage Against the Machine

I have selected four music videos to analyse to gain an understanding of stylistic conventions used in by Left Wing politically motivated bands.

Testify- Rage Against the Machine

The video is constructed to convey a message about the lack of choice in the 2000 USA presidential elections, and the consequences of this, for America and for the world. The video uses 4 main types of footage:

Fictional footage, parodying classic silent black and white science fiction movies. This is done so to ridicule by parody the lack of choice in the elctions, through the idea of Aliens plotting to conquer Earth through use of "the mutant", a synthesis of George W. Bush and Al Gore, who "appears as two but speaks as one". The narrative of this is introduced at the start of the video using titles over black, as would have been done before sound was introduced.

Here are screenshots of the opening shots of the video (right to left, top to bottom)


Ignore the green bar, was added as video was hosted on youtube

The second type of footage used is real life footage of both candidates from their respective campaigns, footage of both of them saying nearly identical statements such as
“I support the death penalty” “We will be prosperous from free trade” )



The third type of footage is real-life footage, depicting a range of issues such as poverty, oppression, violence, militarisation and oil. Often this real life footage will be presented in direct contrast to previous statements by by the politicians, such as footage of street children following a proclamation of "Prosperity from free and fair trade".The fourth and final type of footage present is that of the band performing. They are doing so dressed casually in a fairly inocuous setting with no other people present. The setting appears to be internally lit, as there are no windows shown and the quality of light is very even.
The band shots account for roughly 1/3 of the total video content. Roughly half the band shots focus on the lead singer. The vast majority of band shots lie somewhere between medium long shots and medium close ups. The angle from which the band shots are filmed varies greatly, however there are more shots from a high or low angle than there are at eyeline.



Cuts between all the shot types are very fast, accompanying the fast pace of the song. The only setting that remains consistent throughout the video is that for the band shots. All four types of shots are maintained throughout the progression of the video.