"My Hero" was the third released single from Foo Fighters second album "The Colour and the Shape". I will be having an in depth look into how the music video corresponds to widely accept music video theories provided by Andrew Goodwin and Sven Carlsson, including the type of performer showcased in the video as well as the style of the clip.
"My Hero" contains elements of both a narrative and performance clip, with interweaving images of the artist performing the song and an ongoing story being told which matches the lyrics being sung. The video is only partially a performance clip however as although the band is seen lip syncing to the lyrics and playing their instruments along to the music no actual crowd is seen in the video with the band only performing to the video. The band is not seen on screen in the whole of the video but often appear in the different places the hero of the video is going to, showing that it cannot be considered a "pure" performance clip.
The narrative clip is displayed through the use of the videos own "hero" who, during the video, is shown running into a burning building to things of importance: a baby, a dog and a photograph. This matches the songs theme of being a hero as he is shown to be risking his life to save others, the final shot of the video is a group of people surrounding and congratulating him - further backing the positive attitude expressed in the song. The video also reflects the idea of everyday heroes as the protagonist's face is never shown - implying it could be anyone.
As with most music videos "My Hero" conforms to most of the characteristics outlined in Andrew Goodwin's music video theory. As previously mentioned, the lyrics and tone of the music match with the music video. The video also follows genre characteristics as the band are shown playing their instruments together - often seen in other rock music videos - as well as providing varying close ups of the lead singer and featuring close ups mid shots of each individual band member. Although the notion of looking is not fully portrayed in the video - it is styled as a kind of home video recording with the camera following the protagonists and swaying around looking at the various band members.
In the video the Foo Fighters appear as both a televised bard and an electric shaman - with elements of both being using to convey the message in the song. They appear as a televised bard as they act out the story using their lyrics, with the chorus playing at the climax of the onscreen action taking place. However, during the clip the band disappear and reappear at several moments in different positions. The protagonist and other characters in the video are also not aware of their presence even though they are plainly in sight for them to be seen. This demonstrates the effect and power of the electronic shaman to re-position at will and not be seen. The artists are also not threatened by the fire seen in the video but merely ignore it - they are however affected by its presence as is several mid shots you can see the sweat on their bodies and the perspiration stains on their clothing.
Foo Fighter's music is described on their Wikipedia page as a rock band and on the albums amazon page the product description is listed as rock- therefore you would expect the video to reflect the band's primarily rock genre. The video closely resembles and portrays the band's rock image and style of music by showing the band members singing and playing their instruments together - a classic troupe of rock music videos. When focused on, each band member also acts as if they were performing on stage as they perform various movements such as swaying with their guitar and head banging. This is seen in many other rock videos and is a common element as most rock videos are based around a performance style clip.
From this music video I will apply several of the conventions I have seen into my own production. When producing my own music video I will try to incorporate both performance and narrative elements which interweave throughout the video in order to make the video more interesting and appealing to a wider audience.
