The band '30 Seconds to Mars' are a hugely successful band and this video proves exactly that. The entire video is almost like a tribute to the band. It's almost like a video to show the past few years where in which they've been touring and meeting fans. This video contains fan's views on life and music and how music affects their life.
The video starts and finishes with fans of '30 Seconds to Mars', they talk about life and how music affects their life. This is a good way of introducing the video because there are peoples point of view on the music 30 Seconds to Mars produce. All of them are touched by music so we get the idea that they are touched by '30 Seconds to Mars'.
The video begins with a close up of a young man talking about moments that move us. "There are so many moments you could share with anyone, someone". Which is appropriate as 30 seconds to mars' music is touching. In the background of him speaking there is music being played, which is the introduction of the song, which many songs have. The introduction plays up until 48 seconds where Jared (Lead singer) finally starts singing. During the introduction more fans give their views on life and music, they set the tone and atomsphere on the video, because the video is very moving and has alot of meaning. "My philisophy in life is don't regret anything you do, cos in the end it makes you who you are".
As the fans are speaking the band are preparing to perform. The lighting is dark, however the light is focused on each of the band members as they prepare. Obvously this is important because the band members need to be the centre of attention. As the fans finish talking the camera cuts towards Jared (lead singer) standing alone 
on the stage accompanied by thousands of people who are in the darkenss. The lighting is fully focused on Jared because he is the centre of attention. He then throws his fist in the air which follows the drummer hitting the symbol too announce the end of the introduction and the start of the song. This is then followed by the stage lights increasing whilst the band walk out to thousands of screaming fans. The main stage light then increases and then fades to complete darkness for a split second too introduce the bands instruments.
The camera cuts too a long shot of the stage in a different angle showing different perspectives of the band p
erforming. As soon as the band start playing the lights are flashing accompanied by words flashing on the bottom of the screen. The words on the bottom of the screen are actually all the venues in which the band have played at seeing as the video is dedicated towards their tour, (on the right). Once all the venues had appeared along the bottom, the camera then cuts too different destinations around the world, we assume these are the places where they have played. We assume this because, as the clips of the cities are shown, each clip has a sentence along the bottom, the first one says 'Twenty Seven Countries' the second says, 'Eighty Nine Cities'. So we establish this is how many countries and cities the band have toured in. Imbetween the clips of various destinations we see the band walking. Firstly down a street, in slow motion, then secondly walking towards the stage about to perform. 
It then fittingly cuts to a clip of the audience cheering as the band enter the stage. This clip is telling us how many fans went to their tour, we know this because of the lighting, and the caption in the bottom right. The words and pictures compliment each other, they do this by showing us the crowd, (the lighting is focused on the majority of the fans) and we are also drawn to the words which read: 'And all 1,363,930 of you'. So the clip is showing their fans and how many have supported them.
On the 46th second the band eventually start singing. The camera cuts too a close up of Jared (lead singer) in a black background, are eyes are completely focused on him and the microphone because there is an unknown light source dominated on his face.
We also know his name is 'Jared' because this is the first of 3 clips showing us the band members followed by their names.The font color of his name is blue and the only noticeable color we see apart from black is blue. For example his eyes are blue and so is his outfit. This is a clever feature as if he was to wear green clothes and have green eyes then this picture would clearly not work well. We then see Jared in action at a live gig, firstly on the stage then secondly jumping into the fans. It's important 
to see this as the video is made for the fans. We should see him connecting with them. Which we see. The fast pace editing continues and cuts too 'Shannon' another band member. We again see a clip of him accompanied by his name in the bottom left. Like Jared we are introduced to Shannon then shown a clip of him on his bike, showing him in action.
Throughout the fast pace editing we see clips of Jared singing and the other band members performing. After we see Shannon for the first time the video then cuts to 'Tomo' (the guitarist) once again we see a short clip of him accompanied by his name then a short clip of him in action at one of the bands gigs. Each of the band members are fully focused in all clips we see of them in action, and at the same time we hear the lyrics 'I lost myself'.
This could then relate to the idea that they are so involved in what they are doing, that they are lost within it. After we see Tomo the video cuts to Jared next to the fans with a torch, in which he shines at them and then turns to the camera. The torch acts like a sign to show the people watching are just as important as the fans at the gig. The verse then finishes and whilst we wait until the next verse the camera shows us long shots of some images of their tours. The first line of the next verse is sung and we see Shannon and Jared singing and playing the drums on a dark background with the lighting only focused on them and their instruments so are eyes do not wonder.
The clip is only short so we don't have time to look at everything so the lighting guides are eyes for the short space of time in which we are given for that part of the video. Jared then uses his fingers for numbers as he sings the words 'It was a thousand to one and a million to two'. The next line of the verse reads 'Time to go down in flames and I'm taking you', whilst this
is sung the lighting appears orange (same color as flames) and the light appears on the crowd, as the last part of the sentence is sung Jared crouches down towards the crowd which can relate to the lyrics. 'I'm taking you' - He's crouching down and singing at the fans, as if he's taking them with him. The video then quickly cuts to the drummer playing the drums with a vast amount of sweat coming from him, possibly showing us the hard work put into making the video. We then see Jared singing 4 times before seeing the drummer again.
We see Jared in 4 different angles and once in a different outfit. The various angles that we see of him, if effective because if we were to see him 4 times in the same place in the short amount of time, the video's pace would deteriorate.
Its effective because it keeps up the pace of the video and is exciting to watch. The lighting is used the same way in all 4 images, The main focus is clearly Jared, therefore the lighting is favouring him. We can only see parts of his face clearly in all 4 images, and at this part of the video we get the impression 'Closer to the edge' means as if he is close to death or giving up. Almost as if he's not himself. So the fact that we see just parts of his face clearer than the others could mean that some parts of him are still left in the dark, from whatever has affected him.
The verse that we see him 4 times in, is a lot more down beat than the rest of the song. To begin that verse we see Shannon hitting the drums and at the end of the verse we again see Shannon hitting the drums. (pictures above). The video then returns to the louder and more upbeat setting which we are used to. As the upbeat music begins the lighting on the stage goes from darkness to brightness at the exact same time in which Jared begins singing (louder than before, almost like shouting). The image shows the lighting focused on the crowd, again because the video is dedicated to the fans, therefore they are the main attention here. We then see images of the fans arms with their phones filming the show, maybe because they want to remember the performance.
The video cuts to fans crowd surfing, looking like they really don't care about the consequences of crowd surfing. This links with the line 'No i'm not saying sorry' which is sung at the same time in which we see this clip. We then see the band performing again but the camera cuts to each of the members. The reason the video does this so often is to enhance the atmosphere and show us what the crowd are seeing. The video then cleverly cuts to images of destinations in which '30 Seconds to Mars' have performed in, whilst Jared is singing the words 'One day maybe we'll meet again'. So we get the idea that they may perform there again. Also we see fans trying to get closer to the band, but they are being held back by stewards. This image of the fans relates to a lot of the lyrics, 'Closer to the edge' - because they are 'close' to them, on the 'edge' of the railings, whilst they are being forced back. 'Meet again' - They are trying to make themselves noticed so they CAN meet the band.
The next 9 seconds is showing us the band again connecting with the fans. We see Jared crowd surfing and reaching out to the band. This is all going on amongst the chorus of the song. The scenes we are seeing are vibrant and energetic, (almost like the whole song). We know that the band loves their fans and vice-versa. But in this video we can actually see this relationship that the two have. Which is very moving for the audience watching this video, and in some ways inspirational. In the midst of the madness we see a clip of fans moshing, accompanied by the words 'This is what we call dancing', the word 'we' relates the band to their audience because they are talking of the two as one.
Jared uses his finger again when he sings 'One day', he did this at the start (using his fingers for numbers), its useful to pick up on because little things such as that, make the video great, and makes it make more sense. Everytime we hear Jared sing the words 'Meet again' we see him interacting with the fans. In this case we see him shouting at the fans whilst they are all pointing up at him. This image makes him look like he has power over them. It tells us that his fans look up at him. At maybe see some see him as an inspirational character.
The clips of the fans and Jared interacting come to an end when we see a slow motion clip of him singing the one word 'again'. Closely followed by him shouting the word No four times. However the first 3 of the 'NO's' are mimed by 3 different fans. Which again is involving them in the bands work, because without the fans they would not be as successful as they are to date. As we hear the last 'NO' being sung we see Jared shouting the word and also slicing his arms over each other to announce the end of that chorus, and the beginning of one fans views on the world.
The video cuts to a young girl who announces her views on the world as it is today, she goes on to say that she wishes 'there was no such thing as fighting and people could just get along'. Which relates to the whole context of the video because the words 'Closer to the edge' could mean that your just fed up of everything, or that you've had enough of one or more human beings. Therefore if there was no such thing as fighting and arguments then maybe this song would not have not been written. Once she finishes talking, the song resumes, to the words 'Can you imagine a time when the truth ran free? The birth of a song, the death of a dream closer to the edge'. Wee see images of young children looking happy and we automatically think that they are images of the band when they were younger or possibly images of children the song is dedicated to, however its more likely that there images of the band members because they are all boys and one is playing the violin. One of the last images we see is of a young boy playing the violin, but then it quickly cuts to Tomo who is the guitarist, so we get the impression that the young boy playing the violin was Tomo in his younger days. This is then backed up by the last image being of a young boy touching his guitar.
We then see a few clips of the fans jumping to the music, again in all different angles so we don't get bored of seeing the same thing now and again. The next verse is sung and the images we see relate to the words in which we hear. The first part of the first line reads 'This never ending story'. At this time we see the fans again this time outside in the darkness, the lighting is produced by the fans phones,lighters etc. This relates to that sentence because the fans are now in the darkness, therefore the show has been going on for a while, yet the fans are still at a full energetic state of mind. Relating to 'Never ending'. The second part of the first line reads 'take forward pride in fate. And the image that we see when we hear this line, is an image of the band performing in front of their fans, accompanied by the words at the bottom right of the screen reading 'Welcome to the family'. This then relates to the lyrics because both the band and the fans have pride that they are related to as a family.
The next line reads 'We all fall short of glory, lost in ourselves'. We see an image of a young boy standing on top of the crowd holding his arms out as if to say 'I'm on top of the world'. This is the opposite of the line 'We all fall short of glory' because we can see in the image that one boy feels glorified that he is on top of the entire crowd, and in his mind, on top of the world. The image also has some text with it saying 'This kid is amazing' which backs up the idea in that the images we are seeing, are the complete opposite to the words we are hearing.
The chorus' as we know are the most energetic parts of the entire song. Its not just influenced by what we hear that makes it energetic, its what we see which also gives the video more energy. The people who produced the video are trying to give off the vibes that the fans got when they went to see '30 Seconds to Mars' live. So they show the most moving images, to just give us a slight insight on how mad and entertaining the concerts actually were.
Once again we hear the words 'One day maybe we'll meet again', and again we see Jared using his finger to represent 'one' and we see images of various destinations, were the band has performed. (Almost as if to say they will play there again 'maybe we'll meet again). We then see clips of crazy fans trying to make themselves noticed because they want to meet 30 Seconds to Mars. This all links in with the lyrics at this stage in the song 'No i'm not saying i'm sorry, one day maybe we'll meet again'. It's as if he's saying, "there's no need to apologize because we may meet again soon".
The chorus continues, as it does so we see images of the band performing on stage (general theme). We see a clip of the fans all with their arms in the air, jumping up and down to the music. In the top right of the screen at this point we can read the words 'The believers'. This is credit to the fans, as they believe in the music that they are hearing and that they will meet the band again. Once again the images we are seeing are linking in with the words we are hearing. We then see Jared side on, on a cliff looking at the words 'This was an amazing day'. Whilst we are seeing this we can hear the words 'One day', which fit in nicely because again the lyrics and images have a relationship.
Jared, like his done before ends the chorus by slicing his hands over one an other, and backs off from the microphone. Almost as if to say the singing has stopped. For now.
The video then hits slow motion as we see Tomo and Shannon playing the guitar and drums. This is building the suspension. It then asks the viewers "Are you ready?", so we now establish that there is something about to happen. The next 10 seconds or so is Jared singing singing the words 'No no no no, I will never forget no no I will never regret no no I will live my life' x2. There is a theme of this verse of the song. Everytime he sings the words 'No no' we are shown him throwing his hands in the air along with the crowd, and when we hear the words that are not 'no no' we seem him, Shannon & Tomo performing. This repeats until the verse is over. Below is an example, there's no need to post all the times he punches his hands in the air.
In the middle of the verse we see this clip ^^. It has nothing to do with the lyrics, but everything to do with the video. The word cult refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered strange. People may think that the band and videos are strange however the fans and band do not. They seem themselves as a family. And music is their religion.
Again we see images of various countries when we hear the words 'I will never forget', telling us that they will never forget the tour.
The last line of the verse (which is sung twice) is sung louder the second time around, and the word 'life' is held for 4 seconds. This builds the suspense again, because we know the music is about to change. Not only do we know that because of the way its sung, but we know this because of the images we see in the video. When he sings the last line, the video cuts rapidly through images of Jared singing. Once he stops, we see a huge blue light on the stage which slowly gets bigger (again building up the suspense), and then the singing begins again. Accompanied by an image of Jared holding his microphone out to the crowd, in order of them to sing, whilst we can also see the words 'Jump and touch the sky'. These words are inspirational, as that's the highest place to be, and its almost as if he is there, asking the crowd to join him.
The chorus again is full of energy which is shown in the video, as we see the band going crazy along with the crowd. This time when the words 'No no' are sung we only see the fans raising their arms, not Jared. It's almost as if they've learnt from him. The next few clips are again shown to represent the intensity and madness of the live tours. The last two words ('meet again') of the last chorus are held for 3 seconds. In these 3 seconds we see the crowd moving towards the stage 3 times. This keeps the pace of the video, and looks very effective. The last chorus then ends with Jared singing the words 'NO NO NO NO!' The audio then crossfades to the last verse of the song, again to keep the pace up.
We don't see Jared singing most of the last verse, we see him (in slow motion) soaking up the atmosphere, and having fun with crowd. Which is a great way to end a great video.
After seeing these amazing clips, we get the impression that the words 'Closer to the Edge', now mean 'living life on the edge'. Because throughout the video and mainly at the end we can clearly see thousands and thousands of fans having the time of their life along with, of course, 30 Seconds to Mars.
The music starts to come to an end when we see and hear Shannon stop playing the drums, and Jared (around 4-5 times) in front of a crowd (with his arm in the air) slowing down the pace of the music. It eventually ends with a close up of Jared in the dark singing 'Closer to the Edge', it then cuts to a long shot of the crowd with Jared shouting 'Thank you!', followed by a long shot of the stage lights slowly fading out.
Thank you!
Fade out.
The video does not end there, it ends how it started with fans views on life and music as it is today. Just by watching this video we can tell that 30 Seconds to Mars are a exciting/moving/touching/amazing band, and by listening to the fans views we understand that they and other music genres have changed their life.
The video fades out (above) and fades to a number of different people whilst a young girl is talking. In this 30 seconds or so we see a number of different people, but only hear 3 or 4 views. One girl says: "Some people believe in God, I believe in music, Some people pray I turn up the radio". This goes back to the part of the video where we see the words, 'Yes this is a cult', because people see music as a religion, instead of praying to a God and attending church etc. They go to Gigs and listen to lyrics.
The last voice we here is from a young male. "Music makes the world go round, and for me, if it wasn't around right now. I wouldn't be around right now". This is showing just how much music can affect people, and how it CAN change their life's, in most cases for the better. He finishes by saying "Music is E-V-E-R-YTHING to me... That's all I can say". Music is everything to some people, it can get you through the good and especially the bad times. This is a good sentence to end the video upon, because the whole meaning of 30 Seconds to Mars and many other bands is to change peoples life's and help them mentally. Which we presume it does after hearing their fans speak.
The music that we hear is the same as what we hear when the video begins. So it's only right that the video ends with the same music. We then hear a quiet, drum being hit, to finish the entire video. We see a clip of Jared in the exact same place where he was at the start, in the dark, (light focused on him) slowly walking away from his microphone, into the complete darkness out of the light, to announce the end to a great music video.
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r heard before by just clicking the suggestions. For a song to catch the ear it had to have entertaining and meaningful lyrics in order to make a decent video out of. The song which we are choosing to make a video from, was found this way. After typing in 'The Killers - When you were young', and clicking suggestions a few times, (after hearing all the songs) we found a song which we all like and think it will be a successful track. 'Lifehouse - Halfway Gone', is where we ended up.
