Blink 182 - All The Small Things

Music Video Analysis by Anna Wylde

About the Video/Song-The narrative of the music video does not match the lyrical content. There is no particular narrative to the music video at all.

-The song 'All The Small Things' was written by guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge about all the small things his girlfriend did for him.

-The video itself is all about mocking conventions of stereotypical music videos of famous pop stars at the time, especially boy bands such as The Backstreet Boys.

-The single was released in the year 2000 - 12 years ago seems like a long time! However the video is still very popular and relevant today as we still have typical boy bands such as The Wanted and One Direction.

- Although the song is about a relationship, any fans of Blink 182 understand that it is not their style to go for a 'soppy' romantic theme video, unless they intended to do it humorously. The band do not take themselves seriously and this is shown in the video as they have made quite an ironic statement as they are actually a boy band so in a way they are making a mockery of themselves too, by following all the conventions of a typical boy band video.

RepresentationIn the photos below you can see exactly how Blink 182 have based themselves on the Backstreet Boys for the purpose of the music video. They have completely imitated the boy band image and exaggerated to enhance the hilarity of the video.

The use of Mise-en-scene in the screenshot below displays how typical boy bands look. The hats, sunglasses and bright white suits act as costumes for the band as they display their 'boy band' image and are based on those from the Backstreet Boys 'I want it that way' music video.

The aeroplane in the background in both the music videos shows the bands success as they clearly have their own private planes to take them from venue to venue.

Blink have cleverly put their name on the plane to both make a joke of how pop stars try to promote themselves, doing this disguises the fact Blink are indeed doing it themselves too!

Representation - The genre of Blink 182 is not pop, unlike the artists they are imitating in the video. However they are seen as mainstream rock, or pop-punk.

-The clips below are almost identical, again showing how despite musical differences, blink are actually very similar popularity wise to a pop boy band. The use of showing Blink playing a gig in the video to such a large avid audience advertises Blink as a very popular group.

-Despite these clips being almost identical, they do differ in that we see the members of Blink actually playing their instruments, displaying their musical talent and showing that they are not just a manufactured boy band, they are talented musicians.

-The video again maintains that humourous edge when we see in the crowd a dog with a sign with Mark's name on it. Rather than having a pretty woman do this it displays that although Blink are very popular they do not take themselves too seriously - this makes them appear very down to earth despite their fame.

Representation Again, here Blink mimic another boy band N Sync with their parody of a photoshoot for the band. Showing Tom on the toilet as the camera cuts to a long shot reminds us that unlike these boy bands, Blink does not take themselves seriously.

Another of Blink's victims! - Here they are mimicking Britney Spears's 'Sometimes' music video.

Star Image

Although the majority of the music video is about imitating pop stars, there are clips when we do see blink performing as themselves.

This is important because despite the videos fun nature, ultimately the purpose of having a music video is to sell the star therefore it is important that the audience sees what the band looks like as themselves.

Camera Angles

Throughout the music video a number of low-angle shots are used. This could be used to show the bands superiority to the artists they are imitating as they have the nerve to challenge conventions of typical pop music videos.

The low angle shots could also display how fans idolize the band.

Camera AnglesA lot of close ups have also been used throughout the video. Close ups create intimacy and intensity for the audience, it also makes it clear who the stars are.

Although this video is a parody of conventional pop star music videos, there are also methods used within the video used to promote and sell the band - such as close up shots!

Both Tom DeLonge (bottom left) and Mark Hoppus (bottom right) are equal lead vocals throughout all of Blink's songs. But in this particular Tom is the lead singer and this is made clear as he is the one we see the most of within the video.

He is also presented as the lead member of the band as he is usually in the middle at the front of the band.

EditingParticularly in the chorus the editing goes to the beat of the drums. However the editing doesn't cut too quick which allows a certain setting or persona to be set before cutting to the next shot. Colours

The colours throughout the video are very bright which symbolizes the band's happy and childish nature. It also shows that the video is ultimately just a bit of fun.

The black and white scenes in the video are imitating another boy band Sugar Ray.

Conclusion In my opinion this music video is very clever as not only does it make a joke out of obvious pop star videos, it also shows Blink laughing at themselves as they too are technically a boy band.

Using this comic theme hides the fact that they are also using generic conventions of a music video to promote themselves (by using close ups and images of hundreds of loving fans)

Another interesting thing I thought was that although this video was released in the year 2000 and was imitating pop stars from the 90's, the points about typical boy bands that Blink are trying to make are still relevant today.

For example the snapshot from One Direction's 'What makes you beautiful' music video is funny for Blink fans as it verifies the point they were making 12 years ago!