Video Analysis: Alien Ant Farm - Movies

The parodist music video for Alien Ant Farms ‘Movies’ was directed by Jason Baumgardner andcelebrated chart success for over 30 weeks although the song peaked at only number 18. The video is typical to this genre at the time, pop punk bands such as Blink 182 and Sum 41 had been making ‘joke’ videos since theearly 1990’s. From the start of the video, we see that this video will be similar to its comedic counterparts as Dryden Mitchell, the lead singer, considers his hot dog to the one he sees on the screen.

The close up shot of Mitchell’s shocked face at (0:19) seconds sets the tone for thevideo, after he jumps into the screen, an establishing shot shows his bemused band members and the setting for the video. Right from the start, there is a reference to the notion of looking as we watch cinema goers watch the band hijack their movie. However, nothing sexual is suggested as the band is aware that their genres of music doesnt typically go with ‘sexiness’. The notion of looking could be to suggest that the band are the stars of the show and therefore will be in real life. The cut editing between the band on screen and the audience reinforces the genre of the video as we see that the cinema goer’s costumes are that of the punk genre, they have Mohawks and checked clothing. The establishing shot from behind the audience shows that the cinema audience would be seeing a close up of the lead singer, this amplifies the notion of looking and for me, I felt that his image seemed closer as we are familiar with the cinema setting. The lyrics and the visuals are closely linked as the chorus is ‘and just like the movies’, this is obviously the setting for the video. However, this is where the link ends.

About 1 minute into the video, the intertextual references begin. This is one of the main features in the video as they reference four major Hollywood films that had worldwide success. The reference to Ghostbusters (1984) offers a nostalgic feel to the audience; it is a reference that we immediately get. The framing of the shot at (0:56) has the band standing next to each other with their instruments. They then use their instruments as weapons to attack an audience member who is getting rude looks from the crowd. This suggests that Alien Ant Farm feels that their music has superiority to other types as their instruments are weapons, the cinema crowd also agrees. The Ghostbusters scene is one of the many times that we see the band altogether (0:23, 0:33, 0:56 etc). This suggests uniformity and equality within the band. However, close ups of Mitchell are constantly used as he is the selling point for the band. Also, Mitchell is the instigator of the magical movie adventure reinstating our knowledge that he is the lead.

The reference to Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory (1971) is again blatant. The costume of the band is now of the Oompa Lompa, which the audience knows spells trouble as they only appear to clear up the mess of naughty children. As the video cuts from the band to a mid shot of a girl dressed entirely in purple chewing gum, the viewing audience is aware that this girl is Violet Beauregarde. As the cinema audience tell her to be quiet and Violet doesn’t care, the aerial shot showing her rolled away makes us feel pleased with the crowd as everyone has experienced annoying cinema goers.

This scene is followed by a Karate Kid (1984) reference which is explicit as Mr Miyagi played by Pat Morita runs into the screen and does exactly what he does in the film. The music stops at this point so we can join in with the overdramatic tension created by the cinema audience. When the band are in their ‘usual’ attire of baggy trousers and checked shirts, they create the same persona as they have had throughout the video, a flippant goofy one. Whilst their dancing goes with the beat of the music, by no means can it be said to be good, however this heightens the comedic effect to the video.

The final explicit reference is to Edward Scissorhands (1990), again another world famous film that we instantly recognise. This scene features the first close up of the drummer; this is because this instrument is heard the most for the following 30 seconds which sees the editing slow down with the new tempo of the song. Also the drummer is dressed as Edward whilst the band is normally attired; the drummer is the intertextual reference.

The video ends with the whole crowd diving into the screen to experience the song with their music heroes, the low angle shots from the audience perspective of the screen through the video demonstrates the idea that the band are idolised by the crowd. The only member to not join Alien Ant Farm in the movie is the movie attendant who we see enjoying the band through the video. The reason for his exclusion from the ‘new movie world’ is because his uniform represents that he is the authority in the cinema, even if he is the same age as his peers. A key ideology of the rock/punk genre is to disobey authority, however as Alien Ant Farm has an element of pop in their music, the furthest this disobeying goes is to not have the attendant in their cinema world.

The video for ‘Movies’ is predominantly performance based as their instruments feature in every possible moment. The concept of the video is to be familiar to the audience by using as many references as they can.

Whilst the video doesn’t attempt social commentary or political messages, it does offer easy enjoyment as we don’t have to think too much to understand it. This may be the reason behind AAF’s poor chart success as their videos are not memorable; we don’t go back for more. Their most famous video ‘Smooth Criminal’ is a Michael Jackson cover (attributing to most of the success) which follows the same comedic performance based concept which is typical to AAF’s genre of music.