This music video opens with a mid shot of the singer. The camera is still and has a flash/defocusing effect added near the end of the clip. Using video effects and transitions is a convention of music video, the main reason this is added is to remind the audience that they are only watching a music video. The next shot is a close up of another member of the band. The change of shots is synced to the beat of the music (rhythmic editing), this is also a convention used in music video. This same idea is repeated for the other band members, where we see a close up of mid shot of the band member. They are always the main focus of the frame, the camera is focused on them and the background is defocused/blurred. This is used to make them the main focus point and to once again remind those watching that this is only a music video. We then see a close up on the singers face, during this close up we can see that he has long black hair covering parts of his face, his eyes are very dark and it looks as though he is wearing a black shirt. As the genre of this music is rock, this is the type of style we would expect to see from the band members, dark colours is a convention of the genre rock. There is then a close up on the guitar and then the guitarist. Instruments are a very important part of music videos and close up of instruments is also a convention of music video. There is also a very strong back light shining on the guitarist to give us the impression that he is important and to show us that this music video is almost like a performance and we are watching them perform in the spotlights.
The video then switches to the narrative which is also synced to the beat of the music. The narrative begins with a shot of three people sitting at the dining table. There is a woman to the right, a man to the left and a girl sitting directly in front of the camera. This gives us the message that she is going to be a major part in this music video, we first get a mid up on the woman's face who is looking directly across the table at the man, from the expression on her face she looks as though she is worried or anxious about something, she may also be looking at the man in an attempt to say "don't do anything stupid". We then get a shot of the man who looks slightly angry and is looking in the direction of where the girl is sitting. At the moment it seems as though he is mad at her and the woman is anxious/worried about what the outcome is going to be. The video then switches back to the band where we see a mid shot of the singer. When the video changes to the narrative we see the expression of the girls face. She does not look scared or worried about the man and slowly looks away from him. From this shot of the girl we can see that she has a slight gothic look to her. She has long straight black hair, black makeup around her eyes and is wearing a black shirt and a necklace. In front of her, on the table, are some red roses. The symbolism of roses is love, passion and desire, this may represent the girls feelings and how she does not care what others think about her, as she is happy who she is. However we then see a close up of the girls dinner plate which has been untouched. We see her playing with the food but not eating it. This gives us the message that although her body language tells us that she is strong minded and not scared of other people, she is still anxious and worried about something.
We then come back to the singer for a few seconds and then switch back to the narrative, this constant switching between the band and the narrative is a convention used in music videos. In the narrative this time we see the man and woman arguing over the table in front of the girl. Throughout this the girl is sitting in silence and watching, this gives us the impression that this happens often and she is used to seeing these arguments. Parts of the argument itself is in slow motion, this is to emphasis the importance of this part of the music video and also to add to the emotion. Just before the main chorus of the song the video switches to the band where we see quick edits between each member of the band and their instruments.
We then see the narrative again however this time we are shown a man and a boy, most likely his son, driving in a car. The man is arguing with his son who is sitting in the back of the car. The boy has a similar expression to what the girl had, he does not seem bothered or scared of this confrontation. The boys appearance is also the same as the girl, he too looks gothic.
In this music video there are three narratives In the third narrative we see a boy working in the kitchen of a restaurant, preparing food to be taken out to the customers, then a man comes in and complains about the food. This third narrative is the same as the other two where the person involved in the argument looks like a goth and has a 'I don't care' mannerism.
When the chorus is played for the second time the camera is only focused on the band and does not switch to the narrative at all, this is too show the importance of the band in this music video and to remind the viewers that all they are watching is a performance, not a film. During this part of the music video I noticed that the lead singer is wearing a white jacket, whereas the rest of the band are wearing black and grey. By making him stand out from the rest of the band this shows how important the singer is in the band. White represents purity, peace and calmness. I believe the producers of this music video purposely did this to make the two worlds, the performance and the narrative, very different to each other. Throughout this part of the music video a lot of different camera angles are used such as a low angle shot to make it feel as though we are looking up at the band while they are performing on stage, and also give the band a feeling of importance. We also see a couple of dolly shots and long shots to add to the feeling they are performing on a large stage. It could also represent how the band are free from the arguments happening in the narrative, the shots show the open space around them and that they, like the title says, are standing on rooftops.
Then we see the three narratives, one after another. In these narratives we see each of the teenagers screaming, and in doing so smashing anything made of glass. Each one of these screams is synced to the songs lyrics, when the lead singer says 'scream', the narrative does exactly that. This is sometimes used in music videos to give a sort of connection between the narrative and the performance and to constantly remind the viewer that they are watching a music video. Also each of these three scenes are in slow motion to add to the tension and emotion. As the narrative starts to build so does the performance. The band look as though they are really getting into the song and are putting everything into this performance as if it was a performance on stage in front of thousands of fans.
As the music video begins to finish we see the three main actors in the narrative on the rooftops with the band. This is a convention of music videos and is used in a lot of them, for example Eminem ft. Rihanna - Love the way you lie. By having the narratives joining the band on the rooftops we feel as though they have gotten away from the arguments in the narrative. Although we have not seen what has happened in the rest of the narrative the audience assume that they have all succeeded in escaping from reality.
