Rock Music Video Analysis - Welcome to the Black Parade, My Chemical Romance

Greenday on Prezi

The music video for 'Welcome to the Black Parade', by My Chemical Romance, has a very apparent narrative, that could however, be interpreted in different ways by various viewers of the video. It is set during World War Two but is a very surreal idea of what someone's descent into the afterlife would be. The song is based around the dying man who goes to see the marching band perform, as the lyrics suggest he did as a young child, who happen to be the actual members of My Chemical Romance, and the experience he has returning back to it.
The video uses a wide range of shots throughout, especially when it moves from the slow cuts into the fast paced ones. The most popular shots seem to be long shots, extreme long shots and close ups.
The video is heavily edited to create the vintage, old look that is needed because of the World War Two period it is set in, however, the modern twist to the film is still evident because of the way it switches between the different types of times. When the band is being filmed, it looks to be more modern than when the man or any participents of the black parade; the smokey, old fashioned photo like outside to the frame adds this vintage feel to it.
The sound is non diegetic throughout aside from a few added effects such as bomb sounds and the TV in the hospital scene at the beginning when the lead singer is singing to the dying man.
The lighting used throughout is artificial, made to look naturalistic. The location stays within the black parade all the way through, even in the opening of the song, the hospital room turns out to just be curtains that fall and shows the man in the black parade already. The black parade looks like it is based in a warzone in London during World War Two because of the smokey, dark and dingy surroundings where there are buildings that have been bombed and are collapsed all around and fires raging. The costumes are very naturalistic in the hospital scene with the man in a white hospital gown and the nurses in typical uniform. However, once we are introduced to the black parade, the band members are in what seems to be a dark uniform of some sort of guard, suggesting that they are almost the 'gatekeepers' to the black parade. Also, the other members are all wearing masks and flamboyant but old and dirty looking costumes such as tulle skirts, ballgowns and big jackets, again reinforcing the surreal and dreamlike side to the video.
The video ends with the lead singer of the band, Gerard Way, presenting the dead man with a medal which could suggest he has either done well for surviving for so long or for his life in general. However, the actual meaning of the video is that someone is dying of cancer and the black parade is the place where you go when you die, but the music video is open to interpretation by anyone which I think can make it either very personal or very distant depending on the viewer who is watching.
The video is typical of the rock genre because it has a very direct and personal feel to it, along with the dark colours used and the sad plotline. The main singer is also typical to the genre because he shows his passion throughout the song through not only his singing but also his facial expressions.