The Pretender, Music video Analysis

Foo Fighters- The Pretender Analysis

The Pretender was released August 21^st 2007 by American alternative rock band Foo Fighters. It was the first single from their fifth album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. The music video was directed by Sam Brown, one of the world’s most sought-after music video directors who’s work on Adele’s Rolling in The Deep won them the Grammy award for best music video.

The video opens with the lifting light and Grohl (front man) walking toward a microphone in what appears to be an empty warehouse. The room looks to be largely decorated in white representing the balance and equilibrium at the opening of the video. The high angle shot gives the audience the impression it is being filmed by CCTV, this shows there is a higher power administrating authority.

We see a close-up shot of Grohl wrapping a bandage around his hand as if preparing for a fight, this could be a metaphor for the battle he has with authority and order. This is further enforced by the following low angle shot where we see Grohl clenching his fist showing his power. He sings the lyrics ‘keep you in the dark, you know they all pretend’ towards the dark expanse as if singing to someone hiding there. There is a black line on the floor so to separate the band from their opposition .

The fast, jump cut editing gives the video a sense of aggression which matches the anger in Grohl’s voice. The camera pans around the band displaying their anger as they play their instruments. There is an extreme close-up of Grohl’s face which gives the audience a sense of intimacy and puts the viewer in the place of the opposition, this really gives you a feel of the aggression displayed by the band in this video. The red background behind the band is often associated with danger and passion. The jump cuts from high to low angles gives the video a sense of manic tension of stereotyped with rock music and the energy of a rock band.

In the middle section of the video we see the opposing force in which Grohl is singing too. A policeman in riot uniform walks out from the dark space to face head on with Grohl. The police represent order and law which is a total contrast to the bands image of aggression, anarchy and rebellion. The lyrics seem to mock the police officer ‘you’re the pretender’ and ‘what if I say I will never surrender?’. The policeman then continues to pull a shield down over his face- this mirrors the idea of Grohl wrapping the bandage around his hand- both these images show they are preparing for conflict. 

The camera behind the officer tilts from a high angle to a low angle highlighting a shift in power from the band to the authority figure. There is an over the shoulder shot from behind Grohl showing he is directing his lyrics towards the police officer. More police in riot uniform appear from the dark representing authority gaining more power over the anarchy and rebellion. The camera tracks along the line of officers showing the are numbered further enforcing the idea of their order. There is another extreme close-up of Grohl as he sings ‘what if is say I will never surrender?’, this shows he is challenging the authority figure.

Tension is built using cross-cuts between the police and the band. As the guitar bridge begins to calm the police start to charge forwards, this contrast is known as contrapuntal sound. The dynamics of the music rise again as the red wall behind the band explodes with red paint, this represents the danger and energy of the band projecting itself and pushing away the authority. The band lean in to the explosion and are not knocked over showing they are strong as the police all fall to the floor in defeat. The band are drenched in the red paint as if to reflect the danger into them now. The jump cuts between low and high angles create chaos and show the differing in status now between the police. Grohl smashes his guitar- which is stereotypical of the genre- showing an emotional release as if all his pent-up aggression is finally being set free and the authority is defeated. Once he has done this the room again turns to white as if the equilibrium is now being restored.