Nirvana Smells Like Teen Spirit Analysis

In the video "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana is set in a school gym and given a sepia filter effect throughout, what this does is help the audience link to the lyrics to the actual location and setting of the video, the stereotypical view of teenagers being rebellious or unclean. The genre of which this video and Nirvana come from is Rock and the rebellious attitudes shown in this video symbolise stereotypical conventions from the rock genre such as crow surfing and mosh pits, heavy focus on drums, a guitar solo and the destroying of instruments. Not only this but the Mise en Scene of the video also draws focus to Rock Genre with the instruments in which the band are playing such as drums, guitar and bass. As well as this, the costumes featured in the video represent that of Rock but also have a clear link to the actual title of the song and that lyrics as the majority of people in the video are "teenagers" they are seen to be wearing jeans and t-shirts, something that was very popular within the genre at the time this video was released. Not only this but there also a group of cheerleaders that can be seen in the video wearing stereotypical costume, this helps to emphasise the location of the video being at a school or high school. As a result of this also, the target audience for this particular artist and the song it's self would be between 16-24,  both "teenagers" and students. The cutting rate in this video is that of a typical rock video, cutting between the performance of the band and the crowd moshing throughout the majority of the video. The image of the band in this video is one that agains fits into the title and the lyrics of the song, with them looking similar to the teenage crowd and with the band acting rebellious by causing destruction in the schools gym this could be seen as very stereotypical both within Rock itself with it's destructive reputation but also with rebellious teenagers within school. Both the band and crowd are seen to also be wearing quite dark clothing as well which fits in with the setting of the video. The performance the band give throughout the video again is that of a typical Rock concert, whereby after each chorus the band gets the crowd moving more and more until eventually the song ends and the band destroy there instruments, something which again may appeal more to teenagers. Throughout the video I believe that the band whilst causing destruction are also portrayed as very likeable and respected people especially within the world of Rock with the close up shots of the crowd moshing and the band playing there instruments. Kurt Cobain can be seen singing into the camera as well during the video, making the video feel more personal as if he is singing to not just the audience in the video but and audience watching the video. The video contains a fast cutting rate with a variety of different shots, such as close ups, long shots and also high angle shots and a panning shot at the start of of the video to set the scene which keeps the audience interested in the video. There is also a variety of shots that show a cleaner dancing to the music, he is very much older than anyone else in the video, what this may represent is an older generation reminiscing or wanting to re-discover there youth.