Green Day’s ‘Basket Case’ is a song from their album
‘Dookie’ released in 1994. It is a performance based music video where it
mainly consists of Green Day performing their song.
It is set in an insane asylum and the first shot we see is a
mid-shot showing a man dressed in white opening steel doors, obviously the
figure of authority in this scene. It also shows another man dressed in
hospital clothes trying to escape, this establishes the idea that it is set an
asylum. This video was originally filmed in black and white and in
post-production it was colourised, this makes the colours really vibrant and
creates an obscure setting that makes the audience slightly uncomfortable to
watch. The first shot we see of the lead Billy Joe Armstrong is him on his own
in front of the microphone looking very confused and out of place, this creates
the feeling that the character he is trying to portray isn’t quite there. The
camera stays stationary as other nurses and doctors wheel in the rest of the
band members, it is clear that these are all inmates from their awkward
behaviour and the way Armstrong’s eyes dart around the room as he sings, which
is reflective of the lyrics. The colours used here are extremely overwhelming
and juxtapose each other to create a very vibrant and abnormal scene,
furthermore, quick jump cuts and odd angles that range from high to low,
portraits and close-ups add to the uneasy tone of the video.
The next scene shows Armstrong in an over-exposed white room
from a high angled shot which makes him seem inferior, but with his black
outfit it contrasts and makes him stand out more. It jumps back to the band
playing again in the colourful room, it’s interesting to see as when there are
random jump cuts to them individually away from the group, they each seem bored
or uncomfortable and when it jump cuts back to the main location they are in
their element and presents completely different behaviour.
There are random people dressed in white with masks on
covering their faces. These are supposed to portray the inmates of the asylum
and they complement the madness of the video because they all remain colourless
except for their masks which are bright and vibrant. Their additions to the
music video could remain unnoticed but in the background they are just
wandering around and playing with large exercise balls. There doesn’t seem any
reasons for these actions but they definitely add to the weird video, it also
portrays that people don’t take mental health as seriously as they should as it
shows the amount of people suffering from it. The masks could present the idea
that their illness has changed them, and they’re not who they used to be.
As the video begins the ending, it gets weirder and weirder.
There are random jump cuts which show a close up shot of band members heads
with hallucinations around them. Armstrong’s close up shows him with images of fish
and eyes floating around his head. These hallucinations could be made by the
drugs he was given earlier or it could show how crazy he is. This makes the
music video a lot more difficult to understand and gives the audience a lot to
think about whilst simultaneously entertaining them.
The final shot shows the metal door closing in front of the
camera and we can see Green Day behind the door, presenting that they’re
staying inside for the foreseeable future.
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