The White Strips- The Hardest Button To Button (Textual Analysis 1) 

Written by: Jack White

Director: Michel Gondry

Genre: Alternative Rock/ Post-punk Revival

Structure: Performance

In the video for The White Stripes The Hardest Button to Button they have used a mixture of abstract and performance narrative to reflect the heavy and repetitive drumming, the video does this by using pixilation animation to create the effect of dozens of drum kits and guitar amplifiers multiplying to the rhythm of the song as Jack and Meg perform.

The video’s location is in New York and takes place around streets however, the videos break the stereotypical setting of New York as there isn’t a busy atmosphere and the video only features Meg, Jack and features a cameo from the artist Beck. They have done this to connote the idea of the band being groundbreaking and making the audience stop and being awestruck. We know the video is set in New York as iconography that would indicate the location of New York i.e. the Subway and in and around Columbia University are used. The artists are dressed in red and white which is stereotypical to the genre of post punk revival and also to the bands image. The artists both have dark long hair that also connotes the idea of rock and roll and rebellion.

The dominant shot is a long shot with both Jack and Meg full body featuring in most shots and the camera tracks them as they move through New York using jump motion. The camera is also kept in the same place in many shots and you just see the artists moving away and towards the camera as they go about New York. The use of showing Jack and Meg in a video shows the artist as a band and not the singer being the dominant figure, this breaks conventions and relates to the idea of rebellion. The stereotypical conventions of a music video shot of a close up is also used as a way to show the lyrics and so the audience can relate to the performance.

The pace of editing is very quick as it wants to seem almost invisible as the drums and amplifiers multiply. They’re all fast cuts that change into the almost same shot however with Meg or Jack moving and there being another pair of drums or amplifier there. The genre of post-punk revival is shown as there is a more artistic and visual aspect to the video than just the performance. The idea of the amplifiers and drums multiplying could relate to there fan base growing and the immediate fame the White Stripes gained from the start of the band.