The "Welcome to the Black Parade" video is a performance video at heart but at the same time tells a compelling narrative, with many levels of understanding. The video is based on the idea that when you die, death comes to take you in a form that you decide and upon doctors failing to save his life, the protagonist for this video, "The patient", has a visit from death in the form of his most treasured memory of seeing the black parade as a child with his father.
At it's heart this is definitely a performance video, as there is only one scene featuring a performance from the band, on a parade float. However there is a narrative within this of the Patient's journey into the afterlife is compelling as he find meets "Mother War" to reflect upon his life and then accompanied by her sidekicks, "Fear", and "Regret" joins the black parade. My Chemical Ramance play along with the music on a float, with a believable lip sync done by Gerard Way (the lead singer). However this lip sync is very much in the style of previous videos and performances as Gerard's over the top singing style is something that will seem familiar with fans of the band. The band also play throughout, however some shots of the band are in slow motion, and so not synced with the music and at some points the sync of the drums with the music is purposefully played around with to comedic effect, for example at points 2:30, where Matt glances at the camera, breaking the fourth wall and then plays is drum fill, this is repeated at 3:21, when Matt suddenly stops playing the drums, turns his head and gazes at the camera.
The performance is very entertaining, the mixture of the brilliant backdrop and Gerard Way's performance, audiences are kept engaged. The backdrop and blimp as well as the extras all contribute to a consistent, visually striking style. The band's uniforms are consistent with the uniforms on the album, and My Chemical Romance are well known for their costumes, so good costume design conforms to their audience's expectations. The ruined city backdrop is a adds to the gothic/dystopic style of the video. As well the costumes another key signifier of the artist's identity is Gerard Way's over the top singing and playing with the microphone stand. This can be seen in several other My Chemical Romance videos such as "Teenagers" and "I'm Not OK (I promise)".
The editing in this video is discontinuous with the camera jumping around the band and to the patient to continue the narrative. Several beauty shots appear in this video for example at 3:08 there is a shot of the band on the blimp, but they are not playing their instruments. Another example being towards the end of the song at 4:34, 4:38 and 4:42 there are shots of the band standing with the Patient with Fear and Regret on either side of him, which is used as the cover art for the single release of this song.
On of my favourite things about this video is it's polysemic nature. There are many different ways of interpreting the video, for example The Band playing in the video could be seen as "My Chemical Romance" however they could also be seen as "My Chemical Romance" playing the part of "The Black Parade" in the video. In a similar way without knowledge of the back story to the video there could be many different interpretations of "Mother War", the lady in the gas mask. Another layer of meaning which could be seen in this video would be the story of a part of the Gerard Way's life drawing to a close in favour of the start of a new one. This can be seen by the make up worn by the Patient, which is the same as the make up worn by Gerard Way during videos and photoshoots for their last album, "Three cheers for sweet revenge." Whatever the significance of the Patient joining the black parade, the progression of his storyline from death to joining the black parade is quite emotional, and provokes a strong response from many viewers.
In conclusion I think that the "Welcome to the Black Parade" is a highly effective, video as it offers a visually engaging performance with many layers to read into and things for fans to read into.
The performance is very entertaining, the mixture of the brilliant backdrop and Gerard Way's performance, audiences are kept engaged. The backdrop and blimp as well as the extras all contribute to a consistent, visually striking style. The band's uniforms are consistent with the uniforms on the album, and My Chemical Romance are well known for their costumes, so good costume design conforms to their audience's expectations. The ruined city backdrop is a adds to the gothic/dystopic style of the video. As well the costumes another key signifier of the artist's identity is Gerard Way's over the top singing and playing with the microphone stand. This can be seen in several other My Chemical Romance videos such as "Teenagers" and "I'm Not OK (I promise)".
The editing in this video is discontinuous with the camera jumping around the band and to the patient to continue the narrative. Several beauty shots appear in this video for example at 3:08 there is a shot of the band on the blimp, but they are not playing their instruments. Another example being towards the end of the song at 4:34, 4:38 and 4:42 there are shots of the band standing with the Patient with Fear and Regret on either side of him, which is used as the cover art for the single release of this song.
On of my favourite things about this video is it's polysemic nature. There are many different ways of interpreting the video, for example The Band playing in the video could be seen as "My Chemical Romance" however they could also be seen as "My Chemical Romance" playing the part of "The Black Parade" in the video. In a similar way without knowledge of the back story to the video there could be many different interpretations of "Mother War", the lady in the gas mask. Another layer of meaning which could be seen in this video would be the story of a part of the Gerard Way's life drawing to a close in favour of the start of a new one. This can be seen by the make up worn by the Patient, which is the same as the make up worn by Gerard Way during videos and photoshoots for their last album, "Three cheers for sweet revenge." Whatever the significance of the Patient joining the black parade, the progression of his storyline from death to joining the black parade is quite emotional, and provokes a strong response from many viewers.
In conclusion I think that the "Welcome to the Black Parade" is a highly effective, video as it offers a visually engaging performance with many layers to read into and things for fans to read into.
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