At the beginning of the video it appears to follow the characteristics of a film. This is reflected in the use of the credits both at the beginning and at the end of the video. This, in turn, denotes Jared Leto (who directed this) as an actor who would have put his film making knowledge into this video. He uses a pseudonym of Bartholomew Cubbins as director who is a returning character in Dr Seuss’ works. The first thing we see on screen is “Thirty Seconds To Mars presents” accompanied by an image of the city, which gives us an insight into what we will play witness to in the video. The use of the depiction of “The Ride” just before the footage begins is used to convey its film like qualities as well as the idea that the video will contain elements to do with riding in some way, shape or form. The initial idea of the bike riding came from Leto and the rest of the band participate in mass night rides through empty cities at night. This acted as inspiration for the video. There are two main themes within the video: a gang of cyclists travelling from downtown Los Angles to the end of Santa Monica Pier and the bands performance of the song on a cliff edge of Griffith Park which looks out over the city.This means the video is a combination of performance and narrative which reflects Andrew Goodwin’s “Dancing in the Distraction Factory” theory 1992 as it depicts that music video’s demonstrate genre characteristics, for example stage performances by metal bands in a metal video as opposed to dance routines. The performance aspect of this video conveys this.
In Goodwin’s theory it is stated that there is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. One of the ways in which this theory is conveyed is through the use of lighting, which in this video is used in a number of ways to entice an audience. Firstly it is used to portray the progression of the day during the intro of the song. This is as when the lyrics begin we see the riders at night which reflects the first line “Into the night”. We are shown the progression as to indicate the passing of time and the fact that they are cycling at night denotes that they are hiding themselves in such a way to escape from reality hence the obscure outfits.
When we first see the slow motion wide shot of the cyclists we find it to be of warming colours and yet they are muted, meaning we can tell that it is in fact a sunset as the bright colours of the day are beginning to fade. The combination of the muddy red and the dark oranges in this shot convey this. The riders in this shot are given a mysterious nature as when we first see the black figures contrasting with the brightness and warmth of the sunset we are not entirely sure as to what they are. By simply showing the outlines and darkness of the riders, the sense of mystery is being held and so creates anticipation of the viewers by not revealing the true identities of the figures. This technique is also used in the close up of Leto with the microphone. The pale early morning sky contrasts with the blackness of Leto which highlights both the importance of him in regards the video, as he did in fact direct it, and the time of day behind him. 
At night we see the traditionally lit city. Lights from the buildings and street lights are used
as well as those on the bikes as to create a natural atmosphere. However, this is shattered when we see the madness of the costumes of the cyclists. Lights on the wheels of the bikes are also used in this video as to help to light up the tunnel in the dark and to create a splash of colour on the roof of the tunnel which gives the video a brighter and more appealing effect rather than simply having people cycling through a tunnel. The lights used at the end of the video in the wide shot of the pier brightens up the video and gives is a bright and colourful ending.
As soon as the song begins the pace of editing speeds up. This is done as to reflect the pace of the song even though the majority of the shots do appear to be rather slow, which reflects Goodwin's ideals of a relationship between audio and visuals. Mostly straight cuts are used in this video, therefore basic editing techniques are being used and the video is focussing on the cyclists and the footage rather than “special effect”. The shot types used vary more than the editing. This is as the video is simply the movement of the cyclists from downtown LA to the pier. The shots are basically conveying the same thing but from a different angle. The lack of techniques used in the editing in this video may reflect Leto lack of editing technique and ideas as he was an actor so may only have developed knowledge on the production of films as opposed to the editing. Towards the end of the video the cyclists ride in a large continuous circle before heading to the pier and at this point we are shown an aerial shot of them circling followed by various close ups. Mainly in this video close ups and long shots are used with a few mid shots thrown in, it usually alternates between them. When we see the performance on the cliff top we either see close ups of Leto or wide shots of the entire band.The vast number of close ups used in this video also convey Goodwin’s theory as record labels will demand many close up of the artist, and in this case is the front man Jared Leto.
At one point in this video we witness a masked man throwing flowers which represents underground artist Banksy’s Flower Chucker graffiti. This intertextuality allows for the video to have more depth and conveys the beauty and achievement that everyone has within. Other intertextual references in this video are of bikers throughout the world. The biker’s image is based largely around the idea of leather trousers, leather jackets, long hair and dark sunglasses. This video then deflects the biker image as the costumes used are almost mocking them as they are dressed in brightly coloured and obscure outfits. Therefore this video mocks the biking culture. This culture is shown in films such as hells angels and the easy rider.
The costumes used in this video are both strange and obscure and like the use of the cyclists have no real relevance to the song. Rabbit ears, capes of the American flag, painted faces, baseball teams, gas masks and goggles are all examples of the items used in this video to capture the audience’s attention and make the video more fun and entertaining. Without these costumes the video would not be anywhere as near as engaging or entertaining. They are almost circus like and show the amusement and entertaining aspects of life. The cyclists in random costumes reflects the idea of “children of a lesser god” as well as randomness as well as the irrelevant nature of the video. This This video revolves mainly around the cyclists. The video would not be anywhere near as successful if the costumes were dull, basic and every day rather than bright, colourful and random. This creates elements of fantasy within the video. The use of lighting also allows this video to be a success as without the lights on the bike and the constant change in time, i.e. the progression of the day, with its various bright and vivid colours. These contrast with the idea of the blackness of the night, the modern world and downtown Los Angles. This video has been described as a “Love letter to Los Angles” as it shows its beauty at all aspect throughout the progression of the day. This video can only be guessed as being produced not to promote the band but to promote living life to the fullest. Leto liked to create and depict a great sense of adventure in their music videos, which is where the biking idea came from and they do not think of the videos as music videos but as short films: Conveying a message.
Hayley Cook
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