Textual Analysis

Artist: 30 Seconds To Mars

Song: "From Yesterday"

Director: Jared Leto

This songs video was greatly influenced by the work of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa as well as the 1987 film 'The Last Samurai' by Bernardo Bertolucci, and Jared Leto (lead singer) also explained how he felt that the song itself is a very cinematic and visual one that influenced a spectacular video. I also think that the opening scenes from 0:58 to 1:51 could be influenced in some ways by 'The Matrix' because of the clean cut rooms and corridors that are all white, along with a nod to the matrix's 'infinite hallway of doors'. Furthermore, there are two versions of this video, one is a cut down version (7 minutes 25 seconds) and the other is the full directors cut at 13 minutes and 31 seconds which tells a more detailed story and also includes a lot of foreshadowing in terms of the characters and their fates.

From an unreliable source found after trawling google for information on this video it is said that the video cost $13, 000, 000 to produce, which, if true, would make it the most expensive music video EVER made! Destroying the previous most expensive video (Michael Jackson, 'Scream') by almost $4, 000, 000!

Another reason why I think this video is so interesting is because it is directed by Jared Leto, who is also an actor, starring in huge films such as 'Fight Club' and 'Requiem For A Dream. Jared Leto gave himself another alias under which he directed this video which is also a postmodern quality as he is being himself and directing it, however choosing to rename himself as a director to 'Bartholemew Cubbins'. This is similar to 'Flight of The Conchords' where the actors play themselves but with different names.

Jared Leto in David Fincher's 'Fightclub'.

The video/song is taken from the bands second album, 'A Beautiful Lie'. The idea was that each song would act as a chapter to the album and so 'From Yesterday' falls between songs 'The Kill' and 'A Beautiful Lie' on the album. Leto wanted to film in China as he believed the Chinese culture would fit the song perfectly and that he wanted the audience to take away there own messages and values from the song.

The video is filmed using 400 chinese soldiers and 20 horses within a huge Chinese temple or palace and the band experience a number of chinese rituals or traditions such as religious sacrifice, whipping and funeral rituals.

In terms of Goodwin's Theory, there is intertextuality in terms of its references to other films and references to cultures within the video, for example, the references to 'The Matrix', and 'The Last Emperor'. It could also be argued that it references Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shining' with the way that the video is split up into segments that are then titled like chapters, just like the film, plus this could also be the case as their previous music video to 'The Kill' was basically a music video to 'The Shining', and it is noticeable that the band like to use recurring motifs such as actors in their videos and the colours that they wear, for example black is their most popular choice in all three videos I have mentioned.

I think that this video demonstrates a number of genre characteristics in that in a way it tells a story which is a typical element of many rock videos, for example Limp Bizkit's 'Take A Look Around' or 30 Seconds to Mars' previous video 'The Kill'. They also film some parts of the video at night using fireworks and floodlights to light the setting and emphasize the power and emotion of the song, whic is similar to many other rock videos, such as Audioslave's 'Cochise' or Rise Against's video to 'Savior'. However in other ways it is almost like an historical epic with the setting and cast that are involved. It also features many shots of the band performing live wich as a very conventional characteristic of rock music video, or just music video in general.

This video is slightly unusual because there is no direct links between the lyrics and the visuals, for example there is no talk of chinese rituals or emperors within the song and the true meaning of the song is in many ways unclear, however the music relates to the visuals in some ways as the most epic parts of the video such as the final chorus happen in parallel with the visual which in this case is the firework display, live performance and the chinese warriors (plus band) fighting.