Group C Media: Week Three: Rhiannon's Textual Analysis of Three Day's Grace's 'Never Too Late'

Hey all! Just wanted to post my textual analysis of the Three Days Grace music video: "Never Too Late." So here we go:

This song has a narrative style, which is based around the life and childhood of lead singer, Adam Gontier's wife. The video reflects the abuse that she received as a child. Also, it cuts between both her past childhood and her current depressed state.

The lyrics are designed to portray both her feelings and his personal message to her.

Similarly the visual images show her abuse and how entrapped she feels. Alongside this, Gontier appears as a Guardian Angel to her later in the video. This is associated with the lyrics when he says "it's not late, it's never too late". Therefore he is acting as her saviour.

Although the song is not as heavy in style, compared to some of their usual music, it does still maintain the classic traits of a Three Days Grace video and song. The editing of the video reflects the narrative style of the lyrics. (Other examples are videos such as ‘I Hate Everything About You’ and ‘Animal I've Become’).

There are no intertextual references in this video that refer to existing pieces of media. However, there are several links to Gontier’s wife's childhood. For example her abuser is often seen in a red jumper throughout the video. This is important in the colour scheme of the video; it is mainly black and white or dull colour tones. However, with the red standing out it enables the audience to associate it with danger and unfamiliarity.

In terms of band shots, these range mainly from mid shots to close ups of Gontier singing. However, in terms of lighting the band usually remain as shadows or blurred images. In the case of the lead singer the video both ends and begins with him in single spotlight which fades in and out. This demonstrates to the audience that he is merely a spectator in her past as he sings and describes the situation. However, he does appear as a Guardian Angel towards the end of the video.

A variety of objects remain symbolic throughout the video; for example there are several shots of butterflies which are used to show Gontier’s wife's innocence and fragility. In addition to this, the video uses black feathers which fall from the ceiling onto the main character, this suggests that there is now a presence of a saviour being and the mood changes.

Here is a link to the video on youtube, unfortunately I was unable to embed it:

Sorted :)
Rhi.