Blog post #6: Music Video Logos

Logos refers to the structure or logic behind an argument. In my previous couple blog post I reflected on the rhetoric and strategies used in the mucic video, Become the Bull, by Atreyu. In analyzing the logos in this video, I feel it is important to think about the relationship between the video itself and the lyrics of the song. The first thing I noticed with the structure is that there is a consistent switching back and fourth in the video between the people running from the bull and the band performing. This really builds on the lyrics, "back and fourth, the struggle consumes us all," because it uses structure in the video to match the words of the song. This also works to create a contrast. For example, when the audience has more than one thing to follow going on in the video, more focus is drawn to the consistent lyrics of the song. Because of this, I really feel that Atrayu wanted the lyrics, not the video to be the main focal point of the audience. The video is also almost completely filmed in black and white, which also draws less attention to the visual aspect of the video. If one looks at the relationship between the video and the song and how it appeals to reason, You see a mob of people that appear to be running from a bull. At the end of the video, it is revealed that they were actually the ones charging towards the band. In terms of reason this can be viewed as a metaphor referring to the lyrics, " become the bull." It is also important to consider why atreyu chooses to spend such a large portion of the video focusing on them performing. With respect to logos, as I stated earlier, atrayu is trying to draw focus to the lyrics of the song, through this video, so when time is spent watching the band speak the words, at least in my mind I pay much more attention to what is being said. The band's facial expressions and body language also help to more effectively convey their message. Finally, I felt that the main purpose of the video is to simplify what was being said. "Become the Bull," can be interpreted many different ways and I feel that the band uses this video to logically show the audience what they mean. The story in the video consists of basically people who look terrified of something, running through the streets, and at the end of the video they all stop. Naturally I think the message this sends is, "Stop running." I think the message Atreyu is trying to send is stop running from your problems, and take control of them.