Sam fender

• Sam fender is a 27 year old indie alternative rock artist from north shields in the north east of England an area of social deprivation where more than 30% of children live in poverty
• His music is both personal and political in content and is inspired by his own experiences growing up in his hometown
• It has been referred to as music that punches the air and gut the guardian October 7th 2021
• The track 17 going under from fenders second studio album of the same name released by polydor records
• It was written when he was shielding during the covid 19 pandemic. The song is introspective in its focus looking back at his 17 year old self and trying to make sense of the chaos of that time.
• Fender said of the album and the title track 17 is when all the challenges begin you're not a baby but you're definitely not an adult turns out that bit takes a bit longer than you think
• Fender won a brit award in 2022 for best alternative/rock art voted by fans where also performed 17 going under at the awards ceremony. He dedicated the award to the north east homeless centre
• The video for 17 going under was directed by brock neal Roberts with cinematography by Benjamin wearing
• By January 2022 it had received 5.6 million views. The music video also went viral on tik tok after it's release. Tik tok videos with the #sam fender received more than 258 million views at the time
• The performer plays an integral part by interpreting the lyrics through a narrative. In this video sam fender sings directly to the camera involving the audience in the story and creating scenarios that attempt to relate to the experiences of youth particularly those living in areas of social deprivation
• The involvement of the artist in this style of music video allows them to establish their star persona and in the case of sam fender to use the music video form to raise awareness of social inequalities and issues that are of concern to him
• The clothing of the young people in the music video is relatable to the young audience and carries cultural connotations in relation to the dual time frame and the music genre
• Fender himself wears understated clothing which signifies the music genre but doesn't draw attention to him as the artist. He establishes himself as part of the group of young people and yet distanced from it this is displayed in the shot on the cliff top where he is surrounded by a group of young people yet seems isolated and alone
• Settings and iconography, the music video is filmed in real locations to create realism for Examole urban street scenes in the car, domestic situations and on the coast
• The desaturated earthy colour palette reinforces the sense of real life happening. This is juxtaposed with the sunny beach scenes signifying more carefree times and the use of darkness when focusing on shots of mother and driving in the car at night echoing the bleaker lyrics
• Expression and gestures : the focus on the track is introspective this is signified through the code of expression of fender as the artist. His code of expression throughout is serious with a direct mode of address involving the audience in his thoughts and narrative
• Audio codes : although the only audio codes are the narrative fenders georgie accent is clear through his singing. His incorporation of north eastern dialect words into his song lyrics for example bizzies,nowt,chanter reinforces how the themes of his song are defined by his local community and his experiences of living in the north east of England
• Close up shots are used frequently in the music video to enable fender and the characters to engage with the audience and to convey the raw emotion of the narrative for example the bloodied knuckles the confrontational expression of the fighting girls and fenders own solemn expression
• The establishing shots of the urban working class miliue anchor the narrative in a realistic setting suggesting the representation of real life and depict scenarios from his 17 year old experiences.
• They place fender at the centre of his community. An example of this would be the iconic social housing block in the background of one of the shots
• The opening of the music video is a slow zoom down a long street lined with terraced houses typical of a north east mining town drawing the audience towards the artist in the middle of the street clearly placed as part of the environment
• The editing cuts between the performance of the artist and naturalistic vignettes which convey the disparate narrative of fenders youth, romance, friends, conflict all conveyed through the lists fist fights on the beach and through visual signifers
• Montage editing sequences conveys the chaos of being 17 dancing at a club, walking in the dark, hands clasped in friendship girls fighting. The cuts become quicker and more frantic matching the increased pace of the music this all signifying desparation
• The narrative is non linear moving between the past and present featuring disruptions and a sort of resolution that reflects fenders dominant message of learning from the mistakes of the past and understanding the angst of his 17 year old self
• The performance and narrative scenes reconstructing scenarios from his youth are universal and relatable to his target audience regardless of where they live or their situations
• The narrative shows fenders viewpoint that you are a product of where you live and what happens to you in your formative years. As the video progresses the artist literally grows larger than his environment and moves above the street of his youth transcending the past and ending with a sense of hope
• The different narrative strands are dominated by the performance of the artist who acts as the storyteller a typical convention of this style of music video. The repitive lyrics of the chorus reinforce the narrative of his youth I'm 17 going under
• The images are highly illustrative often featuring a literal of the lyrics this adds to the sense that a vivid story is being told with a clear message
• The inclusion of the mothers situation in the narrative with the shot of her with crumpled letters and the bottle of gin is a direct criticism of the social systems that let her down when she was ill and couldn't work to support them
• Semiotics barthes

  Many of the images illustrate the lyrics but also connote deeper meanings in relation to the notions of inequality and as signifers of place and class for example the terraced street and the social housing blocks
• The audience will attach meanings to these signifers and to there association with working class youth
• The idea of myth relates to the use of iconography and conventions which over time have become recognisable as a symbol of social status contributing to stereotypical assumptions about place and people
• Structuralism, music video create meaning that is structure that is recognisable to audiences. The form has a reportoire of familiar elements regardless of the music genre . This music video employs the codes and conventions of the narrative /performance form cutting between the constructed narrative and performance of the artist
• Music videos have a set time the length of the song to construct meaning and therefore use recognisable conventions including clothing iconography and setting to convey messages rapidly
• The music video is constructed through binary oppositions for Examole the personal introspective older fender in comparison to the angry 17 year old. The binary opposites are also stylistic they convey meaning in cutting between the artist in the street becoming increasingly distanced from his environment and narrative scenarios depicting his trouble youth
• The resolution of opposites can have ideological significance particularly in music videos that encode social messages. The music video past experiences need not define what happens in the future and how this media form can be used to raise awareness of social issues
• Sam fender was born in north shields in the north east of England. His music is influenced by his experiences of social inequality and growing up in a dysfunctional family
• 17 going under and the title track are Autobiographical and introspective, a lot of things you pass off as insignificant moments in your life they tend to be quite poignant how it affects and shapes your character as you get older
• His music incorporates self representation within his experiences growing up and focuses on his identity as part of a north east working class community
• Reviewers have suggested that he is very different from other artists in this genre as his music is at times bleak and highlight social issues prevalent in certain underrepresented communities