19/3/24 - Seventeen Going Under by Sam Fender

 Sam Fender

• Sam Fender is a 29 year old indie/alternative rock artist from North Shields in the North-East of England, an area of social deprivation, where more that 30% of children live in poverty. 
• His mother left him when he was 8, he returned to her at the age of 10 when he was forced out of his father's home by his step-mother. He was bullied as a child for being overweight and not athletic. His mother was an NHS nurse but was unable to continue work once she was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. 
• His music is both personal and political in content and is inspired by his own experiences growing up in his hometown. It has been described as 'music that punches the air and the gut' 
• Fender won a Brit Award in 2022 for "Best Alternative/Rock act' voted by fans where he also performed Seventeen going under at the awards ceremony. He dedicates the award to the North East Homeless centre. 

• The place he comes from is highly stereotyped. 
• The track Seventeen Going Under is taken from his second studio tracked. 
• People stream platforms with highly digitally convergent technology (streaming platforms)
• Subsidiary is when a company owns a smaller company. 
• As of 2023 the video has 23 million views on YouTube
• The video was directed by Brock Roberts. 
• It went viral on TikTok under the hashtag #Samfender. 

Seventeen Going Under

 How does media language construct representations in Seventeen Going Under?

• Constructing refers to how something is made, by the producers of a media product.
• Representations are ideological perspectives that have been presented again by the producer using media language.
• The setting of the dull stereotypically working class terraced housing connotes Fender's working class background and his hard working persona. It also reinforces the difficulty of his life, his past and growing up in the North East. 
• As the song progresses the editing becomes faster and the length of shot becomes shorter and shorter. This speed of editing has the effector constructing a more exciting mode of address for the audience. 
• A clear narrative is constructed that is separate from the master shots of Fender performing. 
• While it is unclear exactly what is going on, the narrative focuses in working class individuals, as identified through their outfits. 
• There are a range of costumes all of which are highly conventional and even stereotypical of working class identity. Fender's selfless white shirt has connotations of working class identity and work, and also indicates that Fender is an authentic individual.
• Authenticity is extremely important to Fender's brand identity. 
• Fender flies above the streets of North Shields in a shot which possible through a crane and in doing so constructs an important representation. By being situated above above the mise-en-scene of Fender surrounded by the stereotypically working class streets, Fender looks on in reflection and reminiscence, remembering the bad. 
• The close up shots of Fender's face are repeated throughout the video and connotes his importance and popularity. This sense of popularity is reinforced through the mise-en-scene of Fender surrounded by crowds of inhabitants of North Shield. Dressed in casual and relatable clothing, the video is clearly relating to a young and working class audience. 
• A dull colour pallet is selected, and favours mainly greys a browns. This selection reinforces the ideology that North Shields is a dull and depressing place to live. Furthermore, the desaturated colours are connotative of realism, authenticity and sadness
• The settings selected are not symbolic of inclusivity but instead are all places where people can naturally commune. This includes a beach, the streets, parks and roads. While locations are bleak and unglamorous, they connote a sense of youth and working class inclusivity. 
• A binary opposition is formed between inclusivity, with crowds of people, and isolation, especially in the master shot of Fender floating above the isolated and empty terraced street. 
• There is a relative lack of interior shots, with a sole shot of a mother looking out into the street. This is highly evocative of being young and working class, and having sense of rootlessness and having nothing to rely on.
• The rapid fire editing that represents the fight scene provides the audiences with an exciting and engaging narrative. 
• While we are positioned as a woking class youth in this video the representation of working class youth will provide an exciting sense of escapism for middle class audiences. 
• Towards the end of the video a shot of a vape sitting on a table is highly connotative of youth representations and working class representations, and therefore would be relatable to Fenders audiences.