Real Media Texts - Nothing To Lose - Blilly Talent (2004)

The video was filmed at Central Technical School in Toronto, Ontario in Canada and directed by Sean Michael Turrell.
 It is in black and white and follows a boy in a black hoodie which hides his face (the suicidal teen). The video alternates between the band playing in the basement of the high school and the boy in classes and halls. Throughout the video the boy is writing in a notebook which we see bits of the song's lyrics and drawings. He gets picked on in the hallway by a group of kids who take his notebook, and runs away. At the end of the video the boy goes to the school's garage, attaches one end of a long tube to the exhaust of the car, and brings the other end to the driver's seat with him. Then he starts the car, causing the gas to suffocate him. The last lyrics sung say "There's nothing to gain/And I just died today", showing that the boy had suffocated himself successfully.The line "Who'd know it put me underground at seventeen" also meant that he was 17 when the kids who teased him made him kill himself, underground showing connotations of him being buried. Also near the end the boy's notebook is open to a page where a drawing can be seen showing the suicide. On the same page there is a suicide note that reads: I will do it, I will show you, you will know who I am, you will read this and know who I am, my death will heal this pain, there's nothing to lose and I can't fight this pain anymore. Part of the lyrics are "There's nothing to gain / My notebook will explain"
Text also appears at the end of the video:

THERE'S LIFE BEYOND THESE WALLS

KIDS HELP PHONE

JEUNESSE, J'ÉCOUTE

1 800 668 6868

www.kidshelpphone.ca

The whole song and videos purpose is to gain awareness to bullying and suicide.
At the start of the video there is a lot of establishing shots showing the school and boy. Most of the camera is shown as the point of view of the boy showing his struggle but cuts to long shots of the boy showing his situation but never showing his face. This connotes his lack of identity. Whilst being the point of view of the boy there are a lot of close ups showing his everyday life and struggle.
The transitions of the videos are mostly fade to blacks. This really works because it fits with the tempo of the song and helps portray the narrative in a sutler and effective way.
The use of black and white represents the lack of colour in the boys life and how he feels like he has nothing to live for.