

Blood on the Dance Floor, an American electronic band, released their song “Rise and Shine” June 18 2012 promoting the controversial topic of bullying. Taking a dark and gruesome approach, Blood on the Dance Floor is able to convey to their audience the potential consequences of being bullied when there is no one there to help. Through the use of literary devices, colors, visual supports, and lyrics Blood on the Dance Floor ties together their video in a persuasion of desperation to promote a change.

Repetition and foreshadowing can be seen and heard throughout “Rise and Shine.” With these literary devices, along with colors, gaze, camera angles, and scene settings the audience is able to depict what is being shown and heard. The music video is set in a classroom, specifically at a high school, as shown within the first few seconds. The setting of  “Rise and Shine” creates more of a common connection to bullying, as bullying predominantly occurs in the hallways of schools. 

High school presents a challenge for many teenagers, as it is a time of change and a time that people are discovering who they are. There are those that will become isolated, due to personal reasons, while there are those that are more active and involved with his or her peers as well as within the school itself. Those that are deemed as “wallflowers,” outcasts/weirdos, are more likely to become victims of bullying. Being victimized for being unique can make an individual question his or her self, in the sense that they may want to inflict harm on themselves or others. 

Repetition can be seen lyrically and throughout the music video with given scenes. “Rain rain won’t go away…Cloud on my head every single day…” can be heard on three different occasions during the song. Reference to the childhood nursery rhyme “Rain, Rain go Away” is evident, but within the context of “Rise and Shine” there is a different and twisted meaning behind it. The first presence of these specific lyrics begins at 1:07, in which the audience can see a young man standing in the front of the classroom yelling at all of the kids in the classroom. Someone might interpret what he is saying to be, “Leave me alone!” being repeatedly said. Visually and lyrically there is an understanding of the character being bullied is the young man standing in the front of the classroom, and he is feeling the pain of what is being inflicted on him by others. The context of the lyrics at this particular scene can be interpreted as the main character, is going through troubles within is life and the pain is affecting him on a daily basis, “Cloud on my head every single day.” This can be seen through the character’s emotional pain as the camera is positioned as a close-up of his face. Another use of repetition lyrically is the word “pain.” Pain is used as a literal meaning within the context of this video as pain is being inflicted on an individual by a multitude of people, and later on within the video there is pain inflicted on many people resulting in death. The pain that is being referred to can also been seen visually throughout the video, through facial expressions, body language, and actions of the main character and supporting characters. 

Visual repetition is also seen throughout “Rise and Shine” with the use of colors, scene settings, and given scenes. Darker, non-vivid colors, are used in representation of how dark bullying can become. Since the main use of colors are black, blue, green, red, white, and gray, an eerie, gloomy, and in some cases gruesome picture is depicted. A specific scene that has use of all these colors is within the classroom, more specifically beginning around 1:51. 

Foreshadowing can be used to shoe events that could possibly happen or hint to events that are going to happen. Blood on the Dance Floor uses this specific technique to foreshadow the possible events of bullying, rather the possible consequences or results of bullying. Beginning around 1:51 the first sign of foreshadowing is shown. Depicted in this given see a member of Blood on the Dance Floor can be seen singing in the front of a classroom, and behind him a chalkboard as well as bloody hands. One might interpret this as people are going to die within the next few given scenes…but who? Another instance of foreshadowing is at 2:06. The young man who was being bullied can be seen sitting in a locker room holding a gun. The camera has a blurred affect to it, which can aide in the idea that this person in particular is being blinded by the pain he is feeling. This sense of blindness can lead to something more horrid than intended. Viewers can assume that the young man holding the gun is about to inflict harm on himself or those around him. The use of dark colors also plays a key role in depicting this gruesome video.

“Rise and Shine” shows just how serious bullying can get when there is no one there to help someone being victimized. Leaving someone alone in a time of need can create greater, and worse consequences than taking five seconds to lend a hand. There are those that become more emotionally hurt by what is being said or done to them, and the way they see to “fix” things is to hurt themselves or those around them. Bullying is a serious issue, and it becomes more prominent as a child enters into high school. By seeking help when feeling a sense of loneliness, separation from everyone and everything, and feeling an “evil” sense of hatred, the worse can be avoided. Isolating an individual, “ganging” up on him or her (bullying), can lead to more serious and killer consequences when left alone and ignored. It is evident that victimizing someone is not seen as a big enough threat, but a change is needed—“Where were we” and “No one’s listening” can be seen drawn on the chalkboard towards the end of “Rise and Shine,” which goes to show that there are those that feel so alone and as though no one is listening. Bullying is no laughing matter, and there needs to come about a change, but what will it take to bring this change? It’s time to take a stand and to listen to those in need, they are not alone, and they will never be alone.
