In the modern American society there is a large gap in opinion among many groups of people. Sound of Silence – Blue Version focuses on the struggle between police and the public as well as the struggles that many police, fire, and EMS personnel experience on a day-to-day basis. With recent events such as the Ferguson protests and the more recent Charlotte protests, there has been a large call for peace. Many people do not know the stress and challenges that public safety personnel face. This video argues that for there to be peace, people need to understand both sides of the “fight”. By looking at the images of common public safety scenarios as well as the use of various color changes the director is making a claim to a law enforcement centered audience, about the challenges of the job. The video is set to the song “The Sound of Silence” by Disturbed. This song is meant to trigger the viewer’s emotions as they watch the progression of the video and the appearance of many varying themes. 

The use of color in this video depicts the intended emotion that the maker wants the viewers to have. In the beginning of the video there is a subdued or black and white overlay on the video. This is to show the darkness and emotion that many officers may feel after a shift. The color is not only meant to show or trigger an emotion it is the emotion or the weight that is on the officer, it is what brings them down and can keep them stranded from what and who they love. The video then has another distorted scene where the camera is shoved underwater and thrashes, as if to symbolize drowning. This is also to show the viewer what many feel from the stresses of being in public safety. Drowning is how many people with depression or PTSD feel, or what they associate it with when they think that there is no one to help or that there is no hope left for them. This is appealing to the audience, police officers and law enforcement families often know the stress to the job and will be able to relate to this scene and will truly understand what the director is claiming. However shortly after this scene there are many images of police officers doing things that are typical for a shift, such as finding a weapon, or working a car wreck, however there is no normal or typical day in public safety. These images are again overlaid in black and white to show the sad emotion that some may feel. Also these images are also something that the intended audience will be able to relate to, officers know the dangers of the job while to others these images may come to be a shock, yet the images retain their meaning to the audience.

Shortly after, the scene cuts to a bright blue sky and people releasing blue balloons into the air. This is trying to show the viewer that being in public safety is not just about the job, but about the community and family.  This scene and the scenes following depict that there is hope. They also show that the weight that is left on their shoulders can be lifted through the help of family and friends. For example, the scene with the balloons and the scene directly before it both have a contrasting tone. The darker scene prior to the balloon scene is filled with scary or concerning images in contrast to the balloon scene, which is filled with bright colors and happy images. This tone shift is what many officers experience when they go between work and then return home. There is a drastic difference between dealing with deadly criminals one hour then transferring to changing diapers and being with family the next. This is meant to show the unpredictability of the police officers life, and that they never know what each day may hold. The audience again can relate to this scene; the director is again using these bright images to bring hope to the law enforcement community.

About halfway through the video, there is a segment that shows images of a happy family, a family that is real, not a stock photo family pieced together, but a real police officer’s family. However, these images are not unfiltered. These images are all either in a black and white tone or a brighter tone. This is the director’s way of showing the audience that there is a great need for family in his claim.  This is again the maker’s intention to instill a certain sadness or emotional weight on the viewer. These scenes are what gets the viewers’ attention. This is used as a way to humanize the police officer to show that they too are citizens with families.  At approximately three minutes, there is a segment of videos and images that show news footage of protests and encounters with police. News footage that was seen across the nation and “eaten up” by the American public. This is meant to show unrest and anger in America, and how the police are meant to stop useless violence and rioting. Rioting that is destroying towns and cities from the inside out. These riots are making good people look bad and bad people look good, creating a confused American society that is struggling to stay functional. After the images of protests, the video shows the two officers that the video followed being startled awake, overlaid in black and white. Once again, this is a way to show the viewer how an officer, paramedic, or firefighter does not end each shift and leave all of their emotional stress there, they bring it home with them each day. However, next it shows a colored image of the officers hugging and kissing their family’s goodbye as they leave for the next shift, intending to show that through the love and support of their family they can go back to the next shift each day.

This video is an active appeal, not only to the general public but also to other officers. The video uses color to enhance the appearance of various emotions and themes. These themes are meant to send a message, a message that police officers are men and women doing a job and protecting the public, a job that many would never do. The director is showing that these officers are being publically denounced and even killed for doing their job. The director shows this by appealing to the law enforcement community as the main audience, this is done by using images and colors to appeal to emotions and situations that the audience would understand and support.  “Sound of Silence – Blue Version” can be interpreted in many ways; some will see it as a PR stunt, others will see it as it meant: an appeal by police officers, paramedics, and firefighters to stick together and be strong in the troubling American society that has emerged.
