Semiotic Analysis

This is the official video made for 30 Seconds To Mars' song City Of Angels
off of their fourth studio album, Love Lust Faith and Dreams. The video was a Bartholomew Cubbins Film, Bartholomew Cubbins is the alias by which Jared Leto - the lead singer of the band - goes by.



The video is almost like a short film, it begins with Kanye West comparing Hollywood icons, famous objects, and architecture to the city of Los Angeles. He is then followed by a series of commentary from several different residents of the city, some who we recognise and some who we don't, and their  relationship with the city of LA. This video captures the city in it's entirety, from the Hollywood Hills to the Hollywood Boulevard, and the struggles along with the successes of the entertainers who live there. The film featured many famous faces such as Lindsay Lohan, Selena Gomez, James Franco, Ashley Olsen, and Corey Feldman, adding to the familiarity of the film for the audience.

Archive clips of Marilyn Monroe, James  Dean and Elisabeth Taylor are included as well, iconic faces in the world of entertainment, recognisable to people all across the world. Leto did not only use famous faces for this film, but also hired people aspiring to make it big in Hollywood, including a young homeless man, a silver street performer, a Superman impersonator, and a porn star/single mum among others in similar positions to them. I think that this was an integral part of the film as it provided a much more realistic and far less glamorous view on the entertainment industry, looking at people who are still trying to reach their dreams, but aren't quite there yet.