In this paper I will try to analyse a videoclip which is currently a great internet success all over the world and in Spain. The lyrics and singing are attributed to Tangerine Kitty and were put together with the animation for the Metro Trains in Melbourne, Australia, in order to promote safety around trains and rails. I chose this videoclip because I found it very interesting when contrasted with the lecture about Semiotics applied to horror-comics. Before beginning to analyse the videoclip in more detail, we may clarify first its structure: it is a combination of a quite catchy song --due to its simple lyrics, short lines, the rhymes and frequent repetition of the chorus-- and the visuals. Hence, the lyrics (non-written language), the melody, and the voice of the female singer may be considered as one mode. Then, we have the visual mode, which consists of the short written message at the very end (image 1) and the animated cartoons. Having shortly mentioned now the different modes, we may consider the union between the visual and auditory modes: the whole composition consists of five five parts. In each, four different situations are depicted. As we are dealing with a non-static mode, I consider each situation/action depicted as a frame that separates it from the next situation. Only in the last part, in which we find the main aim of the ad, there are five different situations depicted. Again, all besides the last one, rhyme AABB/chorus x2. The last part rhymes AABCD. There is, however, an E line ("They may not rhyme but they're quite possibly"), which is used, as well as the chori, to break the rhythm, but additionally, to link it directly to the next line, the chorus ("The dumbest ways to die, the dumbest ways to die" x2). It may also be used to, firstly, create again a humorous environment despite having described three serious situations, but secondly, also to make the audience be aware of a slight difference. Whereas all the previous were exaggerated and silly ways to die, these last ones are real problems and because of it, "quite possibly the dumbest ways to die". Accordingly, the main idea behind this ad was to show many silly situations in which one can die, which serve as an introducer to the real message: the three most 'silly' ways we can die around trains and rails, i.e. to "stand on the edge of a train station platform", to "drive around the boom gates at a level crossing", and to "run across the tracks between the platforms". And then, we get the only written linguistic part, the warning "Be safe around trains. A message from Metro", which I also consider to be a "framed" component but yet constituent of the last part:

image 1

We may now proceed by taking into account that this video is not the usual kind of videoclip used as an ad. Instead of human characters, cartoons were used. There are some quite cute 'humanized' figures which, one after the other, depict a short situation or action. Namely, "take your helmet off in outer space". This sequence begins with one of these colored figures taking the helmet off in outer space and it ends with its head exploding (image 2). Note that I am using the -ing progressive because the sequences neither begin nor end. Each sequence begins and finishes in media res, as if it was intended to depict only the process that is describred in the lyrics, nothing static. But why were these 'not-so-serious' drawings used to deliver such an important message? There lies, obviously, great importance in humor. We can notice it both in the lyrics, in which increasingly dumb ways to die are described, but also in the visual part, the animation. For example, in the sequence I commented on previously, the only remainings of the exploded head are the figure's eyes, which end up twirling around in space. After this third part, which consisted of four different dumb ways to die, four correspondent dead figures end up with the previous eight dead figures (from part 1 and 2) and sing along the chorus ("Dumb ways to die, so many dumb ways to die" x2). In this scene we can see how our protagonist holds his eyes up high and swings them along with the rhythm of the song:

This is again a quite fun characteristic which we can only be depicted in this manner by using cartoons. Thus, in general we could state that the use of cartoons in this videoclip is useful 1) to exaggerate facial expressions, body gestures, etc.:

2) to soften all these tiny potential real-life situations as well as rather unprobable situations (outer space situations, attacks from bears...) which could have been depicted in a much more disgusting way, but also

3) to even make possible the illustration of certain very possible situations:

If the producers of this ad had decided to use human characters, we can certainly say that the whole ad would have been too morbid. By adding these exaggerated and unrealistic features, a different, even 'de-horrorizing' mood has been created. All the different modes and their features, e.g. a sweet, nice, female singing voice, ironic lyrics, simple rhyme, cute unfortunate characters, overdone situations, and finally, despite their misfortune a quite happy environment (image 2: all characters singing together, ironically, the chorus "dumb ways to die"), contribute together to make the song stick in the audience's minds and make them giggle and laugh. Having discussed the kind of drawings and animation used in order to create a rather humorous mood, we may now ask ourselves why these kinds of modes where used. In order to be more accurate, we would need statistics of deaths related to trains and rails. But we could attempt to conclude that exactly these visual and auditory modes were composed because the target audience needs this kind of multimodal combination to get engaged, to pay attention to the ad and to listen to the message. It is quite probable then,

that the audience targeted at is a rather young audience. Maybe from 10-12 up to 40-year-olds maximum. The combination of satirical, humoristic features to raise awareness of a rather sad and serious topic in this manner must be received exactly as such in order to work well. There may be a certain audience, perhaps already fifty-year-olds, who would find it even offensive or absolutely nonsensical. Fact is, that it is the first time an ad with such a message has gone viral on the internet (especially through mobile devices), which seems to indicate that the ad has been successful and more specifically, the estimated target audience could be the one stated above.

image 2

DUMB WAYS TO DIE Set fire to your hair Poke a stick at a grizzly bear Eat medicine that's out of date Use your private parts as piranha bait Dumb ways to die, so many dumb ways to die x2 Get your toast out with a fork Do your own electrical work Teach yourself how to fly Eat a two week old unrefrigerated pie Dumb ways to die, so many dumb ways to die x2 Invite a psycho-killer inside Scratch a drug dealer's brand new ride Take your helmet off in outer space Use a clothes dryer as a hiding place Dumb ways to die, so many dumb ways to die x2 Keep a rattlesnake as a pet Sell both your kidneys on the internet Eat a tube of superglue "I wonder what's this red button do?" Dumb ways to die, so many dumb ways to die x2 Dress up like a moose during hunting season Disturb a nest of wasps for no good reason Stand on the edge of a train station platform Drive around the boom gates at a level crossing Run across the tracks between the platforms They may not rhyme but they're quite possibly The dumbest ways to die, the dumbest ways to die The dumbest ways to die, so many dumb ways to die Be safe around trains. A message from Metro. Video available here: http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=IJNR2EpS0jw&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DIJNR2EpS0jw&gl=ES Or simply introducing "Dumb ways to die" in the youtube search box.