Music video analysis 1

The Death of Me by Asking Alexandria

Video Analysis

The song “The Death of Me” is by an English Metal core band. It is the third single on their third studio album entitled “From Death to Destiny”. The single was released in 2013 via Sumerian Records. The song is about the lead singer from the band and his addiction to drugs, so the lyrics is about how he overcame these addictions. In the music video we see a young boy who is tempted by nearly nude women in vending machines, this is supposed to represent how the lead singer, Danny Worsnop, was addicted to drugs from a young age. The drugs presented in this video are heroine, pills, cocaine and alcohol from this, the boy is supposed to choose his destiny and the path to which he should go down.

The video begins with a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson saying “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be”. It has been used in order to suggest to the audience what that song is about and help aid them into seeing the meaning behind the video. It then cuts to a close-up of a boy and it pans as he walks, then it cuts to a long shot of him and another man where short dialogue is exchanged of the boy being tempted to enter the warehouse. This opening sequence is the display of a narrative based video, as it tells the story of how the boy (who is meant to represent a band member) was tempted into these drugs from a young age. A shot using special effects is used at 0:36 in the video, as it displays a sort of superimposition, possibly representing how the viewer should feel under the drug induced haze of the warehouse.

This image then appears after the editing effect. The mise-en-scene of this is very interesting, as it relates to the context of the video, but we can also see the genre of the music straight away is rock. We can see the genre from the use of black and red colours which are typically associated with this genre. Furthermore, the genre can be seen in the use of low-key lighting to make the middle figure appear intimidating, as certain parts of his face are in shadows, making his facial expression look kind of menacing, as rock artists are seen to be quite dark and intimidating. The frame also fits in with the narrative as the costume of the middle character seems like that of the grim reaper, so it could suggest the boy is tempted by death, which is emphasized by the coffin type props in the background.

After this the video uses a montage of clips of women who represent the drugs the boy is being tempted by. The woman have been sexualised in voyeurism, so the audience is made to see how the boy is attracted to them. In this notion we are seeing the women using Laura Mulvey’s theory of the ‘Male Gaze’ in the notion of looking at them to find them appealing. In order to do these shots the director uses close ups and films areas of the woman’s body which are highly sexualised, for example their breasts and lips. The camera also takes specific detail to the “Drugs” faces to try and draw the audience in by the way that there are looking at the camera in a seductive manner.

The video then cuts to jump cuts of the band as the music starts. These jump cuts feature close-ups of the band playing their expensive looking equipment, implying that they’re a professional and talented band. The noticeable features on the band are their tattoos, the leather and the violent passionate facial expressions, which straight away imply to the audience that this is a Hard rock video as these are the stereo typical features of this genre. As the video cuts between clips of the band it uses special effects of bright lights to give off a strobe light effect, which makes the band seem more menacing as these type of effects are used in horror movies.

As the video moves on it features a parallel viewing of the band performing and of the storyline happening in the background, implying this is a hybrid video between narrative and performance. When the video cuts to the female drugs there is repetition in the use of superimposition to see the effects of such drugs. This repetition on editing is used whenever these women pop up.

The only other shots presented in this video is two shots of the boy and women in order to see how the boy is being tempted into one of these drugs in particular.

The genre of this music (hard rock) is represented through the stereo typical features of rock in the mise-en-scene such as, the costumes of the band and their tattoos. The editing of superimposition also helps to represent the genre of the music, as it relates to drugs, which are commonly associated with rock music. Therefore, the genre is signified through iconography, as the image presented to the audience is what they would expect to see from a typical rock video.

At the end of the video the boy selects his drug and the prop of money falls and burns to represent how much money is wasted on this drug. The other drugs then break out of their boxes in anger, which is a violent action to relate to the genre of the music.

I think the relationship between the music and the visuals is presented in that of the screaming of the lead vocalist is reflected in the editing as there is fast paced cuts and strobe like effects making the video seem quite frantic, which also matches the fast rhythm of instruments. Furthermore, as the pace of the song speeds up and slows down so does the length of the takes, which reflects a relationship between the rhythm and editing of the video.

Throughout the video no intertextual references have been recognised by fans or on the media, which makes this music video appear to be original as it is personal to the lead singer of the band, who at the time was Danny Worsnop.

I think that the video fulfils Andrew Goodwin’s theory as the music video follows the generic expectations of a rock video and creates a link between the lyrics and the visuals, as it describes the temptation of drugs to the young boy and shows this in woman who represent such drugs. In using the women to represent drugs we follow the notion of looking, because the video highlights the sexualised parts of the female body. Furthermore, the music amplifies the visuals as it heightens the frightening atmosphere we, the viewers, are looking into, as explained in the above paragraph. Finally, many close-ups of the band are used in order to promote the artist and cater to the needs of the record label, meaning they’re following this concept of Goodwin’s theory.

DigiPak:

Above I have displayed the front cover of this single as it is part of their digipak. The thing that stands out to me immediately is the band logo in large font at the top of the page, as it helps fans too quickly pick up on who this band is and encourage them to buy into this single. The next thing that the viewers tends to look at is the woman in the vending machine. This suggests that the audience are mainly going to be male viewers as they would be attracted by this image and encouraged to listen to the song. Finally, we see the lead singer heading out of a door with bright lights on the other side, representing the meaning behind the song of how he overcame these drugs. We can identify this genre as rock due to the large use of the colour black, which is a stereotypical colour of rock. Furthermore, the genre is identified in the sexualisation and representation of drugs that come from the nude woman in the vending machine, as these are also actions that are typically associated with the conventions of this genre.