Slipknot - Dead Memories
I choose to analyse Slipknot's music video for Dead Memories, to remain in-keeping with my earlier research, as it is from the album "All Hope Is Gone", for which I did my DigiPak analysis. The video opens with a shot of a building in Iowa, the American state from which the band is from, showing to be a more personal location to them. A pull focus shot reveals the bands frontman Corey Taylor to be unmasked, which is a very rare occurrence, as the masks are usually used as an icon for the band. The opening shots seem bleak, with dull colours and a whistling wind emphasizing his loneliness, as he walks through empty streets, holding a shovel. Eventually he arrives at a field, where he begins to dig, as the music and rain simultaneously begin together. There is a heavy emphasis on the thought beat, with the shots changing on the subtle symbol beats that begin in the background, frequently changing angles distances to keep the scene varied, showing a rapidly changing pace. The originally slow and rhythmic music was matched my the frontmans melancholy mood, which is suddenly contrasted by fast paced shots with Corey behaving somewhat erratic now.
Eventually Corey falls through the ground, landing in a room from the ceiling, showing a clever use of match continuity. He is now wearing his mask again, showing the significance of the iconography lands in an odd position, as though defying gravity, an idea that seems to be confirmed by the bands DJ, Sid, crawling over walls. Corey seems to look for an escape by checking a curtained window, with the lyrics "I can't go back again" showing a literal response, and that he has to go forward to escape, suggesting a metaphorically speaking way also, so to escape his emotions he has to move on fro the past troubles. The next few shots reveal Corey trying to leave the room, being held by by Sid, with the lyrics "When I got away I only got so far", showing that his problems are still holding him back, meaning he can't fully escape, subtly shown by the visual representation.
Upon leaving the room, he enters another, in which the drummer Joey is being surrounded by women, who seem to worship him, suggesting that they're acting as temptation, feeding him strawberries, and brushing his hair etc. It is at this point that the notion of temptation suggests that the song could be about addiction, be it to love, drugs, alcohol, etc, showing the journey of breaking the habit. The high key lighting of the room again shows how the temptation of things like addictions can be positive when seen for the first time, showing them to be enticing, and when Joey looks in the mirror and Corey's face is the reflection it shows that he may have already travelled this road.
The fast paced shots continue as Corey again leaves the room to enter another, showing the bands sampler Craig centrally stood, with the scene being in an odd black and white effect. The lack of colour could show how any positive feelings have been drained, showing that the world has now become bleak. Upon Craig piercing something on the nails of his mask, a sort of explosion occurs, leaving Corey stunned and somewhat blinded stumbling through to the next room. The editing here becomes increasingly erratic, showing Corey to be confused, surrounded by mirrors and a lot of his own reflection, while the bands bassist Paul, seems to taunt him before shattering a mirror, suggesting that this scene is about breaking away from negative things, emphasised by the low key lighting, which shows this to be one of the more serious scenes.
He then falls through another door, landing in a room with percussionist Shawn and lots of young women. Both men are restrained by the seductively dressed women, suggesting how people can be a barrier, with low key lighting adding to the intensity of the mood. Eventually, after more rapidly paced shots from varying angles, Corey breaks away from the women to enter yet another door. The room has white walls and excessively bright lighting, contrasted by the lead guitarist, Mick, standing in the way of the exit door, wearing all black. The guitar solo kicks in as Mick's room comes on screen, as though acknowledging him for his main part in the song. The shots alternate between the two men, showing Corey tiny in stature compared to Mick, showing that he is the symbol for the intimidating barricade that needs to be passed to move on, both physically for the video, and metaphorically for the emotional aspect. Corey struggles to break down the barrier, with the music becoming more melodic and the vocals sound more haunting as he breaks manages to enter the next room.
The next room is very much like the one with Shawn, except this one is like a contrasting version, with bright lighting and walls, and the guitarist Jim enjoying being there, rather than being restrained by them. The feathers resemble the result of a pillow fight, adding a playfulness to the video, backed up by the music kicking in loudly again. This suggests that this is the light at the end of the tunnel, and that breaking down the barrier has positive effects on the other side, showing that sometimes letting go is the key. Corey then enters the final room in which percussionist craig is burning candles, making the room more serendipitous than the others, as well as really slow paced editing, contrasting the rest of the video. The lighting is low key, adding to the atmosphere, with the time crossed out on the walls seeming like he has been counting down the days to escape the personal prison he has been trapped in, and can finally leave. Upon blowing out a candle, Corey returns to the ditch he was digging in the field, showered in rain, wearing his mask, while looking at his unmasked self, as the music and image comes to a halt.
The video cleverly uses various lighting, editing paces and contrasting images to keep it interesting, while linking the end of the narrative to the start. Although there are some literal lines, a lot of the lyrics and imagery are left to the viewers imagination to guess what the problem is. The video features emphasis on all members, so no one is overlooked, and everyone is appreciated for their contribution, showing again that they are close knit. The video defies common convention for something in the rock/metal genre, as they feature no like performance, unlike most videos of this style, instead featuring members during their parts of the song, e.g Mick Thompson for the guitar solo, etc. There is also a fairly high attention to detail on the thought beats, subtly changing in time with the music, while the lighting also changed to match the atmosphere of the music.
Eventually Corey falls through the ground, landing in a room from the ceiling, showing a clever use of match continuity. He is now wearing his mask again, showing the significance of the iconography lands in an odd position, as though defying gravity, an idea that seems to be confirmed by the bands DJ, Sid, crawling over walls. Corey seems to look for an escape by checking a curtained window, with the lyrics "I can't go back again" showing a literal response, and that he has to go forward to escape, suggesting a metaphorically speaking way also, so to escape his emotions he has to move on fro the past troubles. The next few shots reveal Corey trying to leave the room, being held by by Sid, with the lyrics "When I got away I only got so far", showing that his problems are still holding him back, meaning he can't fully escape, subtly shown by the visual representation.
Upon leaving the room, he enters another, in which the drummer Joey is being surrounded by women, who seem to worship him, suggesting that they're acting as temptation, feeding him strawberries, and brushing his hair etc. It is at this point that the notion of temptation suggests that the song could be about addiction, be it to love, drugs, alcohol, etc, showing the journey of breaking the habit. The high key lighting of the room again shows how the temptation of things like addictions can be positive when seen for the first time, showing them to be enticing, and when Joey looks in the mirror and Corey's face is the reflection it shows that he may have already travelled this road.
The fast paced shots continue as Corey again leaves the room to enter another, showing the bands sampler Craig centrally stood, with the scene being in an odd black and white effect. The lack of colour could show how any positive feelings have been drained, showing that the world has now become bleak. Upon Craig piercing something on the nails of his mask, a sort of explosion occurs, leaving Corey stunned and somewhat blinded stumbling through to the next room. The editing here becomes increasingly erratic, showing Corey to be confused, surrounded by mirrors and a lot of his own reflection, while the bands bassist Paul, seems to taunt him before shattering a mirror, suggesting that this scene is about breaking away from negative things, emphasised by the low key lighting, which shows this to be one of the more serious scenes.
He then falls through another door, landing in a room with percussionist Shawn and lots of young women. Both men are restrained by the seductively dressed women, suggesting how people can be a barrier, with low key lighting adding to the intensity of the mood. Eventually, after more rapidly paced shots from varying angles, Corey breaks away from the women to enter yet another door. The room has white walls and excessively bright lighting, contrasted by the lead guitarist, Mick, standing in the way of the exit door, wearing all black. The guitar solo kicks in as Mick's room comes on screen, as though acknowledging him for his main part in the song. The shots alternate between the two men, showing Corey tiny in stature compared to Mick, showing that he is the symbol for the intimidating barricade that needs to be passed to move on, both physically for the video, and metaphorically for the emotional aspect. Corey struggles to break down the barrier, with the music becoming more melodic and the vocals sound more haunting as he breaks manages to enter the next room.
The next room is very much like the one with Shawn, except this one is like a contrasting version, with bright lighting and walls, and the guitarist Jim enjoying being there, rather than being restrained by them. The feathers resemble the result of a pillow fight, adding a playfulness to the video, backed up by the music kicking in loudly again. This suggests that this is the light at the end of the tunnel, and that breaking down the barrier has positive effects on the other side, showing that sometimes letting go is the key. Corey then enters the final room in which percussionist craig is burning candles, making the room more serendipitous than the others, as well as really slow paced editing, contrasting the rest of the video. The lighting is low key, adding to the atmosphere, with the time crossed out on the walls seeming like he has been counting down the days to escape the personal prison he has been trapped in, and can finally leave. Upon blowing out a candle, Corey returns to the ditch he was digging in the field, showered in rain, wearing his mask, while looking at his unmasked self, as the music and image comes to a halt.
The video cleverly uses various lighting, editing paces and contrasting images to keep it interesting, while linking the end of the narrative to the start. Although there are some literal lines, a lot of the lyrics and imagery are left to the viewers imagination to guess what the problem is. The video features emphasis on all members, so no one is overlooked, and everyone is appreciated for their contribution, showing again that they are close knit. The video defies common convention for something in the rock/metal genre, as they feature no like performance, unlike most videos of this style, instead featuring members during their parts of the song, e.g Mick Thompson for the guitar solo, etc. There is also a fairly high attention to detail on the thought beats, subtly changing in time with the music, while the lighting also changed to match the atmosphere of the music.
