2. The band is called Bullet For My Valentine, they are a
Welsh heavy metal band. I have chosen to look at the
song ‘’Tears don’t fall’’ by them, which was released in
June 2006 and is the bands 4th track on their first
studio album. The song won Kerrang! Award for best
single in 2006.
The band consists of 4 members, Matt Tuck is the lead
singer and rhythm guitar. Michael Paget is lead guitar
and backing vocals, Michael Thomas is the drummer
and Jason James is bass guitar and back vocals, who
replaced Nick Crandle in 2003
3. The most important thing about heavy metal is the instruments that they use, as this is what makes the actual
music metal and more intense. The main instruments linked with heavy metal are the electric guitar and the
drums, they use these to get their music to the quality that the fans like. The guitar is most important as this is
what we hear the most, so its essential to get right in order to be successful with the fans, many in which are likely
to play instruments, and know what works and what doesn’t. The guitarist is also important in the band as they are
the one that everyone looks for to see if they are good as in a metal band they always need a good guitarist to
become successful.
Appearance is also important in Metal, as the stereotype in modern day is that the band members will dress is
mainly black, some wear other band T-shirts which creates a relationship so the fans can listen to similar styled
music etc. They also have mostly black hair, and often quite long. Tattoo’s are also a big thing as most bands will
have things like sleeve tattoos so it covers their arms. Piercings also comes into it, as most bands will have people
with stretched ears, or lip piercings. Piercings and tattoos can suggest rebelling, which is kind of what metal
does, as it differs from the mainstream, relaxed music, so it almost makes a statement that they are trying to be
different.
Some metal bands like to use makeup, this makes their image more recognizable, for example Kiss, or Black Veil
Brides, which people will see their style and know who it is. The makeup is often quite white, and they have dark
eye makeup, or designs across their face, which makes them seem quite dead and gothic, which shows the genre.
Heavy metal bands are often male, and can be known for their rock and roll style of life,
which involves parties and girls. Its based mainly on males as the music is more aggressive
so its more stereotyped for guys.
4. Usually Heavy Metal video’s are both narrative and performance, they are often
dark and the weather usually seems to be dull or raining. Locations such as small
rooms, stages, and the woods are used.
The story line is often based around hurt and pain, and usually has the band
members involved in the narrative side which then creates a relationship
between them and the viewer. Often the metal videos have a lot of concept
behind them, and the story often relates to one of the band members feelings or
experiences which means that songs are often more personal to the
band, therefore also making the song seem more powerful and intense.
In the performance side there is usually a focus on the singer which includes
close ups etc, but also a big interest on the guitar, and there is guitar solo’s which
focus on the guitarist.
5. They use quite a lot of the typical conventions of metal, for
example their video is set outside in the pouring down rain.
We can see the guitar and drums being used, and the singer
has long black hair. If you look on their arms we are able to
see some tattoos but they don’t have sleeves which shows
they are not too bold. However use of costume shows a
metal band as they are wearing black, and the cut off
sleeves often appear in metal. The print screen from the
bottom shows the use of guitar, which we also see a hand
held camera, as it bounces, although it is head banging
along with the music as it gets more upbeat. The storyline is
stereotypical as its about a relationship going wrong as it
quite dark, however the band members themselves do not
take part within the video.
6. With blood shot eyes, I watch you sleeping There's always something different going wrong
The warmth I feel beside me is slowly fading The path I walk is in the wrong direction
Would she hear me, if I called her name? There's always someone f***ing hanging on
Would she hold me, if she knew my shame? Can anybody help me makes things better?
There's always something different going wrong Your tears don't fall, they crash around me
The path I walk is in the wrong direction Her conscious calls, the guilty to come home
There's always someone f***ing hanging on Your tears don't fall, they crash around me
Can anybody help me makes things better? Her conscious calls, the guilty to come home
Your tears don't fall, they crash around me This battered room I've seen before
Her conscious calls, the guilty to come home The broken bones they heal no more, no more
Your tears don't fall, they crash around me With my last breath I'm choking
Her conscious calls, the guilty to come home Will this ever end I'm hoping
My world is over one more time
The moments died, I hear no screaming
The visions left inside me are slowly fading Let's go!
Would she hear me, if I called her name?
Would she hold me, if she knew my shame? Would she hear me, if I called her name?
Would she hold me, if she knew my shame?
There's always something different going wrong
The path I walk is in the wrong direction
There's always someone f***ing hanging on
Can anybody help me makes things better?
Your tears don't fall, they crash around me
Her conscious calls, the guilty to come home
Your tears don't fall, they crash around me
Her conscious calls, the guilty to come home
7. I think that it doesn’t link in the way that the words match with
the actions however it is showing a broken love story, for example
‘Would she hold me if she if she knew my shame?’ This to me
suggests that the man loves her, but has done something to hurt
her and is feeling guilt. And by saying ‘You’re tears don’t fall, they
crash around me’ shows just how much hurt the girl is feeling. In
my opinion I find the song seems to be about the guy cheating on
the girl, ‘’the visions inside me are slowly fading’’ this shows
memories disappearing from the relationship as they grow apart.
And in the video, we see a couple growing apart, and the man
cheating on his girlfriend, which shows that the lyrics are linked
with the visuals.
8. Yes there is a link, as although the
music is heavy metal so there is a lot
of guitar, I found that when we see
the couples love story end the music
adds more guitar, especially solo’s,
and when the girl is chasing the car
and going mad, we hear the lyrics go a lot faster and it gets more upbeat which goes with
her thoughts inside her head as she becomes more upset and hurt about it. The music
also seems to add a tense feeling, so we expect something to go on, when we find out
he’s with another women. It also goes softer when the man is in bed with the other
women which suggests a more feeling of love and no guilt, until it turns back onto the
first women which then the music becomes upbeat again which shows her pain from the
situation. The last guitar solo builds a lot of suspense as we see the girl spark her
lighter, until it becomes almost like its mocking the guy and showing the girls power as
we find out its water, and the girl blows a kiss. So its almost like it brings the mood back
up higher as the audience builds a relationship with the women, and we see her mock
instead of becoming depressed.
9. During the Performance clips we see a lot of close ups of
Matt Tuck singing, which then makes the audience
recognize and become familiar with the artist. His motif is
his long black hair, which is easily noticed, and I think is the
main thing about him which makes him stand out as an
individual. We also see some close ups of the drummer and
guitarist however they are usually less recognizable as the
lead is the biggest part.
10. Tears Don’t fall is both narrative and performance based, as it tells us a story
about the couples life along with seeing the band play throughout the song
too. I think this works well in the Metal Genre as we get to see the band
which builds up their fan base as people know what they look like and want
to see more of them, along with the narrative which makes the video more
appealing as it holds more interest, additionally adding more feeling to the
song as by lyric links with visuals we can learn more about what the song
means and interpret our own ideas into that.
11. Voyeurism is when you look into someone else’s life, and see what
they are doing. Bullet For My Valentine’s video does include this as
we are looking at the couples relationship and watching it all as he
cheats on her. Doing this helps to make the video more personal and
emotional and we sympathize which the actors in the
video, especially the girl. However, the video doesn’t end on a low, it
ends on a high as she walks away smiling which also helps in two
ways, as it shows people that have been in a similar situation that
they can be happy etc, but also makes the fans and listener in a
better mood, rather than being low because of the song.
12. I chose to look at this song as I thought it had a lot of meaning and
concept behind it which is what we want to put into ours. Our song is also
about broken love, so by researching similar songs and watching the
video’s meant that I was able to pick out bits from the video that we
could use, and bits to eliminate. For example, I liked the ending, and that
even if the song is dark, that it ended on a more positive outlook, so I
would like to use this element in my music video. I also liked use of lyrics
and visual and music and visual so this is another thing that we are using.
However, we plan to use a different performance side, as although ours
will be set outside we plan to have no rain, and quite an already day as it
shows everyday life, and in our country it doesn’t rain like it shows on
Bullet For My Valentines video. Similarly, we will also be using guitar, but
are unable to get drums so we will be creating all music on one guitar. We
are also using voyeurism, to create an interesting and appealing video for
our audiences. The only part of Goodwin’s theory both Bullet and my own
video do not include is inter-textual links, as I do not find them quite so
important.
