1. Lacey’s Repertoire of Elements Music video analysis
By Georgia McLaughlin
Title – The Kill (Bury me)
Artist – Thirty Seconds To Mars
Genre – Alternative Rock
Style – Performance and Narrative
Nick Lacey is Famous for his Genre theory; Lacey’s repertoire of elements. This refers to the
five Genre elements which are Characters, Narrative events, Iconography, Setting and
Technical and audio codes. In the popular Alternative rock song ‘The Kill (Bury Me)’ by thirty
Seconds to Mars theses 5 elements can be referred to.
Thirty seconds to mars features Shannon Leto (Drums), Tomo Miličević (lead guitar), Matt
Wachter who has now left the group (bass guitar) and Jared Leto Guitar (lead vocals). All
band members feature in the video however Jared is also an academy award winning actor
and has a clear appreciation of film. This is evident as the video is an exact replica of ‘The
shining’ (Stanley Kubrick, 1980) and the attention to detail and serious meaning to the song
make it a pastiche.
In terms of character each band member does something that
resembles an event of Jack Torrance. In addition to acting like Jack,
The youngest member of the band (Tomo) also resembles his son
Danny in the things he does (i.e. going round the hotel on a skate
board). Every band member wears all heavy black clothing and has
black ‘emo’ style hair (except from Matt who is dark blonde) which
is stereotypical of the genre. In addition to this various members
also wear heavy black eye liner adding to their already dark
appearance. Jared also wears chipped black nail varnish breaking
the stereotype of what is expected from a male rock star by
wearing nail varnish and that extent of make-up. Jared takes
charge in most of the video as the lead singer and has most of the
dialogue he is also the character that most resembles the actions
of Jack. All of the characters come across as quite mysterious thanks to their full black
costume, the narrative and that they all seem quite distant
for a band; barley being in the same shot together aside
from performance scenes. The mystery is emphasised in
these scenes by Jared sinister stares at the camera with his
dark eyes making him look evil or possessed whereas every
other band member doesn’t look at the camera at all and comes across emotionless. Later
in the video we see doppelgangers of each band member. These can be identified as they
wear formal suits. Their outfits are entirely black and white (including the classically red
Boutonnière) representing the split in their personality between the good and the bad

2. which is evident in several lyrics including “this is who I really am” and “I’ve finally found
myself”. There are several other characters throughout including a blood covered girl who
get out of the shower, a creepy man who tips his hat and several sets of twins . The twins
represent the theory of doppelgangers and are all dressed in 1920’s style dresses matching
the setting, at the end of the video they all dance in a very controlled, puppet like way. The
creepy man represents Mr Grady and finally in opposition to the film the girl is covered in
blood where as in the film the woman dies from an overdose and is in the bath. This could
be paying homage to ‘Carrie’ (another
book written by Stephen King) as she is
seen in a silk dress, making the video a
pastiche of the work of Stephen King.
The video is a combination of Performance, narrative and conceptual. The conceptual parts
are within the narrative meaning if you have not seen the shining film it will be unclear and
the whole concept of the video being about facing your fears and facing your true self and
this is portrayed through the use of doppelgangers. The performance aspects all take place
in a 1920’s style ball room where the band perform on stage to a room full of 1920’s style
twins who waltz to the rock genre music creating a juxtaposition through the use of
bricolage. In terms of narrative the video follows the storyline of ‘the shining’. After taking a
break from tour the band stay alone in a hotel for several
weeks left with only a note from the staff saying “enjoy
your stay and please stay out of room 6277”.Later,
Shannon goes to the room and from that moment on
strange thing begins to happen to each band member
including seeing their doppelgangers. When Tomo is in
the room he removes his glasses for the first time suggesting he is more open and visually
awakened to see his true self despite his apparition being seeing a man dressed as a dog
performing a sexual act on him
(which also happens to a character
in the film). Many scenes are
parallel to the film or just slightly
adapted to suit band For example,
Tomo is seen on a skateboard
traveling around the hotel; this is a recreation of the scene were Danny Torrance is traveling
around the hotel on a toy bike. Another parallel is when Jared is seen throwing a ball against
the wall and the scenes with the typewriter; however in this version he types “ this is who I
really am” over again suggesting he is
embracing this side of himself. Another
parallel is that of the dead woman who
kisses Jack but in this case she dies of
different circumstances as she is covered
By Georgia McLaughlin

3. in blood. In the bar scene Matt is served by his doppelganger. While both the film and the
music video culminate in an elegant ballroom; being the main performance scene. In this
scene the audience and doppelganger version of the band welcome the real band as they
walk in dressed in tuxedos suggesting they have embraced their darker side.
Iconography is strongly used in the Video to create a deeper meaning and make more
reference to Kubrick/Kings the shining. The first we see is the band arrives in a limo that
looks more like a hearse from the outside foreshadowing the death inside the hotel and
giving connotations of darkness and pain. When the band enters the hotel they all enter
through separate doors showing a separation in contrast to how you think a band should be.
This is also clear when they all walk to rooms in different directions despite the hotel being
empty suggesting they were already different personalities to begin with. When they enter
they walk away from a well-lit exit that could act as a warning to leave, once again
foreshadowing the events to come. This happens again when Jared is following his
doppelganger as the sign shown bigger as if it’s screaming at him to leave before they come
face to face. When they first enter the hotel they receive a very elegantly written note
already making the audience realise it’s not from modern day, also because it is sealed will a
red wax seal. The wax is darker than usual and is dripping down making it look like blood.
The bar that Matt is sitting at a black bar
suggesting darkness and sin and as his
doppelganger serves him a drink and sinisterly tips
his head and raises the glass to cheers; people
would traditionally ‘cheers’ and clink glasses in
order to frighten the devil or any demons and to
prove the drink doesn’t contain poison suggesting
that Matts doppelganger does this to try to persuade him that its safe. Adding to the use of
Bricolage is the type writer which was also used by jack in ‘the shining’. In this case Jared
uses it and types “This is who I really am over and over” adding to the connotations of
possession and releasing or fighting
against your true self. Also like Jack in
the film Jared is seen throwing a ball
against a wall to pass time yet it is
done in an aggressive manner; I
believe it was done to try to keep Jared sane and give him a focus after the strange going on
in the hotel as this is also done in the great escape (John Sturges, 1963). To add to the use of
bricolage when the band are seen performing they are in an old ballroom and the audience
is dressed in 1920’s style clothing waltzing to their rock genre music in a ball like setting.
This breaks the convention of what is expected at a rock concert. Also in the performance
scenes Jared sings into a vintage style microphone emphasising the 1920’s style. Finally, the
number 6277 is used for the room number because it spells out “Mars” on a telephone
By Georgia McLaughlin

4. keypad; the number also features in the video for “From Yesterday” by thirty seconds to
mars. In contrast the film uses the room number 237.
The video starts off set inside the limo like hearse where
Jared gives the orders to the rest of the band. When they
leave the limo we see the ominous looking hotel which
goes along with the 1920’s style surrounded by lots of
dark grey clouds adding to the chilling. Once inside they
enter the lobby and realise there is no one else there. All
of the rooms are large with minimal furniture emphasising the emptiness of the hotel
making it look all the more unusual. Some of these settings include the large room
containing only a type writer aside from a couple of thing faded in the background and the
long repetitive corridors. Another setting is ballroom where the bands doppelgangers play
on stage in this scene the real band walks through the curtains dressed as the doppelganger
suggesting they have now embraced that side of themselves. There are two small fake trees
either side of the drummer who is on a sand coloured podium. Behind them is a golden
curtain suggesting wealth; this is also clear by the bands tuxedos, the elegance of the room
and the formality 1920’s style audience. The instruments and amps are all black and white
continuing the theme of elegance and good vs evil. This is complemented by the large black
and white striped curtain at either side of the stage. Room 6277 starts of as an empty bath
room in Shannon’s eyes but changes depending on each character for example, Tomo sees a
bedroom.
In terms of the technical and audio codes there are many used in the making of ‘The Kills’
music video. The video starts off with a black title screen with sharp writing stating “the kill”
in the background there is some eerie wind like sounds within the non-diegetic sound. The
opening shot shows a low angle close up of Jared already presenting his power as he stares
intimidatingly out of the window at the bare trees
and ominous hotel. There is then an establishing
shot showing the limo like hearse next to the
creepy hotel. The camera cuts back to the inside of
the limo and Jared continues to stare while saying
within the diegetic sound “There’s not going to be
a single fucking soul here, so we can Take a little time off… relax…get lost” . This is said in a
very slow sinister and commanding way suggesting he already has a dark side and could
perhaps be behind something else. There is a non-diegetic sound of a clock bell tower as
this is heard there is a cross cut to the inside of the hotel followed by another title credit
saying “the hotel” we alter also see titles saying “one week later“ and “the end”. As the
camera cuts to the different rooms of the empty hotel we hear the sound of an instrument
making scary music heard in the likes of Psycho, this is later heard again in the song as the
performance music often cuts for sound effects to be heard, For example, we hear the ball
By Georgia McLaughlin

5. Jared is throwing hit the wall, each time the ball hits the camera cross cuts again. A similar
edit happens after Jared fiercely screams “This is who I really am” there is a fast guitar
playing and drum beat featuring a graphic match between two twins kissing and Shannon
kissing the girl from the shower and between the creepy man and the girl from the shower
now covered in blood. Another time the song cuts out is when Tomo sees himself in the
room with the dog adding to his shock. This is
followed by a non-diegetic score that sound like
a police siren acting as a warning and suggesting
this was the moment that they should have left
and got help. Jump cuts are used showing Jared
getting increasingly closer to the type writer
suggesting he is being drawn in or controlled.
When Jared is confronted with himself a Split screen is used to show that there are 2 sides
to him. This is used again in a closer proximity suggesting there is now very little that
separates the evil doppelganger from the original band person.There is a rewind used from
the creepy man walking
away to coming towards the
camera and tipping his hat.
Once again suggesting
possession or perhaps it’s
through a band members
eyes wishing they could take it back and never arrive. Many long shots are also used
throughout to show how secluded and alone they are. In the performance scenes we see
Jared singing in a close up making it all the more intense as he looks into the camera
whereas the other band member low away or down suggesting Jared is in control . As song
slows to end edits become slower and leaving more of a black screen before a final slow
fade leaving a menacing open end. One final point is that at the end in a long shot the video
copies the 1920’s picture from the shining including jacks pose.
The video pays homage to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) and has strong use of
bricolage. Jared Leto described the meaning of the song as being about, "a relationship with
yourself. It's about confronting your fear and confronting the truth about who you are." He
has also said it is about "confrontation as a crossroads" meaning finding, fighting but
embracing who you really are.
By Georgia McLaughlin