The document provides an analysis of the music video for "Misery" by the band The Maine. It summarizes the key aspects of the video, including: 1) The video challenges conventions of the rock genre by not including live performances and keeping the band members separated throughout. 2) The visuals in the video are closely related to the lyrics and music, with actions matching the beat. As the song progresses and lyrics mention darker themes, the visuals and music take a darker turn as well. 3) As the lead singer, John is the main focus of the narrative and there are many close-ups of him, developing his restraint as a motif. This meets record label demands for focusing on

1. Existing Music Video Analysis
The Maine - Misery
Using Goodwin’s Conventions

2. 1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (The Maine -
Misery)
A common genre characteristic of rock videos is dark colours and a
monochrome filter. All of the important and key objects in this video have
been brightened during postproduction in order for them to stand out.
Examples of this are the gasoline canister, John and the fire. Concerning
colour schemes, this video does follow the conventions of the rock genre.
Apart from that, this video challenges the stereotypical features.
There is no live or as live performance aspect in this music video which is
extremely unusual for a rock video. This is because rock music is heavily
focused on the instruments they use but none appear in this video. Instead,
the video is heavily focused on the narrative and meaning behind the song.
Typically, music videos of the rock genre have videos that loosely relate to the
music and lyrics but the director took quite a literal approach to this video.
Also, in this genre there is always at least one shot of the band all together but
this does not occur in this music video. The band are divided throughout but
it could be argued that this could have been done intentionally by the director
as the song is titled ‘Misery’.

3. 2. There is a relationship between lyrics, music and visuals (The
Maine - Misery)
This is the first shot we as
the audience see of the
female character.
I’ll say this once again
You people, you are my friends
The devil, he can’t come in
Tonight, that’s right
Looking for misery, but she found me
Lying naked on the floor
I was headed insane, the devil told me his name
But he’s not welcome here, anymore
The lyric “killing me” is played
over the shot of the high heel
which foreshadows the
outcome of the video.
Tell me what do you see
(What do you see?)
When you’re looking at me?
(When you look at me)
This sense of responsibility is killing me inside, yeah
Looking for misery, but she found me
Lying naked on the floor
(Stay away, sweet misery)
I was headed insane, the devil told me his name
But he’s not welcome there, anymore
Stay away, sweet misery
Stay away, sweet misery
Video is in slow
motion for this line
and the lyrics have
been taken literally.
The pressure’s building with time
I made it up in my mind
I’ve got excuses for all these things that I tried in my life
Looking for misery, but she found me
Lying naked on the floor
(Stay away, sweet misery)
I was headed insane, the devil told me his name
But he’s not welcome there (he’s not welcome) anymore
Stay away, sweet misery
Not welcome anymore
Stay away, sweet misery
John falls with the chair and the video
speeds back up to normal pace. His head
hits the ground in time with the beat.
Throughout the song the devil is
mentioned many times.
There is a medium close up shot
of John at eyelevel to the
audience. This is once again a
literal visual representation of
the lyrics
In The Maine’s music video for “Misery”
there is an obvious relationship between the
music and visuals.
The director has clearly worked around the
music to make the video. On a few occasions,
an action has been performed on the beat of
the music. For example, when the woman
slams the door there is a very low strum of
the bass guitar. This also occurs when her
heel stomps the ground leaving a small burst
of dust.
By the time the song has reached the
second chorus, the cutting pace
increases and the video takes a darker
turn. During the shot of the gasoline
canister, the music gets louder and
has a more rock edge to it than
previously. Initially the music is soft
and mellow, which is reflected in the
long shots and slow cutting rhythm.
As the gasoline is being poured over
him however, there is a lack of vocals
and only a guitar solo which is used
emphasise the scene
The end scene which is of John, the
lead singer, sees him strapped to the
chair set alight with fire. As he is in
obvious pain, the vocals of the song
get higher and he screams.

4. 3. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of
close ups of the artists and develop motifs (The Maine - Misery)
As John is the lead singer and the band’s frontman, he is also
the lead in the music video narrative. During the entire video,
the camera is nearly always on John including a great
majority of close ups of different parts of his body. The only
shot of the rest of the band is them sat in a car watching the
scene.
The director, Daniel Gomes, used the technique of
chiaroscuro where part of the face is in darkness to portray a
split personality or a confliction of emotions. This example is
one of the band members watching the scene enrol, as he
cannot escape he sits there watching.
Throughout the video there are many close ups of John in
restraints. The rope becomes a motif representing his
restrained passion and desire or the joys he keeps bound
within unable to experience or release. He does this by
screaming which are shot as close ups.

5. 4. There is frequently reference to notion of looking and particularly
voyeuristic treatment of the female body (The Maine - Misery)
The only female in the music video is the antagonist.
She is presented in an extremely negative manner -
often referred to as the ‘devil’. The first shot of the
woman is of her foot. Her footwear is a high heel
which is a very feminine choice. Heels in the media
tend to represent power but also sexuality. In this
context, both of these apply.
The rest of the woman’s clothing is black and tightly
fitting. The dark colours conform to the rock genres
conventions, most noticeably her leather clothing.
The leather could also be representing her
dominating personality and again her power and
control over John. This becomes clearer as the video
progresses to where she is physically overpowering
him as he is left vulnerable towards her as he is tied
down to the chair unable to escape from her.
The woman in the video has a veil covering her
face. This is the opposite to the typical clothing
women wear in music videos of most genres, rock
included. In the context, the black veil is used to
represent a veil of secrecy. Perhaps, John does
not know why she is doing this to him.
This shot in particular is a low angle shot,
looking up at the woman giving the impression
to the audience that she is a high authority figure
who we are forced to look up to. In contrast,
other rock music videos contain high angle shots
of women where they are looked down at as they
are seen as less important.