Written music video analysis rock

1. Music Video analysis – Heavy metal
Summary:
Costume – generally black or grey clothes with rips or spikes on them. Lead singer is
wearing black jeans with grey t shirt. Wearing dark colours is associated with rock music
as the music is generally dark and quite sad or sometimes angry therefore the tones of the song
are being shown through the singer.
Lighting – dim and dark lighting contrasted with occasionally bright lights. The dark lighting is
common in rock videos as it links to the message of the songs and creates a dark atmosphere, the
bright lights that contrast this create the feeling of harshness and brutality which can also be linked
to the music.
Actor – the lead singer is performing whilst rocking his head to the beat which is common in rock
videos, he looks slightly distressed and doesn’t smile which is common in these videos too. This
body language relates to the words of the video which have an angry and sombre tone. The singer
is expressing himself through his appearance. There are dark figures in black cloaks which appear
throughout the video, this is perhaps to create a sense of fear. Commonly associated with rock
music are symbols of evil or Satanism, which could be being shown through these dark figures.

2. Makeup – actor has long hair which is flicked to the side and covering his forehead, this is
common among people in rock bands. He covered in tattoos all over his arms and on his neck, the
drummer has ear stretchers and other piercings. These attributes all, stereotypically would help us
to distinguish these singers from other genres as tattoos and piercings are strongly associated
with rock culture.
Position – The set out of this video fits in with the conventions of this genre. The band (the
drummer etc.) are in the background and in the foreground is the main singer who is performing
whilst rocking their head to the beat and singing. This positioning allows for a relatively straight
forward video, and allows the audience to identify each band member.
Setting – the settings used in rock music videos are quite simple, usually deserted and slightly
scary looking places, like an abandoned basement, house, parking lot or any place isolated like in
the middle of a desert. Most of the time these videos fall into the performance category. In the
video, the band appear to be in some dimly lit basement which has spotlights in the background. I
think this setting is used to create the sense of isolation/darkness or unhappiness that the
performers may feel which is also conveyed in the song.
Bring me the Horizon’s ‘Can you feel my heart’ was from their 4th studio Album ‘Sempiternal’.
BMTH are a British metal core band from Sheffield, Yorkshire. Formed in 2004. The song was
released on 1st April 2013 worldwide through RCA, a subsidiary label of Sony Entertainment. Lead
Singer of the band, Ollie Sykes states that the song is ‘all about admittance’ ‘admitting you have a

3. problem, and admitting something is wrong. That’s the first step for the whole album. In my life, I
had to admit certain things in order to go further. They all deal with different topics’. The video is
largely performance based however cuts to a few conceptual scenes are included. The video
depicts the band performing the song in a dark basement, with bright lights in the background
emphasising the darkness of the foreground. The camera ranges through wide shots of the setting
and all of the band, to close ups of each member, mainly the lead singer. The conceptual part of
this video shows a young man running frantically through a basement-alleyway, intimidatingly
followed by several sinister looking figures in black cloaks, including hoods and plague doctor style
masks. The figures finally capture the man and lay him on a table, one of them reveals a large
blade with which he cuts the young man’s chest open, as black blood oozes from the wound and
his mouth. This inclusion of evil beings and gore alongside the performance is common in metal
music videos as often the lyrics are dark and sinister therefore the visuals match it. Roland
Barthes enigma code can be recognised in this video as mystery is created around the fact that
the concept is not explained – why is he being chased? Why do they do that to him? Who are
they? These questions create ambiguity and leave the viewers to decipher what exactly it all
means. My interpretation is that the man running away from the dark figures is like him running
away from his bad thoughts or demons, which coincides with Ollie Sykes reason for the song,
being about admittance of demons, so this depicts the young man’s attempt to escape his
demons. However they catch up to him and eventually cut him open, which fits in with the lyrics ‘I
can’t drown my demons they know how to swim’. The fact that also he bleeds black blood is
symbolic of the idea of having a ‘black heart’ and being emotionally stressed. The black blood is
representing all of his feelings etc. This video conforms to Andrew Goodwin’s view of a

4. stereotypical rock music video being largely performance based. His idea of intertextuality can
also be identified – as the concept parts of the video are influenced by the horror film genre. To
show a young person running away from sinister looking evil figures is a common convention of a
horror film, and to show him being caught by then and killed is also adhering to the stereotype in
horror films of humans being defeated by evil. The video opens up with a point of view shot (from
the evil figures perspective) of the young man running away, and then looking back with a terrified
expression, straight away this allows the audience to make a reference to common horror films.
Andrew Goodwin’s idea that visuals can illustrate and amplify lyrics is shown as an establishing
shot of all of the band members starting the performance is shown, and in the foreground lurks a
black cloaked figure, similar to the ones that chase the boy. This could be illustrating the idea of
being watched, and having dark emotions and thoughts following you around, which again is
amplifying the lyrics.
Another aspect of Andrew Goodwin’s theory of music videos adhering to demands of the record
label can be seen in this video through the stage presence of the band. Being signed to a
rock/alternative based label would require the band to look a certain way, in order to conform to

5. their dark lyrics etc. For example, most of them have tattoos, facial piercings and dark coloured
clothes. The lead singer also uses his hands whilst he’s singing to emphasise the lyrics – which
makes it appear more personal and heartfelt. These demands of the record label to conform to the
rock/metal image help the band to create an identity with which their fans can identify with, thus
creating more of a personal relationship. The band also rock their heads back and forth, which is
an action commonly associated with rock culture. This image that the band creates reflects their
lyrics and the purpose of their videos. Continuing this idea of the demands of the record label, the
video contains many close up shots of the lead singer, who is the ‘selling point’ of the band, he is
included the most as he is generally thought to be the most ‘attractive’. Within these close up
shots his tattoos are on display, which again adheres to this image which the band have to keep
up. There are also several close up shots of the band’s hands on their instrument for example the
guitarists’ – this emphasises the idea that the production of the music is important, as well as
keeping up with the fact that instruments have a huge part in rock music culture as opposed to pop
music.

6. As I have mentioned previously, Roland Barthes codes can be recognised in this video. As well as
the obvious enigma code, the cultural code can too be seen. As previously mentioned the theme
though out this video is negative emotions (demons), depression, denial of these etc. To some
extent I think the large majority of teenagers who would be listening to this music and watching
this video would be able to identify with this theme, which is why the band is so popular. The
technical aspects of this video also reflects this theme as well as the mise en scene. The lighting
throughout the video suggests a melancholy, isolated and gothic atmosphere. The extremely fast
pace cuts between shots of the band reflect the loud, heavy beats throughout the song and the
pace at which it is going. All of the shots are short and fast paced – reflecting the tempo of the
beat and the hectic/ loud/ chaotic nature of the song, and metal music in general. I think the
ambiguity created by the enigma code in this video is very important as it leaves the audience to
interpret it on a personal level – this mystery is common in most rock videos which include fast
paced shots of objects, symbols or actions all reflecting a concept. The abstract, realist visuals are
very graphic and suggest a lot of pain and emotion went in to the song and is comprised within the
video.