Music video analysis #9 - Came Back Haunted
Act: Nine Inch Nails
Track: Came Back Haunted
Year: 2013
Director: David Lynch
Genre: Industrial/ Electronic
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RN6pT3zL44
Main audience: Due to the industrial and darker nature of this video and highly intensive visuals for this song I would approximate that the audience demographic for this video is from the age of 18-25.
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Main audience: Due to the industrial and darker nature of this video and highly intensive visuals for this song I would approximate that the audience demographic for this video is from the age of 18-25.
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Relationship between the visuals and lyrics: We can deduce the lyrical content (Goodwin lyrical classification) to be amplifying but not directly illustrative. This is due to the lyrics reading "I don't believe it, I had to see it, I came back haunted", when showing various disturbing images and monsters.
The industrial element of the music is held firm due to the low-key lighting, foreboding vocals and mysterious and frightening imagery. The main colour pallet used in the performance is black, white, grey and red. These dark and contrasting colours create a significant air of Gothic influence in the video.
There are several shots of monsters (with FX over the top) with brief cuts to close-ups of Trent Reznor's face (looking aggravated).The video rapidly cuts back and forth between a monster from the x-files and Reznor's face in a graphic match alluding to the fact Reznor is the same monster. We know this is intentional due to both the camera shots being the same and distinctively shaky. These effects encompass a strobe light, visual superimposition of red dots and superimposed black dots on Reznor's face later on in the video.
During the short scenes with Reznor, the camera is distinctively shaky (and are likely to have been filmed on a handheld camera) on most shots and creates a disorientating and disturbing feeling to the viewer. This is an immediate depiction of madness which is heavily illustrative (Goodwin) to the lyrics. Coupled with the intense visuals and strobe light, this gives a highly intensive visual experience to the audience and is reflective of the frantic music score.
The convergence of film and music industry is in full effect here, with the director, David Lynch being at the helm as well as the consistant intertextuality of the x-files monster from the television show 'x-files'. Other examples of directors who's work spans both film and music videos would be that of Anton Corbijn who worked on numerous Depeche mode videos such as 'Shake the disease', 'Personal Jesus' and 'Never let me down again' just to name a few, and full feature length movies such as 'Control' (2007). Similarly Lynch also directed several other cult classic films such as 'Lost Highway', ' Mullholland Drive' and 'The Elephant Man' with Reznor orchestrating acompanying sound tracks to Lost Highway.
Influences: Strobe light, Shake, Handheld shots.
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| Disturbing image of x-files monster is often cut to in quick succession |
The industrial element of the music is held firm due to the low-key lighting, foreboding vocals and mysterious and frightening imagery. The main colour pallet used in the performance is black, white, grey and red. These dark and contrasting colours create a significant air of Gothic influence in the video.
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| Colour pallet shown (FX/ Superimposition) |
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| Graphic image used with a strobe. |
There are several shots of monsters (with FX over the top) with brief cuts to close-ups of Trent Reznor's face (looking aggravated).The video rapidly cuts back and forth between a monster from the x-files and Reznor's face in a graphic match alluding to the fact Reznor is the same monster. We know this is intentional due to both the camera shots being the same and distinctively shaky. These effects encompass a strobe light, visual superimposition of red dots and superimposed black dots on Reznor's face later on in the video.
 |
| Short shakey shots are disorientating. |
During the short scenes with Reznor, the camera is distinctively shaky (and are likely to have been filmed on a handheld camera) on most shots and creates a disorientating and disturbing feeling to the viewer. This is an immediate depiction of madness which is heavily illustrative (Goodwin) to the lyrics. Coupled with the intense visuals and strobe light, this gives a highly intensive visual experience to the audience and is reflective of the frantic music score.
The convergence of film and music industry is in full effect here, with the director, David Lynch being at the helm as well as the consistant intertextuality of the x-files monster from the television show 'x-files'. Other examples of directors who's work spans both film and music videos would be that of Anton Corbijn who worked on numerous Depeche mode videos such as 'Shake the disease', 'Personal Jesus' and 'Never let me down again' just to name a few, and full feature length movies such as 'Control' (2007). Similarly Lynch also directed several other cult classic films such as 'Lost Highway', ' Mullholland Drive' and 'The Elephant Man' with Reznor orchestrating acompanying sound tracks to Lost Highway.
Influences: Strobe light, Shake, Handheld shots.
Make sure your text is normal not SMALL.
ReplyDeleteSignificant director?! So: industry practice? Convergence film/video? Corbijn, Gondry ... many video directors > film directors. Influences? Handheld?
ReplyDelete