Genre conventions- Industrial/ electronic music video's #7

Music video analysis #7 - Into The Void

Act: Nine Inch Nails

Track: Into The Void

Year: 2000

Director: Walter Stern and Jeff Richter

Genre: Industrial/ Electronic

Link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4lTMOmH8Dw Main audience: The main audience demographic for this video would be male aged 15-30. This is due to the dark themes of self destruction being prevalent throughout.
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Relationship between the visuals and lyrics: For most of the video the visuals are disjunctive (Goodwin) to the lyrics. However under close inspection the microscopic shots and extreme close ups of Trent Reznor reveal that the song is personal to him and the anger displayed in the performance in the end reveals a tortured soul of sorts.

There are two main sections to this video, the first being the microscopic shots of Reznor's face, eyes, teeth and scalp. The second being a full band performance in the setting of a red cube which is later destroyed with the band members instruments. 

Extreme close up

Destructive band members

The microscopic imagery of Reznor's body parts are highly abstract and seem to compliment the pace and tempo of the music. This would support Carol Vernaillis's theory that music video's are made with the song in mind. Later on in the video the band are only brought into the equation when a louder instrumental section is heard with the repeated line "Tried to save myself, but my self kept slipping". These oblique shots are used to demonstrate a certain complexity to the music.

Once again, during the section with the rest of the band, there is a noticeable Gothic style of attire within the band, This includes longer hair, tight black clothing and tattoos. This coincides with the emphasized industrial element to the music with the visible synthesizers, guitars, and drums combined. 

Gothic/ industrial attire 

The emotional power behind the song is later reinforced with a display of the band destroying their instruments and breaking out of the red cube they were performing in. This video is non-narrative and has no underlying message to the audience.

Close up

There is significant star treatment given to Reznor due to the personal element of the song, and is demonstrated through a plethora of close up shots (as well as microscopic shots throughout the first half of the video).

Influences: Microscopic imagery and exreme close ups of bodyparts seem to be of great interest. Particularly the extreme close up of Trent's eyes.