Music Video Analysis 1

This is my analysis of the music video ‘Waking The Demon’ by the Artist ‘Bullet For My Valentine’ from their second album ‘Scream Aim Fire’. The Music video directed by Max Nichols and was released on the 21^st April 2008. The lyrical meaning of the song is revenge. Matt Tuck, lead singer and guitarist, said: "Waking the Demon" is about finding someones inner demon. Most of us in the band got pushed around in school so the song is about getting tormented, day in and day out for years, and then one day - 'snap!' - fight back!"

This music video follows a large plot line; it starts in an American high school with a darkly dressed boy being bullied by a stereotypical bully who then walks off with a beautiful girl. The next shots are of the same boy getting bullied continuously, the clips where he isn’t being bullied he is crossing off days on his calendar; this makes the viewer think he is waiting for something to happen. When he circles the full moon on his calendar the viewer gets the impression something is happening on that day. Concert shots are cut in at the 7^th beat for an average of 3 seconds. Is when the darkly dressed boy turns into a werewolf and murders the bully.

The connection between the lyrics and the video is obvious, it’s about waking up, realising something and acting on it. Like Matt tuck’s Quote (shown above). The target audience is teenagers to young adults who are realising what’s wrong in their lives. The music video connects to the audience with the mis-en-scene, the music video is shot in a school which a majority of the world understands the experience of, including the experience of being bullied ,and this gives an atmosphere of familiarity. The only editing I can see used in this music video is the werewolf effects but even that could be just stage make-up. The camera shots are all medium shots up until the darkly dressed boy turns into a werewolf, then the shot turns into a high angle shot on only him making the viewer think he is more powerful, this part of the video is shot in a dark forest giving the atmosphere of darkness and danger, it can even give the impression that this is where the darkly dressed boy is most comfortable because the way he dresses matches the atmosphere.

I think this video makes the viewer feel empowered as it shows the bag guy getting what he deserves.