Music video analysis

Media Analysis

Artist: Evanescence
Music video: Bring me to life



Camera Work
- Master shot shows a city at night time
- Appears to be an aerial shot moving from in the air, swaying tilts sideways slightly at times, it establishes the setting
- The ‘helicopter’ moves forward towards a window and goes inside
- Close up of woman asleep supposedly having a nightmare
- Medium to long shot showing this same woman free falling, possibly in her dream. Tilt shot, camera moves vertically as she falls downward
- Long shot displays a block of flats, presumably where she lives, the aerial shot moves upward to the apartment above, and then zooms in extremely quickly. Close up on band playing
- Usually eye level, but when the woman wakes up and stands by the window a high angle is used to make her look vulnerable, an even higher angle is used again when she steps up to the window to exaggerate how high up she is
- The camera drops slightly when she jumps onto the window ledge, this creates tension and fear, making the audience jump
- Long shot as she walks around the outside of the building
- Close ups on the other apartments, e.g. clowns in one room
- Top down view as she climbs up the side of the building
- End with aerial shot, but moving backwards instead of forwards like it was in the beginning, it seems to ‘back away slowly’

Editing
- Short takes are used during high impact parts of the song, creates shock
- Mainly continuity editing, except at the end and we see her asleep again. This leaves audience unsure as to whether she did die, or if it was all a dream
- Slow motion is used when she falls from the edge, creates impact and drama
- Shot/reverse shot is used when she clings to him and he tries to pull her up
- Jump shots are used when she is asleep at the beginning, makes it seem unnatural, like a nightmare


Mise en scene
- Setting, in a city at night, a block of apartments
- Woman wearing a nightdress, the clowns in an apartment further along have face paint on, the band in the apartment above have their instruments and microphones
- Woman’s face shows desperation and her body language indicates her fear when she is on the edge of the building
- Lighting: it is dark, supposedly night time, during the master shots the lights of the city can be seen, they are mainly electric blue, almost ultraviolet lights seeming bold and dramatic
- Blue is a key colour in this video, everything has been tinted blue slightly, links to the song being about bringing someone to life
- Connotations of this colour: cold blood, veins, death, fear, frozen

Sound
- During the chorus and other parts of the song that move faster and are more dramatic, the shots become much quicker, this contrasts with the beginning of the song and other parts where it is much calmer, and there are no strong instruments, just the sound of her gentle voice, here the shots are longer, like they are building up to something
- The band is shown always singing the chorus, and throughout most of the song the woman sings along to the other parts too as if she is speaking it. However, the parts when she is asleep she does not move her lips, as if the song is in her head
- Soundtrack score: slightly creepy background music, which always back up the song, it is continuous throughout. Relates to a horror film
- At points the wind can also be heard howling, when the song is quieter, this creates a sense of loneliness, that there is no one else around