SlipknotDead Memories

ConceptThe concepts for the video dead memories relate to the lead singer wanting to run away from what is perceived as a bad relationship and how the difficulty he is having letting go consumes his emotions and how the emotion controls the beat of the song. The mask he is wearing although commonly associated with the bands identity it may be symbolic to show he is trying to hide his emotions from other people and is attempting to deal with his own emotions without affecting others. The video matches the genre stereotypes by using a range of fast paced editing and visual contexts like masks, dark lighting, other things that are associated with a horror film genre and that they are used to give the impression of fear or discomfort. The horror aspects build on the suspense and tension of the video and creates a sense of danger or unknown that makes the listener want to figure out what it’s about and to also keep the simplistic nature of the track. Within the creation of the song it will be important to keep a simplistic nature to the video in order to match the similarly simple nature to the narrative of the song in comparison to other songs by slipknot that are more intensive and include more sporadic shot uses. The video its self will be left with a sense of mystery in a sense of not knowing what happened to the relationship or dilemma that caused the memories but the isolation and solitude remains the unknown for the listener and plays on the idea of what actually happened.

Narrative and PerformanceThe narrative and performance will directly combine within the video to produce a stronger meaning from the lyrics. The camera may include some lip-syncing but due to the nature of the genre and the style/ concept of the masks within the video this may cause some difficulty when attempting lip sync the slower parts of the song. The masks are used to conceal the facial expression and limit the emotional expression to give a blank context to the feelings given to the song contrasted with the fast paced movement and sporadic body language that gives the impression of panic, disruption. The performance itself will be very simplistic in terms of performance with a relaxed atmosphere and attitude to the song, which will imply more focus onto the meaning of the track. There will be no dance routines or eccentric performances because it not only breaks genre characteristics but also takes away from the narrative.The narrative links for the video will be highlighted through chose of locations and costumes to build on the nature of the song. The use of locations such as a graveyard to symbolize death and props like the shovel digging to indicate the symbolism of burying himself into the problems he faces will be used through a variety of camera angles and styles to emphasis the narrative. The narrative is very minimalistic to show the progression of the story with emphasis on the context through the mise en scene from costume and props rather than visual body language and expression.

Isolation/ RegretThe main themes/ styles the video comes under would be the idea of isolation and regret of the past feelings and emotions that he felt for someone. The impression of isolation will be given by the variety of locations used and the isolation of very few or no people in the shot making it more scenery based with solitude from an individual. This will create an atmospheric isolation that will give an impression the person wants to be alone to get over something and to aid with the suppression of the memories. The use of masks although typical for the bands identity and genre it also gives the impression that they are trying to hide

something which links to the idea of regret for their past.

FearThe idea of isolation will include elements of fear through the performance and narrative from the artist in the video. This will be done through the use of the body language and panicked stance of the person in the video and by using body language and positioning that makes them look smaller it gives the implication that they want to hide from something and have fear they need to escape from which follows the narrative of the song.

Camera and Editing The shots used throughout will vary depending on what is emphasized in the frame and will then have similar editing associated to help imply the narrative context is kept throughout. The shots that will be used consist of an opening establishing long shot of the initial street where the narrative will be based, then throughout a range of close ups, medium close ups, canted angle shots, cut zoom in, deep/shallow focus, handheld and other ranged shots depending on what the camera needs to emphasis. The shots will all link to the narrative and aim to institute isolation and fear from the person in the shots to give a stronger impression from the lyrics.

Editing will be mainly focused on the continuation and flow of the narrative. The ambient sounds in the intro and the shovel scraping on the ground will need to match up with visual representation to keep continuity and flow of the video.

The editing overall will consist of slow paced edits when the track is slow and through the faster paced parts of the song the pace of edit will increase. There will be very little postproduction editing done (Just the title in the first shot) used for the video but apart from that not much more is needed.

LightingThe lighting for the video will need to suit both the genre and nature of the song. This will be achieved through the use of a mix of both low and high key lighting to give contrast and show the suppression of the dark with the light linking into the narrative of the track. The dark lighting will be used to impact the solitude and isolation that is the main theme of the track but the use of light shots create an idea of escape from the isolation and is used to contrast the negative in the narrative.

Mise en Scene The Mise en Scene that will be used in the video will have strong focus on the use of costume and body language to give the impression of fear and isolation while matching the genres stereotypes. The locations of the graveyard, attic and streets are used to give a continuation through the isolation and are selected because they have few people their to keep up the idea of isolation. The costumes that will be used will include the mask and a black hoody which match the genre and

style of the original track and aid the narrative and helps to match the narrative.