Analyzing music videos of the

Metal Genre

Iron Man – Black Sabbath

The music video of this song is performance based with the band performing live at a concert. The background has been clearly green screened as the visuals that take place in the background showcase that.

The main focus of the camera is on the band…

…However when the singer starts the vocals the camera mainly focuses on the singer with a close up shot of him singing.

The focus shifts from the singer band close up shots take place of other member of the bands such as the drummer, guitarists etc. Camera shots and angles range from medium shot, close up shot, inverted shot, high angle shots and low angle shots.

Inverted shot (left)

Close-up shot (right)

Focus is given on the instruments as well with close up shots of the guitars or drums. Camera movement varies from zoom in, static, and the often the camera pans just before the next shot is shown.The mise en scene of the video has few elements that would normally make a performance based metal video. However there are some elements of which there is no doubt that they are totally 'metal'. For example; the music clearly is metal with the distorted guitar sound and heavy drumming. This is the main thing which brings the metal element in the video.

Another thing which can be noted are the band members themselves, although it is very stereotypical that metal band members often have long

hair it is something which is actually a core element of metalheads. however the band are not totally a part of the stereotype for example they are dressed

quite differently in the video as compared to other metal bands who normally wear graphic t shirts or sleeveless shirts with tattooed arms and

facial makeup. For example the main singer is wearing a leather jacket with a shirt underneath and the guitarist is wearing a coat while the bassist is

wearing a bright t shirt.

Stranger in a Strange land –Iron Maiden

The music video of this song is performance based with the band performing live at a concert. The video starts off with the a long range shot of the stage to show the audience and the band on the stage.

An over head shot is shown of the drummer and then a medium shot of the guitarist. Camera angles and shots would quickly change in the start and the camera would briefly focus on each of the band members.

Just like the video of Black Sabbath's iron man, focus of the camera is on the singer when he starts the vocals. the camera shots constantly change with shots shown of the band, the singer and the audience.

Camera shots and angles range from high angle, low angle, over head shot, medium and long range shot and close up shot. with the shots changing rapidly, brief focus is given on the instruments. Camera movement is mostly static as the shots change so much however camera does briefly pan over the audience and along with the movement of the guitarist in a few shots. The lighting in terms of color do not relate to the song however the speed of its flashing the lighting matches the music for example the lights flashed quickly while the guitar solo was going on and they flashed slowly when the music played slow as well.

The mise en scene contained a lot of elements that would typically be seen in a performance based metal video. for example the main thing would be the music it self and there is no doubt that it is metal with the loud drumming and the distorted guitar and high pitched vocals.

The band members are definitely metal as you can see by their hair where long hair has always been associated as an element of 'metal'. Apart from their hair the band members clothes are also somewhat metal with the drummer wearing a sleeveless shirt with tattooed arms, the guitarists also wearing sleeveless graphic shirts and the singer is wearing green tights with a puffy white shirt although this is not strictly speaking 'metal'.

Death of a King - Amorphis

The music video of this song is also performance based however the band is not performing at a concert. the video starts off with a blurred medium shot of the band

The shot fades out into the next shot which is off the singer, the shot fades out again in the next shot of the lead guitarist and then it fades out again into a pan shot of the whole band and a close-up of the lead guitarist.

The singer walks up to the mic stand and about 30 seconds in the band starts playing. as the music starts the shots change quite rapidly with close-up shots, medium shots, over head shot, three quarter shot and different angles as well such as low angle, high angle, eye level etc.

Focus, just like in the other music videos, is on the singer when he starts the vocals however in this video it briefly shifts around as well.

A shot of fire is often added in as well.

The shots rapidly change and the singer is sown from different angles. brief shots give focus to the band members as well such as the drummer and guitarist etc. one thing I’ve noticed is that in metal music videos the frequency of shots increases with the music for example when the music starts getting louder and the speed increases so does the changing of the shots.

Camera movement is mostly track movement and there are very few static shots. camera movement also includes zoom in and zoom out. The lighting is set up in a circle around the band themselves and gives a very greyish effect and although the lights an be seen to be very bright they do not seem to light up the room that much. this is probably given as an effect in the music video.The mise en scene of this video definitely has a lot of elements that showcase the 'metal' sound but also include elements which are not so metal. for example the sound is definitely one of the main elements which show us that this indeed is a metal song as it contains loud distorted guitar sound and drumming along with deep distorted vocals as well.

There is constant use of fire in the background a shots of fire are used again and again in the video, fire is often associated with violence and rage and that’s what metal is mostly based on.

The members of the band do showcase some elements of metal but at the same time do not showcase them as well. for example the singer, lead guitarist, bassist and pianist all have long hair and they continuously head bang as well and that can be associated as an element of metal however the drummer and the rhythm guitarist both have short neatly cut hair. also the lead guitarist, bassist and pianist have tattoos while the other members of the band don't and the lead guitarist is not wearing any clothing that can be considered and element of metal except for the color of his shirt which is red and that color is often associated with rage or death and those two are elements of metal.