Analysis of Gothic Music Videos and their Codes and Conventions

with Screen Shots

The video starts with the tattoo of a bat showing the genre of the music video i.e. horror.

The video starts with the picture of a full moon which shows that it has something to do with ware wolves or vampires.

Black nail colour is common in goths.

Black eye shades to look scary.

Scary eyes, deep cuts and a mysterious look on the face express true goths.

Black clothing, tattoos, black eyes, strange facial expressions depict the gothic nature.

Night time scene. Black clothing, black cap and the girl walking alone.

The vampire in the video. A typical picture of a scary gothic girl. Egyptian tattoos on her arms, sexy black clothing and red lipstick with open blonde hair. It gives the picture of a true vampire.

Dirty language is used in the video. One thing to note is that even the people in the background are wearing black coloured clothing.

Vampire teeth and facial expressions are codes of vampire videos. Usually red lips and black clothing is the main code of vampire videos.

The picture of a skeleton. A typical horror video tattoo without which a horror video seems incomplete.

The main vocalist is also dressed up in black with scary eyes and horrifying facial expressions. The background is dark and scary. A key to successful horror videos in this case the gothic video.

Piercings are also common in the goths. Lip piercings in this video.

Blood and killing- a main point of gothic horror videos. Scary faces that make people feel horrified are common in gothic videos.

The spider necklace gives a sense of horror and uneasiness, but it makes the horror more terrifying and fun to watch.