Media Music Video Homework: Evaluation of pre 1996 music video

Music Video Before 1996 Evaluation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD-E-LDc384
Enter Sandman by Metallica

Mise en Scene:
Lots of shots containing images of skull rings and the neck of a guitar being played. Guitar neck is a convention of rock/heavy metal music videos and the imagery of a skull is common in heavy metal which this song is. There are also many mid shots containing the lead singer with a lack of a shirt. Having the lead singer in many shots is one of Goodwins conventions and the shirtless factor may be in reference to the fact that in the genre of heavy metal, to look 'hard' or the part you either have to wear dark clothing such as a leather jacket or no upper clothes at all.

Editing:
There is no continuous video throughout the song. The music video is structured with hundreds of pictures some of which are symbolic of motion. The editing between these images is fast paced and in time with the beat of the music the majority of the time. This shows that an importance between the music and the images is being emphasised by the band.

Sound:
Well, it's a music video. So the song IS the sound.

Camera Angles:
Many close ups of the lead singers hands playing the guitar and more specifically on his skull. This emphasis is conventional to the stereotype of having as much shots of the instruments as possible in a rock/metal music video. The emphasis on the skull ring is in relation to stereotypes and values in heavy metal so a close up of this ring adds further standards to the video itself. In terms of long shots, the only times they are used is when a character that is not in the band is in them. The long shots are all in relation to what is occuring in the video and serve as a way to show the viewer just what is happening and to give them the context of the situation. For example, later on in the video we get a long shot of a man running in obvious fear from something on a road. If this were a close up, we would only recieve his emotions at that point, whereas because it is a long shot we see that he is running along a road in what is either sweatpants or pyjamas. This would give viewers the idea that this man is running in fear from the mentioned 'sandman' and that he is being chased by him as he has not had chance to change into suitable clothing or acquire a vehicle.