17th July 2012 - Slipknot 'Dead Memories' music video analysis

Narrative Theory
The video starts off with the main character, Corey Taylor, sitting near a tall building. He then walks off carrying a shovel, like he is after something. He roams the streets until he gets to a field. This shows a stage of equilibrium as everything is calm and peaceful, and the mood is relaxed; however, you wonder what he is after. The first shot is a focused shot, blurring the background and focusing on the main character to show his importance to the narrative of this video.

As soon as Corey starts digging, rain starts pouring down, and the music all kicks in. You begin to get the feeling something is inevitable to happen as the skies get darker and the music begins to kick in. Close-ups and quick cuts are used throughout this sequence to show the amount of time passing while he is digging.

Suddenly, when the vocals kick in, Corey falls through something in the ground. He then suddenly appears in an unknown room, donning his stage clothes and mask. This could have happened to symbolize a change in the person since his appearance has completely altered. When Corey falls in, a high angle is used to show the height in which he has fallen. The following shot shows this, as he is on the floor in a way which looks like he has just fallen and hurt himself.

Corey stands up, and in the background you see his fellow band mate Sid Wilson. Sid is crawling up and down the walls, which could symbolize madness, as it is like he is frantically trying to search for an escape from this room he is in. Corey stands up and touches his face, before wandering over to the window to look out, only to find his appearance has changed and for some reason he has gone under ground. An over-the-shoulder shot is used here to show the audience what Corey is looking at.

Corey attempts to leave the room to progress further into wherever he is, however Sid grabs him by the leg. Referring back to this room being based off of madness, this could be shown as the madness not letting Corey progress in life, as it is holding him back. However, Corey manages to break free and get into the next room.

The camera pans around the room to reveal the next band member, Joey Jordison, who is being pampered by three women. Corey walks around and inspects the scene, but does not speak to anybody. The whole room could show the deadly sin 'sloth', as Joey is sitting around idly while the three women pamper him to his pleasure. 

Corey continues to walk around the room, and Joey seems to notice Corey. The mirror in Joey's hand spins around to reveal Corey's face as he advances to the next room. This may have happened in the narrative to reveal that Corey is actually looking down on himself.

Corey continues into the next room, and we see Craig Jones. Craig stands motionless and unresponsive to Corey's actions. The whole scene in this room is solarized, and this could have been shown that Corey does not belong in that specific area.

Corey touches one of the nails on Craig's mask to get a response, but to no avail. Craig suddenly sets off a flare, which is shown to have stunned Corey as he cannot find the door to the next room when it goes off. This could back up the theory that Corey does not belong in that room, as it seems like Craig is attacking Corey.

Corey eventually leaves the room, and enters another room, full of mirrors. However skulking in the background is Paul Gray. By having a room full of mirrors along with seeing Paul inside them, you get the sense that this reflects Paul's character inside of Corey. 

Corey thinks he is looking in a mirror, as Paul begins to mimic all of his movements. As he waves towards the 'reflection', Paul waves with the wrong hand, showing it really isn't a mirror Corey is looking at. Suddenly, Paul bashes his fists against the 'mirror'. By doing this, this could either show that, like the last room, it is trying to say he doesn't belong here, or by going by how it seems that Paul is inside of Corey, it could be as if Corey is beating himself up over something. This could also reflect real time evnts, showing conflicts in the band. Quick cuts are used throughout this sequence, which also could be used to represent Corey's confusion and fear about being stuck in a room of mirrors.

Visibly scared, Corey backs away, and ends up falling into the next room, which is occupied by Shawn 'Clown' Crahan. Clown is dancing with several women; this could show the deadly sin 'lust', as Clown does not acknowledge Corey and only focuses on the women he is surrounded by.

Corey walks around everyone and tries to exit, however he has two women holding him back, trying to get him to stay in the room. If this room is associated with 'lust', this could show Corey having a personal battle with the deadly sin and him trying to conquer it.

After he escapes that room, he finds himself face to face with Mick Thomson. Mick seems to be guarding the door to the following room. This could show that Corey's mind does not allow him to progress any further due to emotional torture or exhaustion due to combating things like lust, hate and sloth. 

Corey tries to get past Mick, however he cannot get past him due to his brute strength. After numerous attempts, Mick, in an intimidating manner, walks towards Corey. Corey bolts towards him, however Mick suddenly disappears, shown to be an illusion. This could be shown that Corey has won the battle in his mind.

In the next room, we see Jim Root surrounded by women who are having a pillow fight. This could be represented as Corey's fun side, as feathers float around everywhere. However, everyone apart from Corey is backwards in the scene, which could show that Corey's fun side has a distorted image to it. 

Jim seems to notice Corey, however seen as he is close to leaving the room, he doesn't act on it, and continues having fun. This could show Corey is leaving his fun side behind and is slowly changing into something else.

Corey enters the final room. Chris Fehn is in this room with a woman. The wall is covered in weird looking markings; this final room could represent insanity, as Chris seems very secluded and isolated.

Chris is seen to be lighting candles throughout the scene. Corey approaches, and stares at one of the candles. As Chris stares back, Corey blows out one of the candles. This could represent that Corey being locked in this mental state is over and he can finally escape, or that he has died, and blowing out the candle is him putting his soul to rest.

The scene cuts to black, and then quick cuts to where Corey was originally digging at the beginning of the video. Masked Corey sits up from a hole where he has been digging, while normal Corey continues digging. Normal Corey suddenly notices masked Corey, and looks at him. The video fades to black and ends. The ending could show that what Corey had been looking for all along was himself, and after searching through his memories, he finally found what he was looking for.

Todorov

Todorov's theory could be applied to this music video as there are stages of equilibrium, disequilibrium and resolution. The equilibrium is where Taylor is walking to the field. Everything seems to be going smoothly and calmly.

Suddenly, Taylor falls into a 'hole' and begins to panic down there. This shows the transition to disequilibrium. He travels through the 'house' he has fallen into and runs into many problems, however overcomes them.

The resolution is shown at the end of the music video, where Taylor finally gets out of the 'house' and finally finds himself.

Propp

There are no significant ways in which Propp's theory is applied to this video. In a way, Taylor can be seen as the hero, as he is trying to escape the house. There are no other significant or designated characters other than Taylor.

Levi-Strauss

There are a few binary opposites in the music video. Most of the band are in opposite to Taylor, as they either scare him or ward him away into the following room with their actions. Also, both Taylor's at the end of the video are an example of this; even though they are the same person, they act differently - masked Taylor seems to be accepting the fact he's reached the surface, while normal Taylor seems to be shocked by masked Taylor coming through.

Barthes

Barthes' theory could be applied to this music video. You see Taylor enter the house at the beginning of the music video, which could be the beginning of the thread. As he progresses through the house, he goes through different rooms with each band member in it; with each room, a new piece of thread could come off from this as some may have a hidden meaning. Finally, when the video ends, other strands could come from the thread as you may be able to identify different meanings to the ending.

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Representation

The whole meaning to Dead Memories is about relationships and trying to move on after a relationship has ended, and it has dark themes in it. This music video incorporates the dark themes in it in a variety of ways, for example, the use of darkness, the sense of claustrophobia in the mirror scene, and the feeling of repression when Corey encounters Mick in the corridor scene.  

The music video could also represent the mental state of someone moving on from a relationship. The scene where Corey first enters the rooms could show the first stage of it, where it is sending you crazy, or 'driving you up the walls'. Sid is shown to try and prevent Corey from leaving, which could be shown as the problem trying to hold him back, however he breaks free and progresses. The scene where Corey enters the room full of mirrors could be the coming face-to-face with yourself process. It could represent someone gazing into a mirror, however they do not see themselves looking back. The scene where Corey meets Mick could be represented as the event in someone's life is holding them back. They keep approaching it in an angry way, yet when they approach it in a calmer manner, they realize it wasn't a big deal in the end.

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Genre

Slipknot's music, as a genre, would be associated as rock or metal. However this music does not fit in with what you would expect to see in a rock music video. For example, the band do not showcase their talents as you do not see them playing their instruments, and there is no reference to the band performing in any way. However, there are a few other aspects which shows how this video fits in with the rock music video genre.

There is a lot of emotion shown in this music video. For example, when Corey gets stuck in the room of mirrors, just before he gets thrown out he screams. He may have screamed in fear because he is stuck in there and he doesn't know how to get out, or, if referring back to the representations where it is coming face-to-face with yourself, because he has finally confronted himself.

Dark colours and simple settings are also used throughout. In the final room where Corey meets Chris, all that is lighting the room are candles. Low key lighting is used, and you get the sense that something will happen (it ends up Corey leaves the rooms and 'finds' himself).

The settings are literally just eight rooms in which one band member is in, and outside in a field. The rooms could be shown to represent the stages of Corey's 'mind' as he attempts to move on from the relationship which is spoken about in the song Dead Memories.

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Audience

This music video may capture its audience because it has a story to it. A majority of music videos do not have a story to them, but this video does, however it may be interpreted.

Also, people may be drawn to this music video simply because it features the band in it. A lot of music videos do not contain the band/artist in them (for example, Vermilion hardly features Slipknot in it, while the music video for Too Bright To See, Too Loud To Hear by Underoath does not feature the band at all), so the visual appearance of the band may appeal to the audience.

Another reason could people want to watch the music video for its visual appeal. A majority of people in the modern age watch music videos for their visual looks rather than to listen to newer music, so they may focus on what's happening in the video rather than the music itself.

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