Music video analyzed 1

Memories - by Within Temptation: 

The video starts with a worms eye view of an old house, an old lady who walks onto the set and goes to up to the house, by the way she carries herself shows the viewer knows that the house means something to her. The old woman is wearing a lot of black which fits in with the |Goth theme of the video; also the house is styled from the victorian times, which is a time that Goths are most fond of. The camera closes in on a sign that says 'for sale' so the audience thinks that this maybe the reason that the women is there. The song starts as an instrumental which builds up the tension. There is a close up shot of the women’s face as she approaches the house, her facial expression is grime and this shows the audience that the house has a deeper meaning to her than what she wants. This keeps the viewers interested as they want to know the importance of the house and they want to know the connection between it and the woman. 

A shadow is seen in the window of the house, this make the audience wonder is meeting the man the reason that the old woman has come. 

As the old woman climbs the stairs to the house, there is a cut in shot of a younger woman sitting on the floor in a victorian styled dress, this fits in with the Gothic genre of the video as this is one of the common styles that Goths wear. The girl seems to be located in one of the rooms in the house.

It goes back to the old woman opening the door and entering to house. There is another cut scene of the younger women in the victorian dress. Then the camera shows a close up shot of the old woman's hand, they computer graphic to make it look younger. The next shot is a close up of the old woman’s face and they use computer graphics to make her look like the young woman that is in the victorian dress only she is wearing a white silk dress instead, as the song suggests that the audience is now seeing her memories of her younger self. And the candles light themselves as if to welcome her in, this shows the audience that the house is hers, and they then start to wonder who the person in the window was therefore keeping them interested in the song and video. 

The camera switches between the girl in the victorian dress that it sitting in one of the rooms (as she sings about being left behind and alone), and the girl in the silk dress that starts to climb the main stair, the girl in the silk dress is half way up the stairs she starts to sing the first lyrics of the song. As the girl in the silk dress is walking up the main stairs, a shadow moves across the room which confuses both the girl and the audience. Next there is a long shot of the girl in the victorian dress singing to the camera, about her memorises.

The audience is given the impression that the girl in the silk dress followed the shadow as the next time that she is shown she is in one of the rooms; all the furniture is broken, out of place and the floors are covered in leaves, this makes the viewer wonder what happened. The piano at the side of the room beings to play on its own and the audience wonder who she is singing about. The camera goes back to the girl in the victorian dress leaving the audience in sapience about the other room.

The girl in the silk dress looks over and there is a man playing the violin and the audience think that this must be him, because the next shot is of the room being put back together, as a visual representation of her memories of the house.

Again the camera switches between the girl in her different costumes and locations, as she continues to sing. When the camera goes back to the girl in the silk dress, it brings the focus back to the piano which was the first thing that her memories made move and after a few changes in shots, the man that was playing the violin earlier is now playing the piano, this shows the audience that he is just as important to the girl as the house is. But they know that he is dead because of the lyrics of the song and due to him always being a shadowed figure. In the next scene there are two ghostly figures playing instruments, she walks away from the ghostly figures which could show that they remember her of the death of the man.

There is a short shot of the girl in the victorian dress, and then it goes back the girl in the silk dress, who is now walking down a hallway, all the candles on both sides light up as if to invite her, this could also be seen as her memories changing her surroundings to what she remembers of the house.

The camera switches between the girl in the victorian dress and the girl in the silk dress who is randomly walking through the house. This could be seen as she is lost without him or that she just wants to remember ever thing and is therefore visiting ever room where something dear to her happened.

In the next scene she is standing in front of a mirror, and someone comes up behind her and gives her a necklace and because of the way that she smiles the audiences knows that she knows that person, but when her goes to touch his hand on her shoulder it is made clear that this two is just another memory. And she looks round to find and empty room making the audience feel sorry for her because of her loss.

There is a shot of the band (wearing mostly black) playing and the girl in the victorian dress singing in front of them, this could be there to show that they really played the piece.

This girl in the silk dress is back in the room where the piano was, and the room is falling apart again, this shows her memories giving in to reality. After a few shots of the girl in the victorian dress and the band, the girl in the silk dress runs toward the door, the candles on each side go out as she runs past them; this can also be seen as the girl’s memories giving way to reality or the house trying to make her leave. When the girl gets to the doorway she looks back into the house and they use 3D graphics to change her back into to old woman. Then we see the young girl in the victorian dress and the band, to make the audience wonder what the old woman will do.

When the camera comes back to the old woman, she is outside looking at the necklace that the shadowy figure gave her when she looked in the mirror earlier, this just confirms that she is the young woman are the same person for the audience. Then the camera shows the shadow in the window from the front of the house, as the ‘ghost’ of her lover watches her leave the grounds.