Textual analysis-Deftones- You've Seen The Butcher

This music video is predominately a performance video with elements which could be considered both concept and narrative. It is difficult to identify the text as defiantly having a narrative due to the fact that it is not easy to see how Todrov’s elements of equilibrium, disequilibrium and new equilibrium would be assigned to this text. However there is defiantly a transition in the events happening which seems to imply it is more than just a concept video. The performance element is very conventional of rock music videos, in contrast; the library setting isn’t as conventional however I believe this has more to do with the meaning of the song, in other words linking lyrics to visuals.



To begin with there are a few panning and tracking shots of the location and the crowd which establishes the concept without giving too much away. As soon as the band comes in(with the main riff) the pace of editing increases, this illustrates the relationship between music and visuals as well as meeting the record labels demands for images of the band. Similarly to many music videos much of this attention is focused on the lead vocalist, this is particularly evident during the pre-chorus where there is a close up of him but with the background now different to before. Having the singer positioned above the crowd and the rest of the band, particularly close to the end also represents him as being superior.



Another way in which the video establishes a close link between the music and the visuals is by sudden focus pulls in some of the shots along with timing the movements of the camera to fit the music. For instance at one point the camera is sent tracking backwards in time with the delivery of one of the singers longer vocal lines There are also a fair few instances of voyeurism, during the chorus and at the end of the song the band are surrounded by a crowd of women, voyeuristic treatment of the female body is a common theme in many modern music videos. There are also quite a few wide shots looking through windows and arches at books falling from the sky during a sunset, this can be seen as more of a “high art” based voyeurism.



During the verse’s the lighting is fairly naturalistic and “Warm” however during the chorus the lighting and mise-en-scene are generally darker, this represents a relationship between music and visuals by clearly creating a visual division between the calmer verse and the more dramatic chorus. Just after halve way through we see the falling books receding followed by the band and crowd all be covered in blood. This use of physical effects to change the mise-en-scene as well as the fact that there are no longer any shots of the falling books after this point, possibly implies something about superficiality (in this case represented by voyeuristic treatment of the female body) winning over knowledge or wisdom, which is represented by the books falling from the sky.



At the end of the video we see the same establishing shot of the empty library which is seen at the beginning of the video and half-way through, this helps keep the central motive running through the video which defines the identity of this media text. I believe the video conveys the meaning of the song well, which I am not quite certain about. However it seems that it is it could be about sexual desire/repression “Watch the world explode from underneath you’re clothes” or about the superficiality involved in plastic surgery which could be implied from the title of the song-You’ve Seen the Butcher. The use of the blood at near the end of the video, as well as the other images could in some way relate to either of these.



The pace of editing in this video seems to vary for the different locations, for example during the performance there is a fast pace which gives the impression that the band is one thing rather than a collection of individuals. In contrast the shots of books falling during a sunset are mostly long takes, this is probably due to their importance to the narrative and also because they give the impression that they are very high production (and also particularly aesthetically pleasing) so the creators would want to make full use of these.

In my opinion the most successful thing about this video is the way it seems to seamlessly link the rather grandiose conceptual imagery with a relatively standard performance. I also like the variety of camera shots and movements which are used during the bands performance so I will therefore use this as inspiration for any elements of performance contained within our own video.