music video deconstruction

1. Metallica – Enter Sandman
Annabel Street

3. • Metallica is a heavy metal, American band and their song
‘Enter Sandman’ was released in 1991.
• At the beginning of the video we see fast cuts between a
young boy restlessly sleeping and extreme close up shots of
someone playing guitar, wearing a skull ring. These images
are already making the audience feel uncomfortable and
follows conventions of a heavy metal music video.
• The skull has images of death which is a stereotypical
theme within heavy metal bands.
• The quick transitions between the shots is disorientating
and makes the audience feel tense as the music starts to
build up (there are no lyrics).

5. • This image of a scary man is used throughout the
video. The use of a close up shot allows the audience
to see his angry expression and the wrinkles on his
face. He is making direct contact with the audience by
looking straight at the camera which makes us feel very
uncomfortable.
• The image lacks colour, along with the rest of the
video. The overall picture is quite dark which is
stereotypical for a video of that genre and reflects the
tone of the music. This also shows Andrew Goodwin’s
theory that the visuals in a music video reflects the
tone and atmosphere of the song.

7. • It is stereotypical for a heavy metal video to
include shots of the artists playing their
instruments as it proves that they can perform
live. Fans will also enjoy extreme close up like
this one as they can copy the guitar chords
and patterns.

9. • We see a close up of the artist singing which is
conventional of music videos. However, unlike other
genres (such as pop) heavy metal bands don’t tend to
have as much lip syncing. This Metallica video follows
the conventions for heavy metal videos as we don’t
often see him singing.
• The use of a close up allows us to see the lead singer’s
style. He has long hair, facial hair and isn’t
professionally styled, which suggests he hasn’t take
much care over his appearance – stereotypical of a
heavy metal artist/fan. We also see the expression on
his face – angry and tough. This allows us to
understand the band’s emotion towards the song and
the way they would perform if seen live.