Nero- Promises: Video Analysis

Nero’s Promises

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llDikI2hTtk

A concept video with aspects of performance that depicts a dystopian society where young people are drugged and encouraged to become identical in every way. The main character decides to break away from the group, reflecting the roots of the electronic genre, and become unique.

Location:

A clean, bright/vibrant and technologically advanced facility where the characters are kept prisoner. The setting is very bright, with most of the scenery being white or heavily lighted. The characters (apart from the singer of the group who has nothing to do with the story) are all dressed in black to contrast with the location. The location serves as a contradiction of the chaos the young woman causes by being different as it is so clean and organised.

Mise-en-Scene:

The scenes are very stripped to match the bright and clean location of the music video. Only people fill the shots so the audience are encouraged to focus on them instead of the background scenery. The band can frequently be seen in the background of many shots, suggesting they are orchestrating the events of the video. This would reflect the new wave of electronic music that Nero work in (Dubstep) and carve an image for the group.

Costuming:

Every character, bar the lead singer who is dressed in white, is wearing black which contrasts heavily with the white location. This is done to make it seem like the characters don’t belong, and as this is an electronic music video it would suggest that this genre of music doesn’t belong in the clean and stripped environment of the video. Another reference to electronic music’s underground roots.

Camera Angles:

A constant use of close-ups and mid-shots to highlight characters on screen. Two shots are also used to give an impression of a connection between the main male and female characters. A new technique is the focus on body parts, namely hands. Many shots of the female singer’s hands and the sequence where the teens are “dancing” focus on hands. This reflects the rave scene of the early electronic music days were arm movement was integral to the dance patterns.