Dead Inside (Muse) - Music Video Analysis

This music video for the song, ‘Dead Inside’ by Muse, is a very plain but extremely powerful piece. The location used to shoot the music video doesn’t change at any point throughout the 4 minute 30 second song. This could imply that death, and being dead inside is dull and has no change. It may suggest that people who feel dead inside can often struggle to get out of the emotional state and that they feel trapped. The idea of feeling trapped is further conveyed through the use of costume on the two dancers. Both the male and female performers are shown wearing dull, tight fitting cloth material clothes.

These costumes reflect the dark tone created by the song and the filming techniques used to produce the music video. Along with the dark walls and dull environment, the dust covered floor is a very effective element in creating the aesthetic of power in the music video. Dust denotes that the thing it

has settled on has been untouched for a long time or that there is nobody there to move it. This could indicate the feeling of being ‘dead inside’ is something that stays with you for a long time. I think the use of dust in this music video is very effective as it provides an enhanced visual element. The dust being kicked up looks ‘ghost like’ as it follows the dancers around the dark environment. Ghosts are typically linked to death and the afterlife so this emphasises the meaning behind the song ‘Dead Inside’. Throughout the music video, the shots are cut between the two dancers in the large dark environment, and the members of the band singing and playing the various instruments.

When the band members are shown throughout the music video they are always in the same environment as the dancers and they too are covered in dust, as too are their instruments. However, the band members and the dancers are never shown in the same shot. They are filmed separately and then the various shots are cut together. This could suggest how alone or separated the idea of death can be. Also, each member of the band is filmed individually and there are no shots in which two or more band members are being filmed. This strengthens the idea of loneliness and separation. Furthermore, like the dancers, the band members are in very basic, dull clothing. The limited colour pallet for this music video is what makes it so unique. I feel that the colours used (greys, black and white) match the dark song which works well.

Looking back at the dancers, the male performer is shown as being the dominant one out of the two. This is obvious through the expressive dance. The idea of the male character being the more forceful and controlling of the two dancers could be a link to the power a ‘god-like’ character often has. Many people visualise god as being male and the idea of afterlife and whether you go to heaven or hell is often thought to be dictated by god. This links the power and control of the dancer with the theme of the song, death.

Thinking about the music video as a whole, one of the key things that make the dance and performance look powerful is the way in which everything happens in time with the music. The dancers move in a way that matches the beat of the song and the editing has been done in a way that means each shot changes on a strong beat in the song. This puts more emphasis on the big beats in the song and raises the level of power being created in the song. Changing the shot on a bold sound means the audience is simultaneously presented with a change in audio as well as visual.

Camera angles are also used to build power. The close up shots of the man pushing back the woman’s head is a strong image and the close up shows it in fine detail. Also, because the movement is done in time with the bass of the drum it creates further impact on the audience. I think this works really well because the use of audio to increase the effect of the visual element means the music video has a much clearer story behind it. I think the use of a close-up camera angle works really well in this scene because it gives a much more defined representation of the two dancers’ facial expressions.

Throughout this music video, camera angles and lighting are used to reinforce the idea of death. Minimal lighting is used to create a darker atmosphere. The black walls contrast with the white dust and because of the dark backdrop the dust can be seen much clearer than if it were to be flicked up in front of a lighter coloured wall. The use of colour is highly effective throughout the music video. The difference between dark and light creates a mysterious setting and the overriding dark theme means the idea of ‘dead inside’ is maintained.

Camera angles can be used to show different themes in film. In this music video camera angles are mainly used to show emotion towards the dancers and between the dancers. One example of this is where a high angle shot is used and the dancers are filmed from a height. This can give the sense of vulnerability which links in with the concept of death in this piece. The panning and tracking camera movements are used a lot throughout too. These two dynamic filming techniques make the dancers seem trapped as they dance in a circle created by the various filming angles. Wide angle shots are also used in this music video to film the dancers. This works well and indicates a sense of vulnerability similar to the high angle shot. It is also an establishing shot and in this instant it shows the size of the dark room in comparison to the dancers. Having the dancers represented as small in relation to the environment they’re in implies that they are the things that are dead inside the room. This creates a contrast with the idea that they are emotionally ‘dead inside’.

Lastly, the singer’s outfit is very dull, like the dancers and band members. He is often shown using a close-up shot which means, as the audience, we see the different elements of his outfit very clearly. He has a thick jacket on which may indicate the atmosphere is cold, similar to the idea of someone being ‘stone cold’ when dead. He is also covered in the dust that the dancers and band members are seen kicking up throughout the video. It may be argued that this continuing dusting of all the people in the music video implies that after death, everybody is identical.