Analysis of Music Video

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Andrew Proctor

Analysis of Music Video

Aphex Twin - Come to Daddy

This Aphex Twin video is certainly one of the most dissimilar music videos that I have studied. It intertwines elements of different genres, to create a video so different to reality; it shocked the nation when released. The director, Chris Cunningham, wanted to make an impact with this video which he did with great style and distinction.

Story/Narrative

The video starts with quite a gentle and sombre feel to it, where you see an old woman walking her dog. The dog however is not the small, yappy dog you would expect a old lady to own. On the contrary, it is big and looks rather aggressive. This could be a subtle tie in with the rest of the video, as it reflects the nature of what is about to come. The old woman comes across an old, abandoned television set in the middle of a block of flats, which creates a scene of tension as the music in the background changes pace and pitch. The dog starts barking at the television, which is shown in a mixture of normal and slowed down time. You can tell that something is about to happen, as the mood has just completely changed. It went from peace and ambiance, to fast paced and heavy music. You then see a head appear in the television, which looks faintly human; just distorted. At the same time you are shown a group of young girls in another part of the town, however their faces are different to what you would expect a pre teen female to look like. They all carry the same or at least a very similar face to the one seen in the television. The video continuously switches between these two scenes. As the video progresses the old woman is shown to be increasingly more scared, and the "girls" start to vandalise the surrounding neighbourhood. As the video nears an end the face in the television finally becomes flesh and steps out. He is portrayed as a monster, evil by nature and hideous to look at. The sort of fiend that is often seen in horror movies. The monster then screams at the old lady, which gives the audience a sense of revulsion as this seems evil to them. You are shown the girls vandalising the city once more before the video ends.
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The message that is possibly trying to be displayed is that television is evil. It turns people into similar beings, and gives them ideas of violence and destruction. This is portrayed when the girls with the same faces are terrorising the neighbourhood. The man coming out of the television shows the evil that can be broadcasted across television networks.

Representation

The man that comes out of the television is being represented as rebellious, evil, nasty, scary and dangerous. There are also elements of unusualness, and he comes across as quite psychotic. Just by looking at him ...

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