1. Technical analysis of my favourite music videos. Tool : Stinkfist Slipknot : Wait and Bleed Tool : nema

2. Tool : Stinkfist

This video is one of myall-time favourites..For the reason that isalike a horror movie in whichthe scary/make-you-jumpbit never comes (the reasonI dont like horror !)..

As with all Tool videos there is all ways a stop-motion-animation element (the nail coming out of the poor guys stomach). It is more subtle in Stinkfist, but still there enough for the video to appear as artsy-fartsy as possible, as Tools thing is the focus of the music not the bands image. This goes against many typical conventions of music videos in general as the band aren't featured, no instruments and no product placement what-so-ever !

3. Strobe Lighting

The use of blue strobes within this video exaggerate the all ready prominent blue grading gives the entire first two thirds an awesome cold feel. Strobing lights are used to great effect within a lot of horror movies, as to give all the camera movement and actual action a jumpy/frenetic feel, as the eye only catches every other second of footage.

Lighting is key within any sort of filming, non more so within a music video. Here they have used to hard lights in conjunction to produce to definite shadows which form the one. Hard lighting is almost all ways used in horror movies as it exaggerates features to make actors/monsters look more sinister.

4. Link with lyrics

The entire song is about how humans these days are over stimulated, to the extreme. As the characters shave off the layer of a sandy blue dust. Which was probably achieved by covering the actors in liquid latex, then glue, then coloured sand. This second skin can then be ripped off in what looks like to be a VERRY painful process.

Another link to the lyrics would have to be the use of the steam-punk looking breathingapparatus. Making the substance supposedly exiting the masksome sort of drug, of which thecharacters are addicted too, likeheroine where the first hit is thebest and all the rest are dull incomparison. Not that Tool are promotingdrug use or anything!

5. Shaky and rough.. Wait And Bleed

Through the whole video, Waitand Bleed, every shot has anelement of roughness. This is not surprising for aSlipknot video as they are no wellknown for their subtlety, more fortheir in-your-face aggressiveness(not quite counting their new album, but Im not here to talk about that..).

The entire footage has a dirty brown grading upon it, which further enhances the alternative Metal look. The use of skulls and the stereotypical horror crawling severed hand also denote the genre as you wouldnt see such disturbing images within a pop video.

6. Image

The main thing to note with the majority of Slipknots music videos is how they make sure that all 9 band members are shown at least once. (8 now, R.I.P. Paul Grey.) This is one of their first videos and, of course shows all their original masks in jumpy stop-motion animation where they are revolting against their maker.. This is important due to Slipknots image consistingof the band members focusing onthe music and tending to preferbeing out of the public spot-light. This ceased to happen when the band broke up for a while andeach perused their own stuff.

7. Fun little touches..

The attention to detail within this video is pretty cool and really gives the audience the feel of the atmosphere. And as you would expect, the image of body parts floating in un-mentionable fluids is not one for the feint hearted. Thus giving the video with not a lot of relevance to the actual song some character, even if it is just background stuff.

8. Tool : nema

This video (yes, its Tool again) is my favourite in the sense of how it inspires me to emulate the same and do some stop-motion animation of my own.

In this screen-shot you can clearly see a figure walking up to a blank, presumably grey wall. Yet, everything within shot has a blue colour laid overtop with use of grades and tints. I like how the shot can be so simple, yet raise more questions that it answers. In this case; who is this figure ?, where is he ? etc etc..

9. Ripples..

Throughout the entire videothere are what seem to bereflections off of water uponthe walls, it is the case evenwhen there is no actual waterin shot.

The production of rippling lightin such a stop-motion animationfull video was probably the mostchallenging of the productionelements in the making. As, theywere made shining feint lightthrough loads of tiny lenses andmaking them spin at the sametime as the rest of the animation.

10. Stop-motion water!

The use of water within a stop-motionanimation is not a common sight, as it makesthe entire process take all that much morelonger, seeing as you need to wait for thewater to be completely still before taking thenext picture. And at 25 frames per second,you can see how this sort of animation istedious in the first place!

The water also has a strong connection with the lyrics, as it is chanted that we need tolearn to swim as if there is a great flood on its way that will destroy civilisation as weknow it. This is what Andrew Goodwin says, there should be a relationship between the lyrics and the action.

11. Learn to swim..!