30 Seconds to Mars - 'The Kill' music video analysis

30 Seconds To Mars - The Kill

 

The 30 Seconds to Mars ‘The Kill’ music video relies heavily on narrative to be entertaining to the audience. This music video parodies the 1980 film ‘The Shining’ which is a classic horror film. This example of intertextuality has been used to give the video a darker, more adult themed feeling. As this video parodies such a popular and acclaimed film, it means that it will attract fans of the film to go and view the music video. Furthermore, the location and characters used in this video are directly copied from ‘The Shining’; this means that it almost acts as an Easter egg to fans of the film who view the music video.

 

Moreover, the use of editing in this music video is also effective. There is a dual narrative in this music video that shows the narrative and the band performing. Showing the band perform is a common convention used in many music videos. It is done to show which instruments or roles in the band the band members play. Shots of the band performing are displaced with the narrative of the video. This has been done to make the video more entertaining to their audience.

Furthermore, mise-en-scene has also been used to create a darker, horror theme to the music video. The use of eye make-up and dark hair has been used to create a gothic mood to the music video. This has been used to compliment the horror narrative of the video - 'The Shining'.

The use of cinematography in this music video is also very effective. There are many close ups used of the singer - Jared Leto's face. This has been used to show that he is the front man of the band and that he is supposed to act as the main character in the narrative. Furthermore, close ups of his face have been used to show his gothic and dark style which compliments the narrative of the video.