Analysis Of Rock Videos Two - 'Don't Cry' - Guns n' Roses

Cinematography
This is a dark music video as the song is about a dark subject. The majority of the colours used are black or very dark and dull. Because of these dark colours used the mood is quite dark and gives off a negative energy. There are a lot of fast paced camera shots and fast movement from the people involved in the music video. There is also a fair share of slower paced shots for deep dark emotion that is represented in the music video at these times. In some of the shots in the video there seems to be a slight tint of colour that gives the sly effect of anger and depression. The cameras are mainly focused on the couple including the lead vocalist (Axl Rose) until the guitar solo comes in and the focus changes to the couple with the guitarist (Slash) in the car.

Sound
This song is recorded in a modern and high tech recording studio because the clarity of the instruments are clear and crisp. There is no microphone spill so this means that each instrument was recorded on separate tracks one at a time. There is sound clips added into the music video such as in the choruses where you can see the full band on top of the building you also see a helicopter so a helicopter sound clip has been added in for effect. Apart from the helicopter no other sound effect or sound clip has been added.

Mise En-Scene
In this music video there is a lot of places at where bits of this has been filmed. For example, there is a bar, a dirt road, the top of a building and a house, these are just a handful of places. The opening sequence is the image of a baby laying down leading to us seeing Axle Rose walking through the snow holding only a gun. The fact that he is on his own could represent the fact that he is lonely or that he has committed a crime and is in his own world of abandonment and lack of company. The same feeling can be felt during the solo where Slash has just driven his car off the edge of a cliff with his partner inside and as the car explodes he finishes his solo at the top of the cliff on his own. This shows his loneliness and anger as he tosses his guitar off the cliff down towards the car his partner was in.

Editing
The editing in this music video is spotless and runs fluently throughout. The sudden change between fast paced and slow paced clips has been compressed together perfectly for the effect of the changing feelings in the people involved in the music video. Everything is in synch, from the lip synching to the guitar solo and drum strokes. No drum beats were missed, all the fills were correctly played, all the lyrics were sung correctly and all the strumming patterns and chord shapes and progressions were correct throughout the music video.

Performance

Everyone who was involved in the music video all stayed in role and they were all professional about everything. The main characters were played by the band members themselves and they all stayed in role and knew what they were doing in each shot in the entire video. They all acted well and everyone, including background actors/actresses, all participated with high energy and professional faces. Not only did they act well they all played their instruments with high energy and skill as if they were playing to an audience of thousands of people.