IWBYS music video | interpretation - pt8/8
↳the mouth & other symbolic imagery
«The mouth utters the word, the sign, and symbol. If the word is a sign, it means nothing. But if the word is a symbol it means everything.»― Carl Jung
First of all, this is my personal interpretation. I’m not in the director/band minds so these are just the associations I made while watching the video.
Secondly, English is not my native language so... sorry for any mistakes.
[1]
The cross necklace coming out Ethan’s mouth could represents the rejection of constricting ways of thinking or being fed them ( if we consider the necklace to go in ) and ,since the cross also stands for ‘redemption’, it could just be about them ‘’repenting’’ ( it is in fact shown during the rewind to try to go back ‘to innocence’ ).
[2]
I know what they were ‘hinting’ at with Thomas bound upside down but I can’t help but also think of the tarot card “the Hanged Man”.
The card symbolizes, among other things, gaining a new perspective.
[3]
Damiano’s choice to pull his mouth on the verse «cause I just wanna amuse ya» creates a ‘grotesque’ imitation of a smile (that fits the horror-ish atmosphere of the scene) and, while he's just miming it, playing with the lyrics as always when he performs, it reminded me of those exaggereted and plastic expressions we can find in gargoyles ( guardians to ‘’ward off ‘evil-forces’’’ according to some and ‘’embodiments of the souls condemned to hell’’ for others or again ‘simple stone monsters’) the so called ‘mouth pullers’, specifically.
[4]
Vic licking the apple can represents a taste of...
- sin (see pt1)
- love & desire ( one of the attributes associated with Venus, the apple is used as a symbol of sensuality and love since time immemorial. To give an apple to another person in the past meant to declare your love - in mytholgy Bacchus, after creating the apple, offered it to Venus to win her heart).
In the Bible it also appears in the Song of Solomon [2:3] symbolizing sensual desires and beautyness “ As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.“ )
- knowledge & freedom ( another symbolic meaning of the apple is knowledge and wisdom. Also, if we cut one orizzontally, we'll see the shape of a five pointed star in its center that is said to represent "the knowledge that makes you free" -- and I can't help but think of the scenes where they play with the white star on the wall, as if it represents what's inside that apple with razors = them just being themselves and having fun - free.)
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[1] detail from la Primavera by Botticelli - Chloris, with a chain of flowers and plants coming out from her mouth, transforming into Flora .
[4] detail from Venus Verticordia by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
IWBYS music video | interpretation - pt7
↳ cinematography
«Everyone takes the limits of his own vision for the limits of the world.»― A. Schopenhauer
First of all, this is my personal interpretation. I’m not in the director/band minds so these are just the associations I made while watching the video.
Secondly, English is not my native language so... sorry for any mistakes.
______________
« Sex in every form and from every angle[..]» This is what the band wrote when they presented IWBYS and they seems to have used the freedom ( from a technical POV ) music videos allow to visually translate the message, playing with ...
➤ CAMERA ANGLES :
the close ups help creating a connection with the viewers, while the choice to film almost everything at eye level conveys the feeling of being ‘within the scene'.
The glass floor shots,on the other end, create the illusion of being beneath them, as if they 'looking down at us'.
➤ SETS :
the black background makes the subjects stand out, putting the focus on them while also giving the impression of an indefinite space, as being in a limbo ; the light background in the glass floor scenes gives the opposite feeling - they seems to be in an open space with nothing but air all around them. Free. [1]
➤ LIGHTINING :
chiaroscuro, neon lightining in various combinations (including complementary colors) = different kind of 'contrasts'.
➤ COLORS :
vibrant tones, pastels, bold pairings ( ie pink and black) and a lot of red ( as little details or props, to illuminate their faces, as a set backdrop...) - the color of love and burning desire but also anger and danger.
➤ EFFECTS :
- the night vision camera gives the scenes a 'nightmarish' vibe that goes well with the growing sense of ‘urgency’ expressed in the song.[2]
- the fish lenses are used to play with POVs - one moment we are the ones looking, in the other it seems they are watching us. And then, for a brief moment, there is not us or them anymore because, using the double lenses, they make us look through "Damiano’s eyes".
- the rewind underlines the concept of a repeating cycle, a loop they’re trapped in.[3]
_____________
[1.] The only limit is an ‘invisible’ one and they start pressing against it, hitting it. An invite, maybe, to “break the glass ceiling”- nothing but our mind can stop us to be up there with them.
[2.] It’s like we are seeing what's deep down and how these mounting emotions linger there in the dark until we stop being scared/fighting and unleash them (= them playing with total abandon). We can see it as ‘liberation’ or as 'falling’… or both.
[3.] The band inside the lens, illuminated in red, reminded me of those led lights on cameras (think HAL 9000 from ‘2001:A Space Odissey’). They could be the ones on the opposite end of the ‘eye’ that the same band, while lying on the floor all ‘innocent’ looking, notice at the beginning of the video. As if they are watching themselves - in a loop inside the loop.
[4.] little tidbits about the 'making of':
-- they had two versions of the video ready in case Youtube decided to censor the one they published. The ‘clean’ one was called the "disney version".
-- the idea behind the video was to use a series of images to represent the variety of sex. The director had a group chat with the band (and the team) where they shared ideas to add to a general ‘moodboard’ and, according to him, the more active and propositive was Victoria.
-- the director said that he didn’t give specific instructions to Damiano while filming and so, what we see, is all him following his instinct. Also he revealed that, during the editing, everytime he had doubts of what to add, he looked into his scenes knowing he’d find something interesting.
DISASTER LINEAGE APPRECIATION WEEK
DAY 6 & 4: FAVOURITE FIGHT & SONG ASSOCIATION ▸ ANAKIN VS OBI-WAN + MY TEARS RICOCHET
‘Writing this song, it kind of occurred to me that in all of the superhero stories, the hero’s greatest nemesis is the villain that used to be his best friend. When you think about that, you think about how there’s this beautiful moment in the beginning of a friendship where these people have no idea that one day they’ll hate each other and try to really take each other out.’ - Taylor Swift
IWBYS music video | interpretation - pt6
↳music videos: similar details
«Great things are done by a series of
small things brought together. »―Van Gogh
First of all, this is my personal interpretation. I’m not in the director/band minds so these are just the associations I made while watching the video.
Secondly, English is not my native language so... sorry for any mistakes.
----
1]
The shot with the boots clearly refers to a specific kink, still it made me think of that scene from Billy Idol's Flash for fantasy (1983).
The song, said Idol in his autobiography, " spoke to the audiences of the time who were in the process of discovering their own sexualities. “
Ain't it strange what we do to feel alright
2]
When I saw Damiano taking off his lipstick smearing it with his arm my mind went directly to David Bowie at the end of 'Boys keep swinging'(1979).
In the promotional video for the song ( that "lyrically blurs the lines between genders") Bowie appeares in drag. During one of these scenes he «smears his make-up in the style that he’d observed at Romy Haag’s Berlin nightclub». [ x ]
When you’re a boy other boys check you out
3]
The scene with the glass floor reminded me of the cover art for the album ‘Spirito’ by Litfiba (another italian rock band) released in 1994.
4]
Some examples of the fish eye being used in rock music: album covers ( Jimi Hendrix, Grateful Dead, Smashing Pumpinks, Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam...) photos (Beatles, Rolling Stones, Guns ‘n Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blur...) videos ( Blink 182 - 'The Rock Show' , Foo Fighters - 'Monkey Wrench'... )
IWBYS music video | interpretation - pt5
↳ complementary colors
« To express a marriage of two complementary colors, their mingling and their opposition, the mysterious vibrations of kindred tones. »—Van Gogh
First of all, this is my personal interpretation. I’m not in the director/band minds so these are just the associations I made while watching the video.
Secondly, English is not my native language so... sorry for any mistakes.
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Complementary colors are two colors that are direct opposite in the color wheel, when paired they both appear brighter and enhance each other creating a sort of 'simultaneous contrast'.
Red[1] and green. Blue and orange. Yellow and purple.
The use of these combinations in the video seems to translate visually the duality expressed in the lyrics , the coexistence of ‘opposites’ that can bring harmony and balance - the beauty of contradictions.
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1. the director said that he decided to put a red element in (almost) every shot to have, visually, a point where the desires expressed in the song would be channelled in.
IWBYS music video | interpretation - pt4
↳ movie insp
«Don't be a...*square*». — Mia Wallace (Pulp Fiction)
First of all, this is my personal interpretation. I’m not in the director/band minds so these are just the associations I made while watching the video.
Secondly, English is not my native language so... sorry for any mistakes.
__________________________
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Scorpio Rising (1963)
The Dreamers (2003)
Wonder Woman (1975-1979)
__________________________
1.]
From the lips on the cover art for 'Zitti e Buoni' to Damiano's look, intentional or not, the influence of Rocky Horror Picture Show and the iconic character of Frank N’ Furter, is obvious.
"Beyond Curry’s sheer magnetism and charisma, part of the allure of Frank ‘N Furter is that he really isn’t gender-specific. [..]The cast and crew behind Rocky Horror were really some of the first ones to say it was okay to refuse gender roles and embrace whatever clothing or sexuality made you feel whole and beautiful."
A cult classic, the movie "was made for the outcasts, the weirdos, the rejects and the freaks. It was made for those people who wanted to give themselves over to absolute pleasure. With its views on love, sex, and Rock and Roll, Rocky Horror Picture Show became the movie for a generation of dreamers, doers and the disenfranchised." [ x ]
«Don’t dream it. Be it.»
2.]
The shot with the ‘Puppet’ studded jacket is a clear reference to Scorpio Rising‘s title card.
The experimental short by Kenneth Anger “highlights the masculinity of young Italian-American bikers and their fetishization of bikes” and “portrays the homosocial relationship between these men, who are clad in leather, jeans, and chains, through faux violence and homosocial erotic games.” [x]
3.]
Eva Green posing as the Venus of Milo is maybe the most famous scene from Bertolucci’s ‘The Dreamers‘.
Based on the novel “The Holy Innocents” by Gilber Adair the movie is set during the Paris riots in 1968 and follows 3 young students that bond over their shared passion for cinema and increasingly withdraw from reality into a world of their own creation.
Suspended in this bubble they quiz each other about movies, re-enact famous scenes, debate about films, politics, culture and explore their sexuality.
«I've always wanted to make love to the Venus of Milo.»
4.]
Chest out and hands on hips = the ultimate power pose, also known as the Wonder Woman pose.
High confidence, strenght and dominance - pure feminine badassery.
IWBYS music video | interpretation - pt3
↳ chiaroscuro & the right eye
«All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.»—Leo Tolstoy
First of all, this is my personal interpretation. I’m not in the director/band minds so these are just the associations I made while watching the video.
Secondly, English is not my native language so... sorry for any mistakes.
____________________
The video starts with a close up of Damiano’s face in split lighting, with his right side shrouded in shadow. [1]
This light/dark effect could be seen as a visual represention of the duality of human nature and - as they said introducing the song - “the antinomy that lives inside all of us“.
Another thing that caught my attention is that the shadow, and later an eyepatch, cover Damiano’s right eye.
In the Bible there is a passage that says:
If thy right eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee (Matthew 5:29).
An hyperbole meaning we must steer away from sin in every possible way and, if necessary, to remove the source that may cause us to err.
In the video the eyepatch seems to be used to block this metaphoric ‘source of sin’.
In fact, in one of the scenes, we are shown Damiano lifting it and winking at us with complicity, before making us look -through his eyes- at a series of 'steamy scenes', as if revealing his secret 'sinful thoughts'.
Then he covers the 'offending eye' again.
So, to me, Damiano wearing the eyepatch ( + white trousers - as to reinforce an appearance of innocence and virtue) symbolizes society's hypocrisy: acting sanctimonious, hiding, demonizing, censoring and making everything regarding sex (and everything that goes against the norm) taboo but still think about it and/or even indulging in private in the very same things condemned publicly.
____________________
➤
1. When we talk about dramatic lightining my mind goes to Caravaggio - the master of chiaroscuro. I decided to use a detail from his David with the Head of Goliath as a nod to the verse " 'cause baby I’m your David and you’re my Goliath".
➤
art used in the last pic:
- detail from Mars, Venus and Cupid by Titian
- detail from the Last Judgment by Michelangelo ( one of the three same-sex male couples depicted in the fresco).
IWBYS music video | interpretation - pt2
↳ art parallels
«Images also help me find and realize ideas. I look at hundreds of very different, contrasting images and I pinch details from them»—Francis Bacon
First of all, this is my personal interpretation. I’m not in the director/band minds so these are just the associations I made while watching the video.
Secondly, English is not my native language so... sorry for any mistakes.
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- Francis Bacon , Self Portrait
- Venus of Milo || R.Mapplethorpe, female torso
- R.Mapplethorpe, Untitled (Self-Portrait) || Alexander Charles Guillemot, Mars and Venus Surprised by Vulcan
- David Bowie - Rebel Rebel ( @ TopPop )
- R.Mapplethorpe, Ken Moody with shoe
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1.)
When I saw the scene of Damiano pressing his face against the glass my mind went directly to Francis Bacon‘s paintings (and to Ana Mendieta‘s series of “Glass on body imprints” [x] ).
It’s an image meant to ‘disturb’ us and I see the use of this ‘’visual shock’’ as a challenge to our perception. It make us look at something we know in a different and altered way. And, at the same time ( with the lipstick put messily on his lips before he smears it against the glass and take it off with his arms), it can be seen as some sort of critcism on 'beauty canons' .
2.)
Thomas posing on a black background with black gloves to give the illusion of missing arms ( wearing the “Venus in chain” leather belt ) is a clear reference to the Venus of Milo. One of the most famous sculpture ever and an universal symbol of beautyness and sensuality.
( another reference, since they used a lot of his shots as inspiration, could be Mapplethorpe’s "female torso”).
3.)
The net in symbology means ‘ to be trapped in something’ and, I believe, this ‘something’ in our case can be:
- society’s chains: what we are told to be since we are born, the roles that are forced on us, social constructs in general etc. (Ethan and Thomas being almost naked = true self )
A similar concept is expressed by Mapplethorpe in one of his earliest works, a collage that represents 'his being mentally and physically victim of cultural and psycholgical torment'.
- our passions: desire becoming obsession, being entangled in an intense, toxic or wrong relationship/situation ... succumbing to lust and its consequences ( like in the myth of The Net of Vulcan*).
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* [ the god Vulcan, after being informed of his wife’s (Venus) infidelity with Mars, fashioned a net ‘so fine to be invisible and yet so strong to be unbreakable’ and set it on their bed to catch the pair and expose them to the others gods. ]
4.)
Everyone thought about Madonna as Madame X but, when I saw the eye patch, I immediately thought about David Bowie’s look during this performance of “Rebel Rebel” in 1974.
(The song is about ‘a boy rebelling against his parents by wearing makeup and women's clothes’ and it speaks of young people desire to release their own individuality and uniqueness.)
5.)
During an interview with the director it was specified that the scene with Ethan holding the red shoe is inspired by one of Mapplethorpe's shots and, while we can just see it as a hint to that specific fetish, the red high heels can also represents desires in general.
And, in fact, the director also said that he decided to insert a red element in (almost) every shot to represent a point where the ‘desires‘ the song talk about would be channelled in.
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