Heart Shaped Box

I will analyse the music video to Nirvana - Heart Shaped Box:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6P0SitRwy8

I have chosen the music video "Heart Shaped Box" by Nirvana to analyse in depth and see the styles and techniques which are used to create meaning and generate a response. The video is abstract while the performance side by the band is also conveyed, with not much of a narrative shown. The video consists of the band performing in a fantasy land which leads the audience into thinking that it is the imagination of the lead singer Kurt Cobain. I have chosen this video in particular to analyse as it is quite obscure and original with lots of parts to analyse in it.

The lead singer of the band (Kurt Cobain) is quite blatantly showcased  as the lead and main figure in the Heart Shaped Box video. The other members, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic are frequently shown in the background through long shots, they are often blurred out also. Kurt Cobain is consistently shown through close ups as fans of the band recognise him as the main man. The lead singer of most bands on most if not all occasions is shown as Cobain is in the Heart Shaped Box video for aspiration of them by the viewer, if you think of bands like Queen with Freddie Mercury or The Beatles with John Lennon as an example.

Although some lyrics of the song, particularly the song name, are sometimes illustrated in the video, the video primarily contradicts the lyrics. The band are however often seen in a Heart Shaped Box, especially at the end of the video, which shows how on occasion the lyrics do illustrate the video. The target audience of the video varies hugely, Nirvana fans in the time of the Grunge era (early 90's) were fully diverse when it comes to age, race and culture, of which Heart Shaped Box by Nirvana targets all.

The mise-en scene of costume in the video is very iconic of a Rock band, particularly that of the Grunge genre. Casual, ripped clothes with long hair were common across all grunge bands when the scene began in Seattle. Instead of wearing fully black costumes with black hair and make up like earlier bands of the 80's adopted, the Grunge scene and Nirvana proved through their various music videos, including Heart Shaped Box that you can wear normal, every day clothes and still be Rockers.

The subject of abortion and babies in general is common in the Heart Shaped box video. The props of the fetuses hanging from the branches half way through the video display this. The album of which the song was from is "in Utero", with numerous pictures of fetuses on the inside cover. The setting in Heart shaped Box is portrayed to show the vision of kurt Cobain, and the fact that at the time he was having his only daughter, the common use of babies and fetuses in his album covers and video's show that his own thoughts and vision was conveyed.

The video promotes the song to a large extent to it's audience. The image of Kurt Cobain which is often used in numerous Nirvana music videos (Smells Like Teen Spirit, In Bloom, Come As You Are) is iconic to viewers and fans of the music. The man on the crucifix and the fantasy land with the little girl and the large woman makes the video original and iconic from others which promotes the song and the band to a wider audience range.