Beth Davies

Imagine Dragons Detailed Analysis (Demons)

The music video for the Imagine Dragons’ song ‘Demons’ is an alternative rock music video and generally follows conventions of their genre.

Firstly, the video includes a live performance of the band through the use of a LS - which highlights their instruments as well as their costumes (as they are wearing quite casual clothing of skinny jeans and a t-shirt). This follows conventions as it helps the audience identify with the band by their representation.

In addition, the music video also follows conventions by including MS/CU of the lead singer singing, as well as each band member playing their instruments. This is effective because it emphasises the realism for the audience by creating the effect that they are performing just for that individual – which also emphasises the desire effect to be so close with them.

Another way the music video follows conventions is by having a very strong relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. However, there is only one example of an illustrative link as the lead singer sings, “Look into my eyes, it’s where my demons hide”. As he sings this, the image presented to the right is presented on screen. This is beneficial as it gives the audience an insight to that person’s life and also gives them an idea of what their ‘demons’ are.

As well as this, the relationship between the music and the visuals is also very strong. For instance, the shots tend to cut on a 2-4 count basis as well as building tension by bottles smashing on screen as shown in the image to the left. This is effective as it builds up tension for the audience and keeps their attention throughout by keeping them entertained in the concept and narrative.

However, the felling of wanting to look more, as they are entertained, is juxtaposed through the use of ‘notion looking’. One example of this is when the male actor is looking in the mirror whilst tensing his arms that appear fragile. This negatively impacts the audience by making them feel guilty by looking into such an intimate moment in the males life, which shocks them into realising the struggles in some people’s lives.

Despite the music video following conventions, it also challenges conventions by not including any intertextual references. Therefore, we can also conclude that this particular music video follows the majority of Goodwin’s points, despite being amplifying throughout (especially in the name of the song, ‘Demons’). Throughout the video, this is implied to represent people’s battles that they face in their life, like Tyler Robinson’s inspirational battle with cancer, which is what the song is dedicated to.