Analysis of Johnny Cash - hurt, Directed by Mark Romanek

The first shot we see in this video is a close up of what appears to be a statue of Jesus. So automatically, we can tell that there is an aspect of religion in this video. The statue is holding something above his head, something that is covered in ivy and greenery. This tells me that strength may be a topic touched upon in this video, as the battle Christ went through is directly linked with strength. The shot seems to have been shot from a bit of a high angle, slightly looking down on the statue. The statue seems to be looking up, we can see his bottom half, but he is not wearing anything on his torso and he has quite long hair and a rather large beard. These three characteristics put together is what leads me to believe the statue may be Jesus. The next shot we have is the same statue shot from the same angle, but zoomed into a lot more of a close up on the face of the statue. Having a better look at the face of the statue, it is clear to see that there is a look of struggle on his face. This again leads me to believe it is Jesus as it seems as though the statue is representative of the struggle Jesus went through as he looks up to his father in heaven for guidance and help. This can be applied to the video and we could almost go as far as to that possibly a lot of the video could be directed around the idea of Johnny Cash going through his own struggles he has had to overcome. The next shot we cut to is a close up shot of another statue. This statue is of a man riding a horse. It is clear that the horse is travelling at great speed as the horse’s legs are in a prone running position and the man on the horse is leaning forward as if he is struggling to stay on the horse due to the speed. The man seems to be a very historic military man, possibly from somewhere around the times of the 18th century war, due to the clothing he is wearing, and the sword he is carrying. As the horse is travelling very fast, I would be lead to believe that the statue is a representation of escaping. But due to the fact the man on the horse is wearing military attire and carrying a sword I am lead to believe the statue is actually a representation of the opposite and it actually represents facing your fears and getting through the struggle (which was represented in the previous shots) as the man on the horse charges into battle. We then have a mid shot of a bowl of fruit. The bowl is made out of possibly bronze or copper and clearly an antique as it has lots of shaped and patterns carved into it, and with the handles on each side it almost look like a trophy. Behind the bowl, we can see a large tall vase that is holding peacock feathers. This is clearly a reputation of beauty as a peacock is meant to be the creature of beauty with all the beautiful colours and patterns in the feathers that a peacock uses to attract a mate. There are also several grapes that are hanging out of the fruit bowl, which gives a representation of wealth, as grapes are the fruit that was traditionally fed to Greek royalty by their servants. If we look back at the history of Johnny cash he became very rich and very well loved, and I think the struggle represented in the first few shot could be the struggle he went through loosing his looks and some of his fame after he stopped being able to tour and things. When this shot comes up it is clear that the length of the shot is directly related to the beat of the song, every time the guitar strums on the low string the shot changes. The next shot we see is a mid shot of Johnny’s guitar as he is strumming it. The next shot is still of Johnny playing the guitar from the same angle but zoomed out a bit to be more of a long shot so we can see his face as well. Behind Johnny, we can see a lot of antique looking objects, this shot follows the rest of the piece so far with the very dark theme. Then we have an interesting shot of an American flag blowing in the wind. This shot looks very power full as it contains a lot of colour coming from the red, blue, and white of the flag to the blue of sky. This doesn’t fit in with the rest of the piece, as it has been very dark and colourless. This is how we can tell that this shot is being used to tell a different narrative. I think this shot of the American flag is used just to show Johnny’s patriarchy to his country. I think the flag is shot from a low angle to make the make it look as if the audience is looking up at the flag to show its great importance. The next shot we see is off the same flag shot from the same angle but again the shot is more zoomed out so we can see the surroundings, and we can see a sign saying ‘House of cash’ which is the house Johnny cash used to live in and has now been transformed into a museum. In the next few shots the editing seems to follow the pace and rhythm of the song again, jumping shot every time that the guitar strikes the low note. For the second time in the music video we see a sign saying ‘closed to the public’. To me this adds on to the idea of Johnny saying goodbye to his fans because he is saying that he is going to somewhere that the public (his fans) cant go. The first shot we see Johnny in involving the piano is very interesting because this is the first shot, in the room Johnny is in, where we have light. The others shots we have seen previously have all been very dark and had the colour drained from them. This is done to form a representation of death that directly reflects upon the depression Johnny was feeling about the recent death of his wife. This first scene with the piano is a long shot of Johnny lifting up the cover of the piano keys in front of a big open door that’s used to let the light in. Shortly afterwards we se the first shot that has been taken from another source of Johnny and this is the first of a number of shots that are used to look back over the life of Johnny cash. There is an interesting extreme close up of a Johnny cash record in a glass frame, with the glass in the frame smashed. This is a clear representation of Johnny’s career coming to an end after he stopped touring and releasing records. This could be one of struggles he suggests that he has had to overcome in the first few shots. When Johnny uses the word ‘hurt’ at the end of the chorus there is a shot of a prison door being closed which was taken from ‘Prison Time’ which was a film Johnny starred in, but this shot is used just as he says the word ‘hurt’ because this gives us a clear representation of being trapped, trapped with the pain. The last shot is quite interesting as well. It is a shot of Johnny putting down the cover of the piano, which is the opposite of what we saw earlier when he opened it. The cover of the piano could be a representation of his career, and when he closes it at the end of the video the shot is held for quite a while showing the audience it is of great importance.

Ideology
The main theme of this song is death. Johnny cash released this song shortly after his wife died and just before Johnny himself died. It seems to me, as though, the reason there is such a dark tone to some of the piece is to represent the depression he is suffering from his recently deceased wife. As we continue with the video there are parts of the video that are a lot lighter and have a much brighter tone, and I feel that this represents the death of Johnny cash. I think that after the death of his wife he felt as though he had nothing else to live for. He knew he was getting old and I feel as though he knew he didn’t have much longer to live so this video was used to represent that Johnny felt as though he was ready to die. If the darkness represents the depression he is feeling from loosing the love of his life then the light that is shown in some of the shots is used to represent heaven, which will be Johnny Cash dying, which will mean freedom from the depression he is suffering, and the light represents this freedom. There are several shots used in this video that are old clips of Johnny in films, or of him performing, or of his family. As it is seems that Johnny knew he was close to, and prepared for, his death, I think this video is almost a timeline of his life. He isn’t depressed about his approaching death, he is celebrating his life and sharing all the good times he has had throughout his life with the world through this video. It feels as though this video is his way of saying goodbye to the world.

Editing

The editing of this video does not necessarily follow the usual codes and conventions of music videos. Music videos usually use short shots that’s are edited together to be fast paced. This music video seems to be a lot simpler because there may not be as much of a narrative as there are in other music videos. The shots used are quite long shots that seem to last longer than usual shots would be in music videos.

Cinematography

The cinematography of this video is quite interesting. I have noticed that in several of the shots the camera started on a scene filming it in a close up or an extreme close up, then the next shot would be the same scene from the same angle but moved out a lot more, maybe into a long shot. This seems to me that it has the representation of kind of things don’t always seem as they first do. This is because once the shot is moved back out there is normally something else in the shot that makes you feel differently or change your opinion about that scene.

Mise-en-scene

As I mentioned earlier lighting is used to give good representations of life and death. The costumes that are worn are also very dark to fit in with this representation, and the same applies for the props. The location has a very dark and lonely feeling to it, which was done to represent Johnny’s mood and emotions.

Conclusion

I think this music video is very good at providing the representations it set out to and portraying a certain idea to about Johnny Cash and his life to his fans.