RMA - 3

Johnny Cash - Hurt

Mise En Scene

The lighting in this is very dark and brooding – which suits the song as the song is a dark, and has depressing song lyrics are about someone who isn’t happy with themselves. It seems mostly shot in what looks like natural light, rather an artificial as the light seems to come from one direction in most scenes, such as the one of Johnny Cash sitting down on his chair playing the guitar in the opening scenes. The tone of the lighting is also quite a cold yellow, giving the entire look of the video an aged feel. This is probably to reflect the artist, Johnny Cash, and to represent him at that very specific and crucial part of his life – the end. The lighting also looks like similar to the natural light you get with a sunset – also reflecting the end. This also fits the lyrics as the song is looking back at his life and thinking of the end “everyone I know goes away in the end”, “if I could start again a million miles away I would keep myself” and “what have I become?” hinting that he has changed throughout his life, reflecting over what he has done and what he wished he would have done during his life.
There is an overall feel of darkness in the video. Johnny Cash is dressed in all black and he is surrounded by dark wood furniture. This harshness could reflect the cold, harsh reality and honesty of the lyrics – “I hurt myself today to see if I still feel” and “I focus on the pain the only thing that's real”. Black is also a colour that reflects mourning/death and represents Johnny Cash’s acceptance of his last days.
Lighting is also used to create shadows and silhouettes, for example when Johnny cash is playing the piano from a profile view of him, he is casted into darkness, a silhouette perhaps representing he is fading into the shadows/dark/death.

Camera

There are many shots which illustrate what is happening musically for example the close up of him playing the piano as the piano kicks in. There is a wide shot of him playing the piano, showing he is alone with no one around him which illustrates the lyric “everyone I know goes away in the end”. There is also a wide shot of Cash moving his arm away from him which illustrates the lyric “goes away” showing that he is alone and perhaps that he has pushed people away in the past. This notion is also repeated with wide shots being used of Cash at a big table full of food for no one but himself – this gives the impression that, once again, he is alone, people have left him, he has no friends/guests to share this all with. There is also a wide shot of Cash pouring wine when he sings “you could have it all” showing that he all the stuff he has doesn’t mean anything to him knowing what he has done and the pain he has caused, that he would trade it all to “keep himself”. This is also reflected through the numerous shots of the elaborate things he has in his house – showing that they are worthless.
There are lots of close ups on Johnny Cash not only because he is the only person singing but because it is about him and his life and the end of his life. It’s his final song and his last goodbye so shots (particularly close ups) can be seen to show Cash saying goodbye and the sincerity in his face of the words he is singing (perhaps as an apology?) these can be seen throughout but an example of this is near the beginning when he first starts singing, close ups of his hands on the piano. Extreme close ups of his face (shown when he is performing at the beginning, at the dinner table and throughout and with him directly addressing the camera) show his vulnerability which reflects the song and also shows the audience how old he is in contrast to the younger pictures of him, it shows the audience that he is at that point where he will be moving on. It also allows the audience to see the sincerity of his words.
There are many close ups of items around his house – statues, record plaques, pictures. These reflect the history of his life and also perhaps the stuff he would give up for others. There is an extreme close up on the broken glass of the record plaque which one would associate with someone punching in an act of rage, this reflects the angst within the song.
A lot of shots show a profile view of him singing at the piano throughout, not allowing him to connect to the camera, this could perhaps represent the distance he feels from people. He also is often shown looking into the distance (when he is at the dinner table) there are many mid shots of him there showing Cash thoughtful, reflecting of his life and troubled by his past.
The is also many different shots concerning his wife to represent that she was a massive part of his life and his “sweetest friend”. There is a close up of his Wedding photo to his wife – shows the biggest most meaningful parts of his life and other close ups of his wife – show the love she still feels for him. The most emotive shot, however, is the wide shot of Johnny Cash performing whilst wife is looking over him shows the relationship – that is still there and meaningful and the framing (her watching him from the stairs) shows that there is distance there and that they are aware that they will be separated soon.

Editing

Performance/Conceptual video about Johnny Cash reflecting over his life.
Throughout the video clips of his past are edited in to reflect Johnny Cash looking back on his life from when he was younger from his career, his marriage, and general places he went.
The music often fits the takes as they cut in time to key changes and the pace of chords being played, an example of this is when he is on the piano and also during the opening scenes to the video when there is numerous different shot showing all the different dark objects around him and then later when the shots are showing different Johnny Cash merchandise.
There is a sequence of clips edited together to represent the love and strength of the relationship between Cash and his wife when the clip of the wedding photo is followed by the sequence of clips of Johnny Cash performing whilst his wife looks at him from the stairs. This could be to show how far their love has come through everything that has happened in the past until to that point.
There are also numerous clips of “Jesus” being put on the cross (dying for sins that have been committed) this could relate to Cash having to die for all the sins he has committed through his life or it could represent the fact that this song is Cash’s confession of his sins and will stop him from going to hell.
With the climax of the song the takes get faster, cutting quickly between Johnny Cash and Johnny cash as he was younger smiling, Johnny cash when he was younger performing, emotive clips of birds flying up (representing heaven), floods (representing devastation), Jesus (representing his religious beliefs, sins, death, heaven), a hammer hitting (representing a confliction and also fitting to the repeated chords of the piano being played), a cross being shown (representing death and his religious beliefs), the piano being played (fitting to the music/chords being played), sun through the trees (hope), lakes (beauty), doves (love), his wife (love, the most important person in his life) before it slows with the music as the climax finishes to a medium take of Cash (profile view) performing the lyric “I will find a way” and ending on a long take without the music of Cash closing the piano and running his hands over it as if he were saying goodbye to it and remembering the times he had had with it. This climax intensifies the feeling of the music and the feeling of angst, regret and yet hope. The slow ending shows the realistic, sad nature of the meaning of the song and the end of Johnny Cash’s life.