Music Video Analysis:

In Your Eyes – The Weeknd

Style:
The song In Yours Eyes is an R&B pop song from The Weeknd,
the video is the 4th music video from the After Hours album
and is continuing a story from the previous 3 music videos.
This video continues directly after the last one and is telling a
story. The narrative is about The Weeknd himself starting a
night partying in Las Vegas and in the end, he commits
murder and ends up being killed. He doesn’t along in this
video as the video is telling a story with the music playing
over it.

Conventions:
The video is based in Vegas and shows The Weeknd
attempting to kill a couple in an elevator with the woman
escaping, the video mostly consists of her running from him
until she managing to find an axe in a fire safety setup on a
wall and decapitates him. The video finishes with her dancing
with the head and then looking off a rooftop at dawn with It
in her hands. The song is about The Weeknd being desperate
to get his woman back after treating her horribly, and he
plays an ex-lover of the woman in the video seeking revenge.
When she finally kills him, the head is her trophy for being
free from him and that’s why she dances with it
Techniques:
A range of techniques are used in the video to add to the
effect of the chase and sync it to the music. There are
multiple close up of the knife The Weeknd is holding with
slash noises being played as he swings it. Also, when the
lyrics ‘In Your Eyes’ are sang they show a close up of the
woman’s eyes. The camera also cuts with the beat during the
chorus, when the music is most intense. Also, during the
most intense part of the chorus the most action and jump
cuts happen showing the girl dancing in rhyme to the music
while also being on the run