Throughtout the video the lyrics are illustrated and even contradicted by the visuals in many ways. The darkness reinforces the notions of death, contradicting the lyrics 'Bring me to life'; however the slight use of light creates a sense of life, indicating the protagonist is in between life and death. In addition, the harsh wind creates a sense of spirituality suggesting that ghosts/spirits are lurking around. The lyrics 'wake me up' and 'cant' wake up' is illustrated showing the protagonist sleeping although it is as though she is trying to wake up as she moves around the bed hastily attempting to open her eyes. Moreover, the lyrics 'save me' shows the protagonist having a nightmare in which she is falling from the sky, in which we see the video cuts from the nightmare to her in her bed holding onto the bed. Another example is the lyrics 'make me real' where we see a woman wearing a clown mask in which she removes it to reveal that she is crying. The lyrics 'falling inside' is contradicted by what is illustrated due to the fact that she is seen falling outside.
In the video we see several cuts of the band performing; however the main shot is during the solo instrumental. The video changes pace with the music, for example, at the beginning before the video and the song (narrative and lyrics) actually takes place, there is a long moving shot of the setting. The music is quite fast paced and this complements the shots, for instance the quick shots of when the protagonist is sleeping to her in her own nightmare.
The image of the band is dark and very gothic, the protagonist (lead singer) has very dark hair and make up; the band are dressed up in black. This is also seen throughout the video with the dark settings and old buildings. This song was the band's debut single which is featured on their first album 'Fallen'. In addition, this was also their first video and in later videos we are able to see that the gothic/rock feel continues, for instance the video for 'Call me when you're sober'.
Within the video, there are several references to the notion of looking. For example, the first shot (moving shot) of the protagonist creates a sense that someone is watching as she sleeps; in addition, the wind connotes that she is not alone. As she is asleep and does not know what is happening around her, she is vulnerable. There are also quite a few shots of the band performing, which the audience see them through a window, in which it looks like a television and emphasizes that it is a music video.
Intertextual reference is used in the video. The protagonist/lead singer was inspired to write this song from an experience that she had.
"I was inspired to write it when someone said something to me — I didn’t know him, and I thought he might be clairvoyant," says Lee from a tour stop in Tulsa. "I was in a relationship and I was completely unhappy. But I was hiding it. I was being completely abused and I was trying to cover it up; I wouldn’t even admit it to myself. So then I had spoken maybe 10 or 15 words to this guy, who was a friend of a friend. We were waiting for everyone else to show up, and we went into a restaurant and got a table. And he looked at me and said, ‘Are you happy?’ And I felt my heart leap, and I was like, he totally knows what I’m thinking. And I lied, I said I was fine. Anyway, he’s not really clairvoyant. But he is a sociology major." Amy Lee.
This experience is shown in the video when the girl wearing a clown mask removes the mask to reveal that she is crying.
The video is both narrative and performanced based. The band are seen performing for most of the video, whereas the protagonist/lead singer is mainly in the narrative. However, they somewhat meet in the middle when she walks on the edge of the building until she reaches the window where the band are, in which she slips and the second vocal (main guitarist) helps her up.
Overall, the video and the song complement each other well, as the video illustrates the lyrics very well. The video connotes the genre well; makes use of the conventions of the genre-performance/narrative based.
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