The Weeknd-In your eyes video

analysis

The scene starts with an elevator opening to reveal an ominous-looking man who is dressed
in a red and black tuxedo and sun-glasses, this scene starts with a close-up shot and then
switches to a two-shot/wide-angle shot once two other characters enter the elevator; The
two characters which enter are a mixed-race couple of which one is a tall caucasian male
and the other an African American woman with blond hair. After the two enter the elevator
the camera slowly zooms in on the ominous man’s face before cutting to a close-up of his
knife. After this, the elevator door closes which leads us to believe that a terrible fate has
befallen those who were unfortunate enough to be trapped inside the same elevator as the
man who is clad in red, this opening scene pretty much also sets the tone for the rest of the
music video which is presumably meant to pay homage to the classic 90s late-night horror
films in this R&B video.

After the aforementioned opening scene the title of the song, “In your eyes” is displayed in
bright neon red in front of a wide-angled long shot of a bridge during the dead of night. The
scene then changes by the African American woman suddenly walking into the frame as the
song itself begins to play in the background, she then proceeds to run down the bridge whilst
the screen slowly tilts because of a dutch angle which adds a whole other level of intensity to
the scene. After a montage of still close-up shots, a handheld tracking hot is used in order to
simulate the effect the woman being chased by the ominous red man.

The woman eventually creates enough space between herself and the ominous red killer
and then proceeds to try phoning for help inside a telephone booth, but this doesn’t seem to
work which is conveyed through big close-up shot on her face when she is scared. The
woman begins nervously looking around which is framed using a mid-shot until she stops
and stares because she has come to find out that the ominous red killer has caught up to her
and is standing only a few meters away from the very telephone booth she currently is in and
while she can’t help but stop and stare paralyzed he just stands there shrouded in mist
staring at her whilst being framed using a long shot; The whole scene just begins to turn a
red tint and slowly zoom in on the red man (using a zoom shot) after a series of POV shots
of the red man stabbing what could be assumed to be his previous victims, (these shots are
all from the point of view of the victim) this is followed by an extreme close up shot of his
knife.

The next depicts the red man and the woman in a club presumably at an earlier time of the
night when he (red man) first saw the woman whilst watching her dance from above and
decided that she would be his victim for the night. The red man is shown standing on make-
shift club balcony looking down at all the people dancing and is filmed using a low-angle shot
to convey that he, in fact, is in a position of power while the woman is depicted dancing in a
mosh pit using a high-angle and wide-angle shot in order to further position her as the victim
in the video. What follows after this scene is an extreme close-up of her face which is
followed by another hand-held tracking shot which is used to convey a sense o realism and
stress towards the viewer. After a couple more shakey hand-held chase scenes the woman
finds herself an emergency fireman’s axe on one of the walls for protection and begins
walking to a place that based on looks alone can only be described as a basement of sorts,
the red man has been following her there the whole time which is captured well using
smooth tracking shots, this is followed up by tense series of extreme close-ups of both the
red man and the woman which is also mixed with multiple long-shots of both characters
which paint the red man as the hunter and the woman as the prey.

After an intense cat and mouse game, the video finally reaches is climax as the woman is
nearly brought face to face with the red man. The red man suddenly appears behind the
woman which startles her when she turns around which causes her to swing her axe in one
last effort to stay alive which she surprisingly succeeds with by severing the red man’s head
from his body which is framed using a two-shot. After this, the woman triumphantly takes her
former stalkers head on the dance floor and begins dancing with it and looking into its cold
and lifeless eyes which captured with an extreme long shot. I think this was one in order to
subvert the viewer’s expectations and create a well deserved and unexpected payoff at the
end of the video which is meant to remove all previously built-up tension.