The song begins with the band preparing to play, showing to us that they band will be performing in the music video. Typically, bands of the rock genre perform in their music videos so the audience may already be able to predict what sort of music and pace the video is going to be.
The majority of the shots are either close up or mid shots. A lot of the shots are all low angled as well, conveying the idea that the band and the performers have more power and authority over the audience. However this is contradicted in numerous shots where the heads of the band players are cut off. Without fully being able to see the band members faces this decreases their power and influence over the camera and audience. This contrast of power over the camera and audience is quite common in rock videos, and so becomes effectively used in the music video.
Lots of the shots are distorted and fractured in their composition. Numerous shots show how the frame of the shot moves violently, and parts of the shot cannot be seen as a result of possible scratched film in editing, making it difficult for the camera and audience to focus on the band members. This disorientation and defocus on the band itself could represent how the genre of rock can sometimes be overlooked by audiences and viewers which can lead to disorientation for band members and for viewers who enjoy rock. This convention is shown through the shots and the editing of the shot.
The tempo of the song is quite smooth and slow to open the song with. A lot of the movements that are made by the band members are quite slow as well, for example: the singer standing and walking to the microphone, the guitarists mostly stand still and play with no volume of expression and the close up movements of the female guitarist. This could be to represent the band are weary and tired from something unknown, or it could be used more effectively to contrast the quick cuts.
Throughout the video, lots of shots are quickly cut to new ones, which once again leaves the audience disorientated and unable to focus on the video and the band members within it. This contrast and other contrasts in the video are quite common in rock music videos. We see it with the slow tempo movements but quick tempo cuts, the low angled shots but not including the heads in the shot, the sudden outburst of screaming in slow tempo music; contrasts are a convention of rock music videos and 'Judith' illustrates them numerously and effectively.
We also see numerous shots of deep or shallow focus. One specific example of this is the shot of a tripod of some description with the band performing out of focus in the background. Once again, this disorientation and defocus of the band in the shot causes the similar feeling for the audience. This constant convention and construction of the feeling of disorientation shows the convention of defocus in rock music videos, and this maybe because of the disorientation and possibly the lack of understanding towards the genre. Some people presume that all rock music and videos are full of gore and these people seem to and likely do not understand the genre itself and what the songs and the videos are trying to do and/or say. This not only causes disorientation for the players of rock bands but the fans of rock bands as well.
It is not just the shots that illustrate the common conventions of rock music videos, but also the mise en scene, particularly the costumes. All of the band members are wearing simple and dark coloured clothes. This, along with the set that they are in which is a somewhat darker room with very little other than the band within it, constructs the convention of rock music being dark and somewhat emotionless. The lack of bright colours, which are typically associated with excitement, shows that the band and the music video do not involve themselves with excitement and happiness which could lead audiences to believe that rock is less of an uplifting music genre. In reality this is not necessarily the case though.
To conclude the use of mise en scene, camera shots and editing constructs the common conventions of rock music in 'Judith' by A Perfect Circle which are misunderstanding, disorientation and defocus upon what is the main issue.
