Mudvayne's Dig
I wrote this entire essay for my college English class, but I realized I totally read the assignment wrong, so here it is, I suppose.
On August 22nd, 2000, the band Mudvayne released their debut album “L.D. 50” to a reception of mixed and positive reviews from music critics and even listeners alike. While nu metal was fizzling out into the 2000s, being replaced by post-grunge acts such as Seether and Breaking Benjamin, this album had one single on it that somehow stood the test of time. It’s a little-known song titled “Dig” and its music video was uploaded to YouTube on October 3rd, 2009, and as of February 20th, 2024, it stands at over 57 million views. This music video is arguably a modern marvel in editing and camera work. Mudvayne at this time was a deeply unique band, unlike the ADIDAS wearing KoRn and the red cap, cargo shorts of Limp Bizkit, and this entire music video essentially proved why that is.
The music video for the song “Dig” was produced by the man behind the music video for another essential nu metal song, Wait and Bleed by Slipknot. The director’s name is Thomas Mignone, and he also worked with Slipknot on the music videos for Surfacing and Spit It Out. Dig’s music video was filmed in LA, and it was said to have taken two whole days to do, but two 10+ hour workdays. Due to the look and identity of Mudvayne at the time, one can most likely assume a lot of that time went into painting them up and getting them ready. According to an article by Revolver, it was said that McDonough’s hands became extremely bruised during the filming because he was hitting his high hats so hard.
As soon as Dig starts up, you see a weird CGI animation of what looks to be cells, or something, nothing too odd. Then, you see a bald, seemingly very angry man staring into the camera while laying down one of the sickest opening riffs of the 2000s. His red beard and almost devil horns hair pop out at you the most. It’s almost neon. To contrast that, his eyes are extremely prominent due to them being surrounded by very dark makeup. That right there is one of the most underrated bass players of the nu metal scene, Ryan Martinie. As the music video goes on, you begin to see the other band members. McDonough, Tribblett, and then vocalist Chad Gray in that order. Chad’s appearance is the most unique, as he’s almost painted all silver, has a bit of a black design around his eyes, and his hair is so blue, it almost looks fake. The constant use of camera cuts and zooming effects, while not something necessarily seen today as being uncommon or unusual, the use of these effects provided millions of people with motion sickness. The brightness of the music video colored with the fact that so many of music videos from around this time were a bit darker and almost dull in color, it really was something different and unique.
As the music video progresses, you begin to see the colors shift a bit. There are portions of the music video with the band, mainly vocalist Chad Gray, in a room that’s all black, wearing goggles and having some sort of liquid substance flying all around him. He’s surrounded by wires of some kind. One can only assume there was inspiration from the music video for the song Closer by Nine Inch Nails, which came out in 1994. Closer to the 2-minute mark, an effect is shown where Chad’s face paint is growing this sort of root like design, and it’s arguably the coolest part of the music video, as it’s during the iconic bridge. The song becomes almost increasingly angrier, Chad’s vocals getting harsher, as the effects become more disoriented and quicker. As it finally ends, we go back to the CGI cells, ending the music video.
Mudvayne is a very harsh, very angry band. They spare no expense in most of their music videos. Even their other single, Death Blooms is one of the most unique music videos in nu metal. As time has gone on, nu metal has for the most part fizzled out, yet Dig remained popular. People would dub funny and uncharacteristic screams over the intro, and the bass riff got turned into the popular “brbr ding” meme. With nu metal becoming more and more popular online again, mainly from those nostalgic for a time they never got to experience, this song, and really the entire album has become essential for nu metal listening. The music video for Dig reached a peak of 33 on the US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks, went gold in the US, and won the MTV2 Award in 2001, cementing its legacy in the history books forever.
I apologize if this wasn’t a very good analysis, but it was mainly a practice run for when I inevitably do a real analysis essay soon.