Down memory lane with Madonna's "Frozen" music video. A Filmmaker's ANALYSIS

[@7cabalistico]

This video is a masterpiece.

[@r.j4449]

Facts.

[@tuijakarttunen9164]

Agree 100%. And it has aged well.

[@floriannaramirez394]

It's so beautiful, perfect combination of music and image.

[@kristianberg4264]

Also, I’m pretty sure all the shots of Madonna are actually her, she is a classically trained dancer in modern dance, which you can see when she moving with her black cape.There was a making of video on MTV and there was no sign of extras on set.

[@EmmaDeVerona]

You are correct.

[@PerryCJamesUK]

That's what I think too. Madonna has a stand in but she's not even wearing the same outfit and is only there for technical stuff like measuring light and distance and all that stuff.

[@ravendelacour1917]

To put this video in context, Madonna created this song and shot this video just as she was getting into Kabbalah and other Western esoterica. The character she is embodying is Hekate, the pre-Hellenistic Dark Goddess of Darkness, Witchcraft, Motherhood, and Esoteric Wisdom. Hekate is known as triple goddess, appearing in three avatars at once and you can see this in both Her ancient and modern sacred art. Hekate dwells in the wilderness, crossroads, and other liminal spaces accompanied by hounds, crows/ravens, and restless spirits. I've seen a recurring theme of filming Underworld related landscapes with that cold blue to give it a mystical and distant look. (In fact as I type this, the KZbin algorithm sent me the video "Overgrown" by machineheart that duplicated the entire ascetic of this video) The black fluid is I think represents the alchemical concept of Aqua Materia, the black blood of the cosmos associated with Dark Mother figures that represents the base essence all Creation is made of. If you want to see the same song produced with a lighter, hopeful theme watch the Polish singer AGNIS's cover of the song. Fun fact. Watching this video when it first came out and Madonna's interviews about the video and her esoteric interests was one of the first exposure I had to esoteric concepts and symbolism. So Madonna is one of the reasons I am the way I am. :)

[@manondereeper]

Ohhh thanks for sharing all this Raven, I love it! I also have a bonus video coming out today with my analysis of the BTS... So much fun. An excellent throwback. And I think she had a great impact on us both!

[@ravendelacour1917]

@@manondereeper What you may not know that with the Hekate connection, this video recently had a sort of sequel. There's a video for the Blessed Madonna remix of Dia Lupa's "Levitating" co-produced by Madonna. The video had themes of magic, eros, and mysticism centered around a solar eclipse. The symbol used by the celebrants in various forms was the labyrinth symbol associated with Hekate. So I guess that video is about what happens is you let Hekate melt your heart. :)

[@ravendelacour1917]

Also, side note. I accidentally mashed up two alchemical terms. The black liquid would be either "Prima Materia" or "Aqua Permanens", not "Aqua Materia". Apologies to the one Hermeticist who may read this one day. :)

[@santiagohardy2728]

I've been an admirer of the song and video ever since I first heard the music and saw the video when it premiered on MTV in 1998. I figured there was a lot of symbolism depicted in the visuals, but I had no idea what the specific references were until I read your detailed analysis. It all makes so much more sense in the best possible ways. It's genuinely fascinating. Thank you for sharing.🖤🙏🖤

[@ravendelacour1917]

You're welcome. To add an extra layer of meta on top of everything, Hekate (more commonly Hecate but the k is closer to the original Greek pronouncarion) is commonly seen as a liminal and initiatory goddess who opens up new possibilities for people. Given that both Ms. de Reeper and I had profound life choices around the video it asks the question if by invoking the image of a goddess, does one invite Their presence in full?

[@KM-wj5hx]

Youve answered so many questions I've had about this video for the last 25 years! So enjoyable thanks

[@rebelblue]

I like your video, would be grate if you did analysis of more Madonnas videos, especially Like a Prayer, Express yourself, Oh father, Bad girl, Bedtime story, Ray of light, all those videos are amazing & very interesting visually.

[@oceanlover3530]

This is such a beautiful song and the video is mesmerizing. This was a really interesting analysis and I enjoyed your insights. Thanks for posting! ✌🏻✌🏻

[@arasharfa]

I love the instrumental string section with the ultra rapid sky moving and her floating silhouette like a nod to "Evening Mood" by William Bouguereau . the dress was made by Olivier Theyskens when he was only 18 years old!

[@luissoto8681]

Something I wish you would have caught and touch base on, was the moment where she is turning around and suddenly appears on the other side of the dress it happens in a nano second and if you're not paying attention you won't catch it ,but its one the coolest moves I've seen in a video 🙂

[@luispineda9255]

Love your dissection of her every move.

[@kristianberg4264]

Two more gorgeous Madonna videos I’d love to see you analyze is her “Rain & Bedtime Stories” videos as both are amazing.😊

[@emiliyam19]

And 'Oh, father'.

[@David-le3yr]

It's a testament to her work that it's not even her best video. Love all the different narratives and looks in her videography.

[@graphiquejack]

Agreed. Madonna’s videography is so varied and vast, and they get even more beautiful and artistic as her career goes on. A copy of the Bedtimes Stories video is part of the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection. Madonna was the greatest at taking advantage of this new medium to expand her creative output as well as just producing a promotional video for a single.

[@robertkennedy4456]

On KZbin, there is a behind the scenes doco on the making of the Frozen video. It was originally on MTV and they talk to Chris Cunningham

[@dindoise]

Watch Madonna's face disappear, then reappear at 14:34 mark. It's so trippy!

[@santiagohardy2728]

I recorded the premiere of the Frozen music video when it first aired on MTV U.S. I believe it was on a Friday during "TRL", Johnathan Schaek and Lisa Loeb were the guests. I recall Chris Cunningham's video for Aphex Twin's "Come To Daddy" aired on a long gone first time reaction show that aired at 3PM PST. It got a very severe reaction from the audience. I think it ended getting pushed back to only air after midnight if at all. Madonna heard about its polarizing visuals and aesthetic, and ended up working with Cunningham on Frozen. I feel the visuals and song have aged beautifully. To this day i still have its premiere and multiple recordings of the music video on VHS tapes in my personal archives. 1998, and her Ray of Light era is, and will always be so very, very special to me. It's pure nostalgia to me now. Sigh.... The all black wardrobe she wears there is from designer Jean Paul Gauthier's 1998 Spring/Summer ready to wear collection collection. The amulet in the center of the necklace is a depiction of Saint Sebastian. The only personal critique i have for the Frozen video, i WISH the video would've ended with a long, straight, reverse pull away shot to be a counterpoint to the opening approaching shot. If that makes any sense. Despite that, it's a STUNNING music video. Thee absolute BEST.🖤 So glad you were inspired by and appreciate the video.

[@graphiquejack]

Interesting that the jewel is Saint Sebastian. He was a popular figure in Western Art for gay men because he is usually painted nude or nearly nude, and frequently tied up and ‘pierced’ with arrows, which can have a phallic/penetration symbolism. Madge ever so subtly giving props to her queer fan base. ❤

[@MrKomninakis]

love this and your content ❤

[@Yestequesecree]

Love the song, the video and Madonna hehe, also your analysis 👌

[@DiFrais]

I'm from Brazil, and I remember watching this music video on MTV when I was 11 years old, it was incredible, this is my favorite Madonna video. I loved your cinematic analysis! Sorry for my bad english. hahahaha

[@ITHINKDAFUCKNOTYOUTRICKASSBITC]

OMG YOU BRAZILIAN DINOSAUR! HAHAHA

[@fredbcl4828]

Madonna is a legend ! French kiss from Paris !!!

[@yvonnevanwaegeningh-tiggel4577]

It's nice looking back on things you know from long ago. Except for the fact that sometimes it makes me feel old 😛Anyway, I loved to learn something about how they made these videos back in the day when lots of modern tecnique wasn't around yet. That's really interesting, because even if I was about ten years older than you at that time, I had no idea how this was done. So to learn about that and being able to compare then and now is really cool. Also loved the BTS analysis, which I actually found first. But even in reverse order they are such a nice combo, i'd really like to see more of these... and of the memory lane as well!

[@PerryCJamesUK]

Chris Cunningham made some of the most thought provoking, disturbing and wonderful adventures to ever grace the music video world. And Madonna is the most important artist as far as music videos are concerned. She says that she sees music videos as relating to the film the way poems relate to novels. EDIT: They filmed the entire film on motion controlled cameras, and the only person who appears on the music video is Madonna.

[@craig14893]

There is an interview with Kurt Loder on location while Madonna was making this video. It might answer some questions you have regarding the making of the video.

[@ofekR]

There are 2 remix videos of this song, with some different shots! it's all just perfection

[@stevenduvall2549]

I am a Gen X gay man who has been a Madonna fan since I was in high school when her first album came out! I love the Ray of Light album, and the Frozen video is something special! It was her first music video to be released in years preceding the Ray of Light album, and her musical direction was so exciting! I'm not a filmmaker, but I do know that there was VFX special effects in 1997. I'm pretty sure all 3 of those figures were Madonna. Also, I'm sure they used digital special effects to manipulate images of actual crows, etc...

[@Pontolaeng]

The magic of Chris Cunningham

[@gregap8282]

Music videos are jewels. I personally love everything made in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s. There’s a magic in those decades that I don’t often find in modern music videos.

[@graphiquejack]

I mean, there were a lot of weak, cheesy or lazy videos in the 80s and 90s, but artists like Madonna elevated the art form to its highest level and potential. She created mini-movies in many of her best ones… Express Yourself, Like a Prayer, Papa Don’t Preach, Bad Girl, Oh Father, Bedtime Stories, Take a Bow, Ghosttown, God Control… there’s just so many you could mention. That being said, a few of her videos are not artistic masterpieces, but most of those were early in her career where maybe she didn’t have full creative control or she was just too busy and had too many singles to make huge cinematic productions every time.

[@gregap8282]

@@graphiquejack true. I don't know what it is, but even in movies, there's something about those decades. I was watching a thing about "My Best Friend's Wedding" and Julia Roberts said, it took 6 months to shoot that movie, when a movie like that would be made in 1 or 2 months today. Maybe the magic is lost when everything feels like it was made in a factory.

[@RealityVonTrapp]

One of Madonna's best! M at her peak!

[@mpourmpoulithra2011]

Queen 👑

[@aphelionravi]

Hi! Can you analyze for "Nothing really Matters" also? There's a crazy camera panning in that video and I wanna know how they did this!

[@martink...]

For me the jewelry around her neck symbolizes the lock to her heart... and YOU hold the key.

[@kevenpeoples]

Chris Cunningham is fantastic. Would love to see you react to All Is Full of Love. Thank you for this reaction 🖤

[@THEARTURLIVE]

This was ahead of time. Love the violins with Indian motives sounding like ocean waves! She was into Kabbalah in 1998

[@aynosekeponer]

Great class about cinema! Im curious if you have memories, or want to analize the Power of Goodbye video, the direct sequel of this song (although not visually associated with it).

[@SandroLoebelt]

And this is one of the first Videos that uses morphing! You have to see bedtime Story and Bad girl

[@DavidMichaelCommer]

I'm pretty sure Frozen was filmed on 35mm celluloid film. I recall reading for the first time about digital video production being used professionally three or four years later. I have no idea at all, but my intuition tells me that a lot of the way she angles her face downward and her contortions may have been thought up originally so that it would look natural within the context of the videos for the body doubles to obscure their faces.

[@r.j4449]

No other Madonna. Period

[@suquilee]

You should react to Die Another Day video !

[@niamhjohnson5860]

What a beautiful, intelligent reaction please review Like a prayer, bedtime story and ghost own videos

[@luizribeirooo]

In the beggining she is standing on top of a square. Real filming

[@maximillianrockefeller8375]

It's all Madonna. Chris Cunningham was a pioneer of digital manipulation. And combined with her financing they were pioneers of digital editing. She's also a dancer. All of the movement is Madonna. The only body doubles would have been used during the final chorus where there are the three fates moving on the ground. This film clip together with her Bedtime Story film clip are really what made the jump from film clip to art.

[@johnnyoxigen]

She could be standing on a mirrored cube to give the ilusion she is floating

[@robledoalfredo6885]

How pretty you are by the way. And it’s a very nice other point of view

[@user-dk7yf8xr5y]

It was shoot at night

[@TonyThomson-gn8gp]

It’s Madonna no stand in

[@kokijavier]

Knowing nothing about filming, it seems like you are reconstructing an ancient piece. My guess here is the technology changed drastically in the last two decades and this video seems like produced in the stone age

[@manondereeper]

It really has changed so much over the past 25 years, there was a lot of guessing involved ... But it still looks amazing! 😻

[@jeremympage5016]

Wait they still have music videos ? Lol😂

[@Michael-bi4fy]

Great video, shame about her mediocre voice 😂