Chris Cornell's 'You Know My Name' is a narrative based music video. This is connoted by the clips in the music video, and the fact that the lyrics complement the imagery.'You Know My Name' makes the comparison throughout it between the lives of a professional spy (James Bond), and a rock star (Chris Cornell). This is because the song was created by Chris Cornell for the James Bond film 'Casino Royale', which is why there are a montage of clips from the film 'Casino Royale'. Therefore the whole music video could be seen as an intertextual reference to Casino Royale, and James Bond in general. Even the lyrics are an intertextual reference, with examples such as "arm yourself because no-one else here will save you", a reference to James Bond's missions as a spy, and "Life is gone with just a spin of the wheel", a reference to the people Bond kills and also the betting he does in the casino.
The constant comparison of James Bond, and Chris Cornell helps to give Cornell connotations that he is like Bond. This is a very positive connotation for Chris Cornell, as it suits his genre of music, and Bond is an iconic suave character. The genre of music is rock, which suits James Bond's dangerous lifestyle. Chris Cornell is being compared to James Bond, to signify he himself is skilled, and lives a dangerous, yet exciting life. The eponymous character James Bond, is known to everyone who has seen the film as a hero, which is why Cornell's comparison can only signify him in a positive way. Chris Cornell wears similar clothing to James Bond, which further adds to this similarity signified.
The genre of the music video is rock. This is signified by the fact that Chris Cornell is performing to the audience/camera at various points during the music video. Artists performing during their videos is a conventional connotation of the rock genre. Cornell is playing a guitar and singing into a microphone, if this were a pop song he would most likely be without the guitar and microphone.
The colours in the music video is also a connotation that the song is of the genre rock. These colours throughout the video are of dull, natural lighting, and at points black and white such as at 0:23 where a filter has been used. In addition the outfits worn in the video are mostly of blacks and whites, such as the casual clothing of Chris Cornell, or the tuxedo of James Bond.
A variety of locations are shown in the music video, because in Casino Royale James Bond goes to a number of places. In the Chris Cornell scenes he is also shown in quite a range of shots, often in similar places to James Bond to make the comparison between the two. For example at 0:56 Chris Cornell is on a plane looking down, then a bird's eye view shot is shown of a chase scene on building rooftops with James Bond. The change in shot here was used here to signify that Chris Cornell is on a plane and viewing the chase scene. Therefore the bird's eye view shot could be perceived as a point of view shot.
At 1:47 fast paced editing is used of alternating shots between Chris Cornell and James Bond washing their faces in a sink. This connotes to the audience the similarities between Cornell in Bond, even though they have very different jobs. The mirror in these shots is indication that the 'characters' are questioning themselves.
'You Know My Name's' pacing is fast paced, which is complemented by the fast beat and singing. In addition many of the scenes are very action packed, with chases and fight scenes.
The target audience of Chris Cornell music video is most likely males from teenagers to adults. This is firstly because rock music's fans are usually young males. Secondly, because James Bond is aimed at a male audience from teenagers to adults, being a 12a so that younger males can watch it, but also being targeted at an older audience of males who have enjoyed the other James Bond films. which are very old now.
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