Lady Gaga's is the kind of uniquely Gaga video, full of eye-popping imagery and layered with meaning, that it's easy to assume her Little Monsters have been trying to dissect some of those crazy moments all day.
It premiered Monday (August 19) morning, the same day she confirmed she'll be opening the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards this Sunday, August 25 by performing the track for the first time.
So, while fans might find their own meanings in the visual, MTV News spoke to Inez van Lamsweerde, one half of the directing duo Inez & Vinoodh, about the video. "She'll do anything in this video to make her audience happy and give them inspiration," Inez said on the phone, hours after the premiere, noting that she and Vinoodh were inspired by silent movies and early horror films. "We wanted to bring it back to a very basic element."
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She added, "There were all these kinds of, let's say, tricks in there, but then the big idea was really to have her symbolize this moment of her hip breaking. That's why she's sort of holding up her right leg as a trophy and this idea that no matter what it takes, she'll get back onstage."
Inez broke down the video's key scenes for MTV News.
The Clam Bikini
She explained that "we were extremely inspired by Botticelli's painting," for that look where Gaga appears in a clam shell bikini, her curls cascading around her shoulders. She added ...