Evanescence's 'My Heart Is Broken' Video: The Haunting

Brand-new clip finds the band trapped within a nightmare of its own invention.
By James Montgomery

Evanescence's Amy Lee on the set of their "My Heart Is Broken" video
Photo: Matt Elias/MTV News

After nearly a month spent touting its various ethereal qualities, on Tuesday (January 24), Evanescence premiered their video for "My Heart Is Broken," a dark, dreamlike thing that pushes Amy Lee's claustrophobic musings to the next level. And somewhere beyond that too.

As Lee told MTV News back in December, the look and feel of the "Broken" clip was very much influenced by the British fantasy/horror flick "Paperhouse," about a young girl who creates vivid dream worlds to escape the harsh reality of everyday life, only to eventually realize she's stuck in those dreams — inspiration that certainly resonates with the song's lyrics, which are very much about being trapped in a dark, desolate place and trying to free one's self despite mounting evidence to the contrary.

Working with director Dean Karr, and aided very much by fiber-optic technology, Evanescence have created a video that is both haunting and haunted. It opens with Lee suspended in an inky void, a single light projecting from her finger. While her bandmates bash away in the blackness, she slowly begins to fill her emptiness by creating a dream world — a fallow field, a sea of stars, a crumbling room — until she eventually realizes that, in spite of her attempts, she is just as trapped as she was before.

At clip's end, the viewer is left to wonder whether she has the power to escape (though a cracked mirror seems to indicate she can), which, in a way, only further connects the video to the song itself: Like Lee sings, each of us have within ourselves the ability to free ourselves from any situation; whether we do or not is largely our decision. The first step seems to be realizing that the walls we surround ourselves with are largely of our own creation. The rest is up to us.

What do you think of the "My Heart Is Broken" video? Share your reviews in the comments!

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Evanescence Take Fans Inside 'My Heart Is Broken' Video

Clip doesn't premiere until Tuesday, but you can get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look right now!
By James Montgomery

Evanescence's Amy Lee in the video for "My Heart Is Broken"
Photo: Wind-Up Records

Last month, Evanescence invited MTV News to the set of their "My Heart Is Broken" video, where frontwoman Amy Lee told us about the dreamlike inspiration behind the clip (the 1988 British horror film "Paperhouse") and the nightmarish reasons she wrote the song in the first place: namely, the ongoing issue of sex trafficking.

"A lot of times when I write, I just sort of make up words, and something will stick, and I'll be like, 'Oh, that's from my subconscious. That's what I need to write the song about,' " she explained. "And that's sort of what happened [with the song]. I was like, 'I think I'm writing about this thing; it's on my heart,' just imagining being in such a trapped place and how that might feel, so the song was actually inspired by that idea."

So obviously, the video means an awful lot to Lee and her bandmates — which is why they chose to work with noted director and photographer Dean Karr, who filled the video with imagery that recalls both dreams and nightmares. And though the full "My Heart Is Broken" video doesn't premiere until Tuesday, Evanescence is giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at the clip's creation, with a making-of clip they sent exclusively to MTV News.

As you'll see — and hear — making "My Heart Is Broken" was a labor of love, for both the band and their director, one filled with fiber optics, elaborate costumes and, of course, striking, surreal imagery. But why don't you just have a look for yourself: Above, direct from Evanescence to you, is an exclusive look at the making of "My Heart Is Broken."

What are you expecting from the new Evanescence video? Let us know in the comments below!

• MTV First: Evanescence

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