Textual Analysis of Music Videos

Kiss Kiss – Chris Brown

"Kiss Kiss" is a song by Chris Brown, released as the second single from his second studio album Exclusive. Chris Brown cleverly uses a well known R’n’B artist to promote himself and his music career. T-Pain is already a well established artist and this only being Chris Browns second albums tells the audience how big he is already in the music industry.

The video is set in a high school which is to show the youth and playfulness of Chris Browns personality. The target audience is clearly high school teenagers, mostly male as the story within the video is based on two male characters that both fall for one girl. Chris Brown plays both male parts in different stereotypes. There is the typical high school jock, the nerdy school boy and the beautiful girl that everyone falls for. The narrative is used as comedy while Chris Brown battles with ‘himself’ to get the girl. This story follows many conventions of American teen comedies. The video uses various resources of intertextuality to appeal to the audience such as the dancing in the basketball court which can be compared to the film ‘High School Musical’.

The video opens with a typical scene of a high school corridor; students at their lockers, at the water fountain and many other recognisable places. As the beat drops, Chris Brown enters, straight away showing his stereotype of ‘jock’ through costume and actions. There is a low angle shot so it makes the audience look up to him as he is a powerful character. He barges through pushing people out the way forming his ‘bad boy’ reputation; following him is his big group of friends to give him the popular image. It is very lively and fun, with him dancing through the hall with people throwing paper, riding on skateboards and other fun things. This is used to imply he is very rebellious as well as a fun character. A teacher then walks in to the hectic corridor and instead of telling people off; he joins in and dances too. This is used to join in on the comical sequence and could also imply that the ‘bad boy’ can get away with any sort of mischief. It portrays to the audience that they should enjoy the school life and have a fun time instead of always worrying about typical problems teenagers have about looks and other issues which most teenage boys would agree with. Although it is a typical school scene, there are many iconic symbols used to show that it is a representative R’n’B music video, such as good looking girls, big jewellery and cars. In this particular scene, the cutting rhythm is quite fast implying that high school life is very fast paced and enthusiastic and fun.

Chris Brown uses a number of choreographed dance routines throughout the video, used to express the atmosphere of the video and also to highlight his passion for dance. Most dances introduced have a lively and fun atmosphere. There is a very distinctive establishing shot for one of his dance rountines. It is outside the front of the school, this once again can be linked to High School Musical, where they dance outside the front of the school. There is one dance routine on top of a school bus which shows a sense of just having fun as well as being rebellious and breaking rules. This portrays Chris Browns personality in real life. The low angle shots of Chris Brown shows how he is looked up to by teenagers and how so many boys wish to be like him. There are a lot of close up’s in the video as it is a short story, so facial expressions of the characters are very important in this aspect. They are also important as they are used to keep reminding who the artist of the song is.

The geeky character is then introduced, also in a very comical way. He is wearing the typical nerdy clothing with glasses and books in his hand. This character can also be instantly identified by teenagers. He, like a sweet gentleman, helps the girl pick up books she had dropped on the floor, catching the attention from the girl. He is then shown again in a dance scene, whilst the jock dances perfectly and he falls flat on his face, again showing his uncool personality in a comical way. At the basketball match he is dressed as the mascot which is a nerdy thing to do. The jocks then start to bully him, as they see the girl is watching. Instead of impressing her, this does the complete opposite.
Music videos of this genre often tell a story relating to the lyrics, in ‘Kiss Kiss’ the artist is showing how he will do whatever it takes to get the attention of a girl. The first character that the artist creates is one with full confidence who is fun, rebellious and obnoxious as he is the leader of the pack and all other school kids have respect for him, this is shown with his two little sidekicks who are always following him and dancing with Chris Brown. He shows off this dominant male role through the use of violence as he rugby tackles the nerdy kid to the ground after he is seen talking to the pretty girl.
The second character who comes across as the ‘geeky’ kid with no friends and no confidence, this violence though comes across as comical because of the way the character looks. The artist puts across the message that you have to be kind and caring to get the girl as she walks off with the geek character in the end and this makes the particular character get what he deserves as the representation of him is nice and friendly despite being uncool. This tells the target audience ‘teenage boys’ that it doesn’t matter if you have nice cars and are popular, its whats on the inside that counts. In this aspect, Chris Brown is once again implying he is a role model to these boys and they will take this into consideration. It’s almost as if he’s giving advice to his ‘friends’.

The artist hasn't aimed to make the video look like a work of art as it is simply a video which looked fun to make and what it does is help to show off his personality. The video reinforces gender stereotypes of young males having a laugh and messing around with eachother.


By Priya Gohil



Textual Analysis of Music Video

Green Day - American Idiot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg7YjwZzNz0

'American Idiot' was released by Green Day in 2004, and signalled the comeback of the band into the public eye. The album, which has the same title as the first song released from the album which I am analysing, renewed Green Day's success from a year long length of time in which the band released no songs/albums and were rarely in the public eye. 'American Idiot', which is still known today as one of the best punk rock songs ever released, flew straight to number one in the US and the UK charts, and created a whole new audience. Targeting the younger ‘MTV’ generation, where they know so many more people from this audience purchase and consume music.

Many different camera angles are used in this music video. One of the main camera angles that is used several times in the video is the close up shot. Mainly, the close ups of the band are used to sell the artist, and so each band member has a selection of close ups each throughout the music video. This enables the audience to not just become familiar with the band members, but I also think they are used for the re-introduction of the band after the year long period in which the band didn’t make any songs/videos. The idea of the notion of looking is one of the key elements of a music video, which you would be able to identify in nearly all music videos. The video for 'American Idiot' is no different, at the beginning of the video; the audience are placed behind a camera and are watching the band through the camera. This gives the audience a notion of looking, and makes the audience feel as they shouldn't really be there and they are snooping in, and also gives the band a more exclusive image as everyone that watches the music video would be feeling as if they are having a sneaky look. I think this represents the big come back that Green Day wanted and achieved through the video. This effect has also been chosen very carefully and has worked very effectively as it puts the audience in the role of 'the American idiot society', so the band when singing the lyrics (that are talking about breaking the ways of this society), are singing to and telling the society (the audience). This also gives the band some authority as if they are an up and coming political movement in society. There is a lot of camera movement used in the video, this gives the audience the feeling that everything is happening quickly and everything is overly manic, which could represent the sudden renewal of success for Green Day and the quick effects that they are going to have on the music scene and current life itself. It also creates a sense as if they are on CCTV surveillance and therefore create this breaking the laws set by society atmosphere to the video.

The editing used in this music video has been selected appropriately and all editing such as the jump cuts and the quick cuts, follow the pace of the song. The jump cuts and quick cuts are used to keep the music video flowing as quick as the drum beat, and to also add to this manic, very hectic feeling of the music video.

The use of green in this video has a very successful effect for the video. In the lyrics of 'American Idiot', the band addresses this new idiotic society that is running their country, which is obsessed with money and fame. I think that the use of green could represent this obsession with money that American society has, or could just simply represent the band. The use of the green liquid bursting through the walls on either side of the band could also represent the bands comeback, and that they are breaking the boundaries and hitting society hard. The use of this mouldy/stale looking American flag is also a successful prop in the video. This could represent that America is loosing its edge, everything is the same and it’s just getting 'old'. This could also represent the obsession with money and power again. A noticeable part of this music video is the re-occurrence of a middle aged man dressed as if he were a business man, who gets covered in green paint. I think that this is Green Day's idea of 'The Man'. Basically, an idealistic role model for all Americans. I think, again, the use of the green paint being chucked all over him, shows how Green Day are trying to come back into the public eye and bring a sense of individualism with them, breaking the mould of the 'ideal' person that society has created.

The complete narrative of the music video, and the role of the musicians in the music video, is purely performance based and performing. This might of been chosen to do, to show that Green Day, unlike other bands who have stories or represent current events through their videos, are completely about the music. A strong belief carried by most respected rock artists/bands. The whole of the band are all dressed in black and have some wacky hair styles and (most noticeably) the lead singer, are wearing make up. This again is a stereotypical image for many rock artists and so this is a convention that is followed in this video. This image is a complete contrast to the re-occurring 'ideal' image of 'The Man'. This again represents this breaking the barrier/individualistic motif that is being carried throughout the video. This is also showing off their musical skills.

The setting of the music video is an abandoned warehouse. This represents to me, as the audience, that they have broken in to play in a warehouse and also gives the band this 'anti-American society', secret organisation identity and this gives off a message of danger for society, a message such as 'Watch out for us' or 'We're hitting you by storm' etc. Also, it gives the band a 'true rocker' image and proves that it is purely about the music, they don't need audiences etc. This also proves that Green Day are really against the society, they have removed themselves from the high flying, glamorous music industry and its pursuit of money, and chosen a lower class setting.

The lighting in the warehouse in the video is all very natural and is quite dark. This again removes the band from the glamorous, high budget music videos and adds even more individuality to the band and also makes this video unique. There is very little relationship between visuals and lyrics which again proves that the band are all about the music and not about a storyline in the video. Although mentions of the ‘idiot society’ cause a very quick appearance of society’s idea of the ‘ideal person’.

Although, in this music video the band are very hypocritical. They are saying how everything is either for money or power in society nowadays, but they are doing what society wants them to by producing music videos to be aired on TV, to gain more money and more viewers and therefore more power for different conglomerates. This loses some of the 'true rocker' image for the band, but overall the message that they are fighting back is very clear through the music video.

By Ryan Wiles



Textual Analysis

Chris Brown – Yo (Excuse Me Miss)

"Yo (Excuse Me Miss)" is the second single from Chris Brown's debut album Chris Brown, released in 2005 in the U.S. and 2006 worldwide. "Yo (Excuse Me Miss)", produced by Dre and Vidal, became Brown's second top ten hit in the U.S. It has been certified platinum by the RIAA.In other countries, the song reached number thirteen in the United Kingdom and number ten in Australia.

The song starts off with the beat to his first single he released. It was a hit and reached number 1 in many countries. This is used to remind the audience of who he is as the song ‘Run It’ is very well known.

The video is first set in a clothing shop, this is a convention of the R’n’B genre as fashion statements are very important and tell you a lot about the artist.

In the ‘story’ Chris is late to work; this is something many teenagers can relate to. It reminds the audience Chris is also just a normal teenage boy who works like themselves. The use of comical humour is to show Chris’ fun and youth side.

As he see’s three girls, the starts to chase after them. The girls are typically very attractive and good looking – another typical genre convention.

There is a close up of the MP3 player to show Chris has the latest technology and how up to date he is. This is something he probably has in common with many boys of his age.

There are also close up’s of Chris’ reaction as he notices the girl and close up’s of the girl. This is the start of their ‘love story’. The close ups are used to capture the emotions and facial expressions of both of the ‘characters’ in the video.

The story moves along as Chris dances to get the girls attention and chases her. This is to show off his dancing skills. He is known for his style and unique dance. It is used in many R’n’B music videos to show off the many talents each artist has.

The action is then taken to a basketball court. It shows off the hobby of the artist as he takes the ball and spins it on his finger then shots it at the hoop. As he starts to dance on the court, all eyes turn on him making him the main focus of everything.

There are many close ups of his face to make sure the audience remember his face.The story comes to an end as he finally gets the girls number, showing his power as a young boy, but still getting all the pretty girls. This shows how the artist can work his charm and get his way.

As the video comes to an end, it is cleverly constructed as the fans get to see a glimpse of his next single that is soon to be released.It benefits his production and label company as if more people see the ‘teaser’; they are likely to buy it when it comes out. ‘The Teaser’ has become ever more popular in the recent years as more artists have started doing it, as if it’s a trend.

In this piece, we see a different side of Chris. He’s seen dancing on cars and dressed in black clothing hiding his face. It shows his rebellious mysterious side.

Expensive cars, clothes and jewellery are all shown in this short clip – all fitting to the genre, focusing on Chris’ wealth even though he is so young.

Low angled camera shots are used to make the audience feel as if they are looking up at Chris emphasising how young he is but is already so high up and powerful in the music industry.

He specifically points at his jeans to make a statement of his individual fashion sense. His jeans are labelled with his name on them.

The video ends as Chris walks to the screen and it fades out.


By Priya Gohil


Textual Analysis of Music Video 2

Taylor Swift - White Horse

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1Xr-JFLxik

'White Horse' is one of the songs from Taylor Swift's debut album 'Fearless'. The music video shares an almost exact copy of the narrative from one of her previous videos 'Love Story'. The music video concludes of a girl (Taylor Swift) reminiscing over the good times that she shared with her ex lover, and is coming to terms with the fact that she has to tell him no, and to stop letting him mess her around.

The camera angles used in the video range from close ups, medium wide shots, 2 shots and there is also an over the shoulder shot. The close up shots used at the beginning are of a females mouth and a male mouth in two different locations speaking on the phone. Almost instantly, Taylor Swift's face is introduced with an intense close up of Taylor with a very upset look upon her face. The use of these close ups, makes the audience feel more involved and intimate with the artist and also allows the audience to have sympathy for the artist and feel some of the emotions that she is feeling. This could also of been used for the audience to relate to this situation that Taylor is in, whether they've been in the situation or if they have seen someone close to them in such a situation. The medium wide shots are used in the video to show the audience that Taylor is on her own in what looks like a family home. This allows the audience to sympathise with Taylor, and makes us as the audience feel very sorry for her as she is all alone in a place that should be filled with people and that probably is filled with happy memories. The 2 shots and the over-the-shoulder shot are used cleverly in the video to allow the audience to become intimate with the artist and her lover, and the situation that Taylor is in. Putting the audience in the middle of all the action is a very clever technique as it involves them and makes them engaged to watch the rest of the video. The editing that is used in the music video is quite basic and transitions are mainly fades. This, I believe, follows the slow, calming pace of the song, and could also represent a blink; as in much of the video Taylor is shutting her eyes and looking back on what has happened etc.

Taylor is not dressed up, like a Hollywood high budget actress but instead is dressed in casual everyday clothing and so is her lover. The use of the family home and the simplicity of the costumes makes the video and the overall situation that Taylor is in much more personal for the audience and adds this sense of the whole situation being very close to home, and adds this overall sense of realism to the video, for the audience. This technique makes the audience feel more involved with Taylor and the situation she is in.

By Ryan Wiles


Textual Analysis of Music Video

Beep - Pussycat Dolls

‘Beep’ was released by Pussycat Dolls in 2006, and although it didn’t perform as successfully as the bands previous two singles, it still scored number one internationally becoming their third Billboard top twenty success. PCD, which is the album that Beep was track listed, was the bands debut album that helped put them into the public eye. ‘Beep’, which is one of the Pussycat Dolls least popular songs, but still managed to reach within the Top 10 in many different countries and reaching number 1 in Belgian and New Zealand, creating a wider audience for the band.

There are several camera angles used throughout this video. One of the main camera angles that is used several times in the video is the close up shot. The close ups are often used to sell the artist and band, so each member has a selection of close ups throughout the music video. This enables the audience to become familiar with the band members and get to know each of their personalities. At the start of the video, we see a medium shot of the popular ‘Doll’ sign which is big and lit up against a back wall. This helps to attract the audience and fans. In the same shot, there is one of the band members doing a memorable move of the Pussycat Dolls which shows us that they dance as well as sing. There is also a medium shot of all the girls, showing us each of their personality and hobbies such as socialising and dancing which the younger members of the audience can really relate too. It then cuts to a close up of the main artist, Nicole Scherzinger, as she is the most recognisable. Throughout the music video, we see a lot of close ups of Will.I.am who features alongside the band in ‘Beep’. This helps the band to attract a new and wider fan base as he’s also recognisable and well known mainly through chart topping American band, Black Eyed Peas. There is a lot of camera movement used in this video, this gives the audience the feeling that things are moving quickly which could represent the success the band are planning throughout their career and with them becoming more popular, not just with singing but the overall performance a band should give itself.

The setting of the music video is an apartment. This represents, to me as the audience, that the band are very close and enjoy spending time together like any normal friendship group which helps the audience relate to the band once again and share something in common with them. This then gives us the idea of the girls being laid back and down to earth and brings them down to the audiences level.

The narrative of the music video, and the role of musicians in the video, is purely performance based. This could’ve been done as performing is what the band want to be known to do as they are more about music rather than anything else and putting on a great show through performance, as before becoming recording artists, they were a burlesque dance group. The girls represent their role well by showing off their dancing skills which is what they’re mainly known to do as if it’s one of their motifs and you could also see it is their unique selling point as not many girl bands use a lot of dance the way the Pussycat Dolls do. They also bring Will.I.am into the song and is shown producing and changing the beat. This shows the audience that the band are happy to collaborate with different artists and genres and not be afraid of trying out new things. Will.I.am helps to promote ‘Beep’ as promoting is what he is known to do as well as helping to promote Pussycat Dolls in helping them to attract a new audience of genre and age. The band seem to represented as ‘sex objects’, and although they have men staring at them the audience can see that they ignore it. This shows that, although the band can attract men and have a male audience, they were more focused on what they’re doing rather than them playing on being seen as ‘sex symbols’ to a certain audience.

Pussycat Dolls use many conventions in this music video. They’re clothing is very little and shows off their figures which is something a typical R ‘n’ B artist would wear. This gives us the idea of them wanting to attract men and have a real ‘showgirl’ image. Another useful convention for R ‘n’ B they use is obviously dancing. Each member has been recorded individually dancing not only establishing them individually but also as a group.

The clothing that is used in this music video is casual but tight. The band choose to wear clothes like this as it shows off their good figures and is a genre characteristic of R ‘n’ B. The audience see that the girls are dressed in tracksuits, almost dance style clothing. The colours appear to be bright and stand out showing the audience that they’re out-going and fun. Some of the band members are dressed mainly in white which is often known as an innocent colour. They could have done this to get the focus away from their looks and figures and concentrate more on their personality and performance skills.

Throughout the music video, we see a lot of the logo of ‘Dolls’ which obviously represents the band name. This is recognisable for the audience as it really relates back to the band. We also see the girls with Nokia phones throughout the video. This shows us, as the audience, that Nokia could be a sponsor of the band and that they’re also helping to promote the phone brand and also once again attracting a new audience.

By Lauren Fitzgerald


Textual Analysis of Music Video

Home - Michael Bublé

‘Home’ is a song by Michael Bublé that was released in 2005 from his album It’s Time and was a hit for Bublé in both Canada and the United States. Since the release of the original version, two covers have also been released as singles by other artists with the most popular being Westlife, who released the song in 2007 and hit the top ten in several European countries.

The video is set in a theatre which shows the emotion and largeness the theatre brings to its audience and is also a genre convention of a jazz music artist. You can clearly see that the target audience is those who are into theatre and an audience of mainly the older generation but also many older teenagers. This is because the story is mainly based around love and the emotion of what a relationship can bring to a certain individual or a couple.

The video starts off with a close up of a letter that is being written which gives the audience an idea of what the video is going to be about. The camera then slowly moves in onto Michael Bublé and cuts straight to a close up of his face so the audience can capture his emotion and how he’s feeling. We then quickly see a shot of a picture of a young, pretty girl who is the main focus throughout the video.

The camera angles used in the rest of the music video range from 2 shots of mainly close ups and medium shots. The close up shots allows you to capture the emotion of the artist and the audience to get the feeling that he is hurt and feeling alone and wants everything to stop. The use of these close ups, makes the audience feel more involved and intimate with the artist and also allows the audience to have sympathy and could have also been used for the audience to be able to relate to if they’ve ever been in the same situation. The medium shots are used to get the whole effect of the story and for the audience to keep focused.

The editing in the music video is quite basic and the transitions mainly fade from one to another. This keeps the peacefulness of the song without there being too much happening and it keeps the audience focused on what’s happening by things happening slowly. The lighting is quite dull and dark throughout the video as this makes it feel more intimate.

Michael’s clothing is very casual and young with him just wearing jeans and a jumper. He is also wearing dark colours which links back to the whole theme and colouring of the music video itself.

The music video ends with lights being turned out as this gives you the idea that everything is over and the final shot is off ‘Michael Bublé, One Night Only’ outside the theatre which then slowly fades to give a peaceful ending to the story.

By Lauren Fitzgerald