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I also carried out 4 textual analysis' looking at common conventions and what appeared in the videos, even though they wasn't necessarily my genre they gave me information on conventions of form for example the music video itself.
Rihanna - Pour it up
At the start of the video through the use of Mise En Scene we establish the mood the video is trying to create, the lighting is dark which connotes the feeling of mystery and dark negative emotions. We are presented with a shot of Rihanna’s feet as the first thing we see, this supports Mulvey’s theory as it connotes the idea of Rihanna’s face not been important and her body been the main focus, she also has no clothing on her legs which suggests seductive playful manner, she is wearing limited clothing which also supports this, the use of the colour red for her lipstick and red nails connotes the ideas of love and danger, she also is wearing a big fur coat and her top is made of diamonds, these both relate to wealth and are iconic of pop stars to show off their fame and the money they have, this is suggested by Richard Dyer with his star theory, the fact she is wearing sunglasses also supports this, they are an iconic image of celebrities and due to the lighting been dark she is not wearing them for their designed purpose, the sunglasses also restrict her eye contact with the camera so the audience can’t engage with her in as much depth as they possibly want, this also supports Mulvey’s theory as it is showing that it is not important for the audience to connect with her on a personal level as it is purely her body that is the important element, the use of slow motion and pans up her body also supports this idea as it portrays her body as a sexual object there for male satisfaction, specific cinematography dramatizes this and emphasises what they want to think when watching her. Rihanna’s body movement throughout the video connotes provocative behaviour such as the twerking and biting her lip. The fact there is no males in the video is an important element, as throughout the video Rihanna is seen throwing money at the pole dancers, this is something stereo typically males do, you wouldn’t expect women to attend a pole dancing club and watch it for pleasure, the video creates the idea that she is taking on a male role but still uses her sexuality and body for power and dominance. The gold liquid she is dancing in and the green lighting connotes idea of wealth and money this links to the lyrics we hear ‘money make the world go round along with ‘all I see is dollar signs, money on my mind’ this suggests that the dancers aren’t happy with doing what they do but all they do it for is money, it’s like they have to do it to get somewhere in the world, the green lighting however could suggest envy, such as Rihanna been jealous for having to dance and show of her body in that manner to earn money yet men just get money to be able to throw away at dancers for their own pleasure as the dancers aren’t earning or gaining anything from it except money to survive. Conventions you expect to see in a Hip Hop/R&B music video are provocatively dressed women which is evident however you also expect to see some male element possibly them been the dominant ones however in this video there is no male aspect which challenges these conventions, in a male R&B music video the conventions are slightly different to that of a female music video, due to this been a female music video you would expect to also see dramatic styled hairstyles and dramatic eye makeup to catch the audiences attention, you would also expect to see the women in heels to elongate their legs, the higher the heels the longer the legs look, this is evident in the video as Rihanna has dramatic heels on and with a pan up her legs used it adds to the emphasis of dramatizing her legs.However the use of a lot of bold statemented jewellery is often associated to males such as chains, however in this video she is seen to be wearing a big statement top/necklace that covers her boobs but leaves a lot of her body still revealed, this challenges the stereotypes we have of the male/female image however helps to create this image of Rihanna playing a male role.
Rita Ora - Body on me
We are presented with similar conventions in this video as what we was in the Rihanna - Pour it up due to them being the same genre, from the use of Mise en Scene we establish a mysterious mood as the lighting is dark and slightly lit with artificial light, it creates the atmosphere and warmth and what seems a nice place to be which is contrasted as the location we can see the flats and corridors seem to be run down and old and are a grey/black colour which doesn’t connote warmth intact the opposite, Chris Brown is what we would class as a stereotypical R&B male singer as he is covered in tattoos and is wearing baggy jeans, he also is wearing a chain, Rita Ora also meets our expectations as she is dressed provocatively and again we witness the colour red been used on her lips to represent the feeling of love and passion/danger, she also is seen carrying out playful behaviour such as biting her lip and rubbing her body against Chris’ trying to get his attention, in this video it is like she is aware of how he is looking at her for sexual pleasure and she seems to be okay with it, she is using it at her advantage and wants him to loose control so she can gain some kind of power. This goes against what Mulvey says as she says women are unaware of how we view them as a sexual object, however it is evident that Rita conforms to the image we presume as she has her legs out and heels on which elongate her legs, several shots also show her naked however using a towel or sheet in front of her body to cover her inappropriate areas, teasing Chris Brown and wanting him to give her attention. The use of slow motion also portrays Rita in a sexual way as it focuses the audiences attention on her body and makes it more emphasised, pans up and down her body puts us in the males perspective of how they would look up a women and ‘check her out’, whats interesting in this video is the ending, it ends with a fast rewind to back where she is in the lift as if it was all her imagination, this could be showing that it’s not always the males that look at the females in a sexual way or for pleasure, as if it was her imagination it was her imagining herself on him hence why she sings ‘I just want to feel your body on me’ this is challenging the stereotypes we have of the male/female role as we would presume it would be male’s fantasising over the women, however it could be trying to show how she is imaging the attention she fails to get elsewhere and she may feel like she is constantly just this object their to look at. There also is a part of the video where Rita sneaks out the window this portrays rebellion as it like she’s a teenager sneaking out late at night to be with him which would be fun and exciting or her and gives her something to have adrenaline over.
Ed Sheeran - The A Team
This music video uses narrative structure throughout the video and there is no band performance. The narrative is told in a circular way, the video starts at the end. It is told from another perspective, a person watching the girl’s life.
Within the video there are many close ups of the protagonist. This creates a feeling of sympathy from the audience towards the protagonist because the lyrics link to what we are seeing, a wasted life. The target audience for this video are the younger generation, between the ages 15 - 25; this is similar to the singer’s age. The song is about drugs and this is a topic that young people get caught up in. The music video appeals to both genders because, although it is only a female in the video. It targets both because the song is about drugs which relates to both genders.
The music begins when it has been established that drugs have killed the girl lying in the room. The shot when the music does start is a long shot of a girl lying on a bench with a sleeping bag. This suggests that she is unfortunate and doesn't have a place to live or sleep. This puts all focus on the protagonist as the audience want to know more about her and they ask questions about why she is there and what has happened to her. They are curious about her life. There is then a close up of her wiping her face and pulling the sleeping bag in around her which shows the audience she is cold, creating the audience to feel more sympathy for her.
I also carried out a lyric analysis to visually represent certain words form the song, I found this to be very conventional of music videos a it helps to portray the narrative more as we are visually shown images of what is being sung about so we have a better understanding of what is going on and can logically place it together in our heads. Below is my lyric analysis:
The mise en scene also suggests that the girl is unfortunate because the costume she is wearing. She is wearing ripped tights and also a man’s coat which is too big for her. Along with this she has thick make up on which suggests she has been trying anything for money. This is also shown later on the video when there is a series of close ups of the girl putting make up on in a dodgy flat and then the long shot of her showing her legs to get the car to stop. It shows that the girl has turned to prostitution, making the audience sympathize yet again because she must be desperate to be doing that. The lighting is very natural all the way through the video which makes it realistic. However, there is key lighting is on her face which shows her negative expression. The protagonist has no power in the video, she is a damsel in distress and the drugs are there to take her away from reality.
When the girl is walking up a hill on her own and there is nobody around her creates a sense of panic for the girl. This shows because she starts to look around as if anyone is following her. It soon changes when she looks up to the sky and smiles and then changes to a mid-shot of her opening her arms. This gives the sense of freedom which contrasts with the rest of the video. The close ups in the video contrast with this shot because they are very closed in and we feel like the girl is trying to escape but can't. This is the reason that she takes an overdose at the end of the video.
This video attracts its target audience because they are people who could be involved and trapped and it shows that it isn't a way out. The circular structure intrigues the target audience causing them to be attracted to the video.
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