MUSIC VIDEO ANALYSIS

I will now analyse some existing music videos, with a brief idea of what ours will be like we have chosen the music videos which best represent our genre and challenge and explore the codes and conventions. They are all Pop videos, dabbling in electro and R&B.

"4 Minutes"
Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake 
2008
Director: Jonas & Francois

In this video Madonna and Justin Timberlake are seen running around different sets of day to day situations, from a living room, to a used car garage, to a supermarket to an office toilet. As they make their way through the sets behind them is a black line which is sort of dissolving everything in them, I think it's supposed to be a metaphor for time as the song is called '4 Minutes to Save The World'. Accompanying this is numerous performance shots in front of a time counting down from 4 minutes. This backs up Goodwin's theory about a relationship between the music and the visuals.

The first shot you see is of Timbaland stood in front of a giant screen mouthing the words to the song, Madonna and Justin quickly follow to also perform in front of the screen. This is an example of intertextuality and screens within screens another one of Goodwin's theories. The majority of performance shots are close up and mid shots of Justin and Madonna accompanied with a few long shots to show that they're dancing.



Both artists in video are represented as very important people from the narrative shots of them running on top of the cars, what's also important to mention is that despite the fact they're important people, when they're running around every day life they're being ignored by the extras in the video, I feel this is done to keep the focus on them.


What is also noting is the level of dancing in the video, at the start Madonna challenges the codes and conventions of women in music videos, she's pushing the car and running around on top of tables and cars. However during the rest of the video, she performs some very sexual moves and has Justin undress her in the music video, she also undresses him but there is more emphasis on her as she is almost naked by the end of the video. This backs up Goodwin's theory that women are presented as a sexual object in music videos.


The fast paced editing is what I really find captivating within this video. No shot lasts more than a few seconds at most and I feel it really gives the video pace and gives the music and video a level of suspense. I think this could really work in our music video, therefore I will be making sure that we have a large variety of shots to choose from and edit together.


"Womanizer"
Britney Spears
2008
Director: Joseph Kahn

In this video, Britney Spears thinks that her boyfriend is cheating on her. She goes undercover in a series of disguises to confirm what she suspects. Accompanying this is not only performance within the narrative of the story but a performance section in a sauna.

The video begins with Britney dancing in a sauna, she's posing on a bench and is naked. This is represents her as a very provocative woman and once again backs up Goodwin's theory that women are displayed as sexual objects in music videos. She then serves breakfast to her boyfriend who barely looks up from his paper. This is a very traditional representation of the relationship between men and women. Throughout the video we see her in her different disguises, kick her boyfriend in an office chair, slam him against a photocopier and pinning him down in the back of a limousine. This challenges the codes and conventions of women in music videos by the end of the video she is in complete control. The roles of Britney and her boyfriend have reversed.

Once again in this video the editing is very quick to go with the quick tempo of the song. The fact that this video is predominantly narrative means that we will focus a lot on this one when planning our production.

"The Way You Make Me Feel"
Michael Jackson
1987
Director: Joe Pytka

Despite this video being from 1987, I think it's relevant as Michael Jackson is one of the biggest inspirations of many artists today. In the video Michael tries to impress a girl, dancing in front of her, throughout the video she acts completely uninterested and just carries on walking down the street. However throughout the video he slowly wins her over.

In the video it's a very traditional relationship between men and women, htis seems to be a common pattern within the videos that are by male artists. The shots are very long to go with the story as this the first music video that is based on one set. Most of the shots used are long shots which zoom in to become mid shots the camera as tracks along the street and tilts to keep up with the action. There are also some mid shots of Michael when he is miming key parts of the song.

The women once again is portrayed in a very traditional way, she's simply another object of a man's desire and this seems to be her only purpose in the video. She might act unimpressed but there's still a very happy ending.

"What Goes Around... Comes Around"

Justin Timberlake
2007
Director: Samuel Bayer

In this video by Justin Timberlake, he meets a girl at a club she acts uninterested before they both leave. The next scene they're together in bed before she leaves and jumps in a swimming pool, he jumps and saves her. This is a very traditional representation of the relationship of men and women, the typical cliche man saving the woman. The next sceen they are sat with some friends drinking. What's also apparent in this music video is the cuts between the music for scripted dialogue. The narrative of the video is almost separate to the performance shots. The performance shots in the video mainly consist of Justin stood on a stage performing casually, in just vest and shirt, it's very informal. The costume for most of the video is predominantly quite dark and plain. After a large section of performance, Justin discovers one of his friends kissing his girlfriend. A small fight occurs before she runs away and drives off. He chases after her before she crashes for the audience to see that she's dead. 

The narrative in the video proves to be controversial and deals with a dramatic storyline which ultimately goes well with the song. What I also like in this video is that it challanges the codes and conventions of a pop video, due to the fact that his love interest in the video dies. It's unexpected, shocking and leaves you on the edge of your seat throughout. Despite the fact Justin is surrounded by fast sport cars, a beautiful girl and lavish parties which portray what his lifestyle is like, there is a strong sense of dark undertone to the video. It's set at night and the lighting gives it a cold, hollow feel. This might be because the director Samuel Bayer traditionally directs videos for rock artists.

There are also many interesting aspects to the camera work in the video, it's almost filmed like a proper film. There's lots of match on action, focus pulls and handheld camera work, this gives it a sense of reality, something I think could be very effective within the narrative in our music video.