Textual Analyis of Student Video 2

MUSIC VIDEO TEXTUAL ANALYSIS 

GENRE: 

What is the Genre of the Video?	Contemporary R&B
What is the genre of the Artist?	R&B, Pop
Is there a typical narrative?	The video is more of a performance based music video as the music video is based around the artist dancing and singing to the song rather than a strong storyline being displayed. (scenes filmed in a dance studio).
What is expected in the video?	Frequent close-up shots on the artist Special effects High production costs/ good quality A star/ big artist Expensive jewellery, make-up, heels, minimal clothing
What is unexpected in the video?
Intertextual References?  (Video link to other music videos?)	There isn’t any intertextuality references in this video.

NARRATIVE: 

What is the storyline of the video?	The theme of the music video is about female dominance rather than the narrative as the video is performance based.
Is there a theme?	The theme is about women running the world and females being dominant.
Is there a recognisable structure (TODOROV – Equilibrium 5 stages)?	The video doesn't have a clear structure as the video doesn't have a strong narrative.
Are there recognisable characters?	No because this is a student video however, the "artist" in the video is a good representation of a professional R&B artist in terms of costume and make-up.
How does the video reflect the lyrics?	The song is about girls running the world and the music video reflects this in certain ways such as not having any males to feature in the video in order to show female dominance.

REPRESENTATION: 

What issues of representation are evident?	Females are presented as being dominant and "running the world" which is a non stereotypical representation of gender as typically males are seen as being strong and powerful in comparison to female characters.
How have these been represented? Stereotypes?	Females more dominant than males (non-stereotypical)
Look at the artist as a star – how have they been constructed?	The artist has been painted as being a powerful, respectable, successful star. The artists image is typical of female R&B artists in terms of style and being an all around performer. There is a sense of the artist in the music video having a huge ego and fan base.
Do they have an anonymous role in the  video or are they there as celebrity?	The artist in the music video is seen as a celebrity attempting to re-create a Beyonce like appearance.

  

VISUAL CODES: 

Where is the video set? Connotations of this setting?	There are scenes in this music video that have been shot in a dance studio which is typical of a fast paced R&B song from a female artist. there are many R&B music videos from artists like Beyonce and Rihanna that have been performance based filmed in a studio.
Dominant colour used in the video? Why? What is the effect?	Expectations of an R&B music video are lots of bright colours which isn't evident in this student video as the main colours in this video are white, grey and black and has been filmed in natural light instead of high key like most R&B videos.
Written Iconographics? Typography? Why?	There is not any writing in the video.
Shot Compositions that stand out?	The framing of the shots in this video is good however, what makes this video better than many in my opinion is the editing and variety of shots.

TECHNICAL CODES: 

Camera Angles? Interesting ones? What effect is created?	There are many frequent close-up shots of the artist which is a typical convention of an R&B video and artist. Another interesting shot used within this video is the number of low angle shots used on the female artist and performers, this has connotations of dominance which helps to deliver the theme of the song to the target audience.
Does the way the camera moves help to tell the story?	There are significant camera movements during the fight scene where the camera would shake when each punch/kick was landed. This has been done to exaggerate the violence of the attack and to make the camera look as if it was from the audience’s point of view.
What is editing like? Type of cuts etc?	The use of frequent jump cuts means that the video is fast paced which matches the pace of the beat. The miming is a sync with the music and the timing of the cuts to different shots is very professional. However, the only criticism with the editing is the scene with the fire on the green screen which I feel didnt fit the theme of the video and could be improved.

AUDIENCE: 

Who is the target audience for the video?  How does the video target this specific audience?	The song is specifically targeted towards a female audience therefore, the primary target audience would be young women, teenagers. Having said this, female R&B artists usually wear minimal clothing in their music videos as it is typical of the genre therefore, the music video itself may appeal more to a male audience in some cases.
Demographic?	I would say that the main audience for the video will be middle class social grade B however, the genre appeals to a much wider audience than just that but mainly teenage girls and younger woman age 14-25 specifically to this video.

INSTITUTION: 

What role does the record company play in the music video?	There isn’t a record company involved in this music video.
What is the brand image of the star that is sold?  How is the star marketed and promoted?	The artist in this music video has a clear brand image and is presented as being a huge star such as Beyonce. The way in which the artist in the video is marketed is presented in this video as it is clear that the role of the artist is a powerful individual with a huge following/ fan base.