Video A
Video B
I have chosen to analyse a music video A which is called ‘Run the world’ sung by the American singer Beyonce Knowles along with the music video B which is called ‘Picking up the pieces’ sung by a British singer Paloma Faith. Video A featuring Beyonce is directed by Francis Lawrence. Video B is directed by Emil Nava. The genre of video A is a mixture of different genres, can be seen as a club beat as it has a dance feel beat, the music video is a performance where the artist is the centre of attention and there are always dancers beside Beyonce, this is seen almost throughout the video. At the beginning of the video there is a part which is concept based, which may confuse the audience. However it is still relevant to the music video, as the performance fills the gaps of any confusion that may occur from the concept parts of the video. However in comparison to video B, this video is more of a genre of soul and pop combined, which then leads the video to being a narrative. The narrative represents a man and a woman (Paloma) who are having issues in their relationship, as Paloma plays the character of the women who is paranoid about being a perfect woman in the man’s eyes. Overall in both videos A&B the genre conventions have a mixture of different types, these are represented through Beyone having different cultures in her also Paloma having a historic British theme with a soul pop song.
The relationship between the song and the lyrics in video A are amplified in a sense that Beyonce is in the centre of the girls and she is the leader of them. However altogether they ‘Run the world’ more than the men do, a sense of power for the women having dominance this is suggested through the scene where the women have one arm in the air and their dancing to the beat. Furthermore this shows that the video is relevant throughout.
In comparison to video B the video amplifies the lyrics and contradicts with the lyrics, as the video doesn’t produce exactly what the lyrics say, the audience have to really focus to discover the real narrative. However in the scene of the man in the suit, sitting by the fire “Are we the smoke without the fire?” illustrates the visual with the lyric, by having the fire place lit up in the background. In the lyric “now she’s gone” it doesn’t appear to be explicit in the music video to whom gone. This then makes the relationship between the music video and the lyrics seem apart however it makes them emphasised also. The relationship between the music and visuals in Video A, the beat at the start goes with the movement of swiping hair and the slow movement of the horse. Then when the music begins “who runs this Murtha” goes with the body movement of Beyonce moving her shoulders. The scene of the burning car with Beyonce costume goes along with the foot movement and beat of the music along with the lyric “we can devour”. Furthermore the dance is in time with the dance throughout the dance scenes, moving at an equal pace. The instrumental beat is being played live making it in tune with the dance at all tines. Moreover in video B the relationship between the music and visuals are very different to video A has its vocally focused and video A focuses on putting through the lyrics through the dance, of showing girls run the world. On the other hand the narrative in video B is fragmented as there isn’t a clear story, it’s almost for the audience to figure out, which is difficult therefore it allows the audience to have different interpretations and makes it interesting to watch as a music video.
The audience of video A are for fans of Beyonce and young adults and children who may aspire to her, in addition the video may be for dancers and other solo artists. Video B is for females and males who enjoy Paloma Faiths music and lyrics; the music video allows fans to be able to listen to it with a visual storyline added. In addition the audience may also be for females who may admire Paloma Faiths style. Video A and B could be for all ages as they both could relate to anyone, also video B has a narrative, which allows the audience to understand the song further.
In video A culture is represented through the ‘tofo tofo dancers’ to bring a different genre through their different interest in music to the song itself as well as the video. By this Beyonce has added an African culture within her dance. This may be the main selling point of this music video.
The motifs of the artist Beyonce in video A are that she always has dancers in any of her more up beat songs, which allow her to be in the centre, in comparison to the artist Paloma in video B, the motif is her dark ginger hair and dark lipstick, the hairstyles she has of quiff hair styles, furthermore she usually has a vintage 60’s theme to her videos, which is shown in this video through the lady suit that she wears, also what the setting of the olden looking hotel building, furthermore the use of the less modern car makes it have a 60’s feel. This video helps to sell her voice as the video focuses on her and the style of her video is very similar to her other music videos. In video A the video sells Beyonce’s new album through the dance choreograph chosen, Beyonce specially found Tofo Tofo who are dance group from Mozambique to be in her video. Moreover by having this video it relates to some of her other music videos where she has a dance routine throughout, for example ‘single ladies’ and ‘diva’. Suggesting that Beyonce enjoys creating music videos, which have dance routines in them, allowing the video to be more entertaining for the audience.
The representation of Beyonce to her fans may be how much she has done for herself music wise creating more than 3 albums since 2003, also how hardworking she is, furthermore the time she puts into her music. The representation of Paloma Faith may be to people looking to be British solo artists just like her.
Video A uses medium shots at the start for example when Beyonce is on a horse on a dessert Island, this shows detail, and furthermore there are uses of long shots to show Beyonce and the dancers. Whereas video B shows each camera angle and lens focusing on the artist Paloma which then compliments her, also in portraying how her character feels throughout the video. There are also medium shots for example when she is sitting at the bench outside, also when she is sitting at the dressing a table looking in the mirror. In addition to this another medium shot is used to show the man at sitting by the fireplace, showing less light which then brings out the lit up fire. Furthermore over the shoulder shot is used when the servants are walking towards the dining room. In video B there are other camera shots such as an extreme close up, where the man is shaving his beard. The lighting of video A is dark like a shadow over the camera, furthermore there’s a fast movement where the camera which’s face to face in the dinning room scene. Also cross cutting is used to show different parts in one scene at a quick pace.
The sexual display in video A is of Beyonce is where she’s wearing a yellow dress which has a slit in it buy showing her legs whiles dancing, which also could relate to her previous videos for example ‘dance for you’ and ‘single ladies’ where she shows her legs when dancing, this may be to sell her music to men and not just women. In comparison to video B there aren’t really any sexual displays; however Paloma does wear tight dresses which show off her figure, which could be seen as a small amount of sexual display, in addition to this by having dark lipstick this may represent a sexual display. These features may have been chosen to sell the artists albums however to also show their talents and styles.
The videos A and B are both successful in a sense that they make made it onto most television, furthermore they are replayed on the radio and people download the songs after watching the video, for video B the video makes the lyrics more understandable to the audience. Furthermore for video B it allows the lyrics to be more realistic.
Video B
I have chosen to analyse a music video A which is called ‘Run the world’ sung by the American singer Beyonce Knowles along with the music video B which is called ‘Picking up the pieces’ sung by a British singer Paloma Faith. Video A featuring Beyonce is directed by Francis Lawrence. Video B is directed by Emil Nava. The genre of video A is a mixture of different genres, can be seen as a club beat as it has a dance feel beat, the music video is a performance where the artist is the centre of attention and there are always dancers beside Beyonce, this is seen almost throughout the video. At the beginning of the video there is a part which is concept based, which may confuse the audience. However it is still relevant to the music video, as the performance fills the gaps of any confusion that may occur from the concept parts of the video. However in comparison to video B, this video is more of a genre of soul and pop combined, which then leads the video to being a narrative. The narrative represents a man and a woman (Paloma) who are having issues in their relationship, as Paloma plays the character of the women who is paranoid about being a perfect woman in the man’s eyes. Overall in both videos A&B the genre conventions have a mixture of different types, these are represented through Beyone having different cultures in her also Paloma having a historic British theme with a soul pop song.
The relationship between the song and the lyrics in video A are amplified in a sense that Beyonce is in the centre of the girls and she is the leader of them. However altogether they ‘Run the world’ more than the men do, a sense of power for the women having dominance this is suggested through the scene where the women have one arm in the air and their dancing to the beat. Furthermore this shows that the video is relevant throughout.
In comparison to video B the video amplifies the lyrics and contradicts with the lyrics, as the video doesn’t produce exactly what the lyrics say, the audience have to really focus to discover the real narrative. However in the scene of the man in the suit, sitting by the fire “Are we the smoke without the fire?” illustrates the visual with the lyric, by having the fire place lit up in the background. In the lyric “now she’s gone” it doesn’t appear to be explicit in the music video to whom gone. This then makes the relationship between the music video and the lyrics seem apart however it makes them emphasised also. The relationship between the music and visuals in Video A, the beat at the start goes with the movement of swiping hair and the slow movement of the horse. Then when the music begins “who runs this Murtha” goes with the body movement of Beyonce moving her shoulders. The scene of the burning car with Beyonce costume goes along with the foot movement and beat of the music along with the lyric “we can devour”. Furthermore the dance is in time with the dance throughout the dance scenes, moving at an equal pace. The instrumental beat is being played live making it in tune with the dance at all tines. Moreover in video B the relationship between the music and visuals are very different to video A has its vocally focused and video A focuses on putting through the lyrics through the dance, of showing girls run the world. On the other hand the narrative in video B is fragmented as there isn’t a clear story, it’s almost for the audience to figure out, which is difficult therefore it allows the audience to have different interpretations and makes it interesting to watch as a music video.
The audience of video A are for fans of Beyonce and young adults and children who may aspire to her, in addition the video may be for dancers and other solo artists. Video B is for females and males who enjoy Paloma Faiths music and lyrics; the music video allows fans to be able to listen to it with a visual storyline added. In addition the audience may also be for females who may admire Paloma Faiths style. Video A and B could be for all ages as they both could relate to anyone, also video B has a narrative, which allows the audience to understand the song further.
In video A culture is represented through the ‘tofo tofo dancers’ to bring a different genre through their different interest in music to the song itself as well as the video. By this Beyonce has added an African culture within her dance. This may be the main selling point of this music video.
The motifs of the artist Beyonce in video A are that she always has dancers in any of her more up beat songs, which allow her to be in the centre, in comparison to the artist Paloma in video B, the motif is her dark ginger hair and dark lipstick, the hairstyles she has of quiff hair styles, furthermore she usually has a vintage 60’s theme to her videos, which is shown in this video through the lady suit that she wears, also what the setting of the olden looking hotel building, furthermore the use of the less modern car makes it have a 60’s feel. This video helps to sell her voice as the video focuses on her and the style of her video is very similar to her other music videos. In video A the video sells Beyonce’s new album through the dance choreograph chosen, Beyonce specially found Tofo Tofo who are dance group from Mozambique to be in her video. Moreover by having this video it relates to some of her other music videos where she has a dance routine throughout, for example ‘single ladies’ and ‘diva’. Suggesting that Beyonce enjoys creating music videos, which have dance routines in them, allowing the video to be more entertaining for the audience.
The representation of Beyonce to her fans may be how much she has done for herself music wise creating more than 3 albums since 2003, also how hardworking she is, furthermore the time she puts into her music. The representation of Paloma Faith may be to people looking to be British solo artists just like her.
Video A uses medium shots at the start for example when Beyonce is on a horse on a dessert Island, this shows detail, and furthermore there are uses of long shots to show Beyonce and the dancers. Whereas video B shows each camera angle and lens focusing on the artist Paloma which then compliments her, also in portraying how her character feels throughout the video. There are also medium shots for example when she is sitting at the bench outside, also when she is sitting at the dressing a table looking in the mirror. In addition to this another medium shot is used to show the man at sitting by the fireplace, showing less light which then brings out the lit up fire. Furthermore over the shoulder shot is used when the servants are walking towards the dining room. In video B there are other camera shots such as an extreme close up, where the man is shaving his beard. The lighting of video A is dark like a shadow over the camera, furthermore there’s a fast movement where the camera which’s face to face in the dinning room scene. Also cross cutting is used to show different parts in one scene at a quick pace.
The sexual display in video A is of Beyonce is where she’s wearing a yellow dress which has a slit in it buy showing her legs whiles dancing, which also could relate to her previous videos for example ‘dance for you’ and ‘single ladies’ where she shows her legs when dancing, this may be to sell her music to men and not just women. In comparison to video B there aren’t really any sexual displays; however Paloma does wear tight dresses which show off her figure, which could be seen as a small amount of sexual display, in addition to this by having dark lipstick this may represent a sexual display. These features may have been chosen to sell the artists albums however to also show their talents and styles.
The videos A and B are both successful in a sense that they make made it onto most television, furthermore they are replayed on the radio and people download the songs after watching the video, for video B the video makes the lyrics more understandable to the audience. Furthermore for video B it allows the lyrics to be more realistic.