Semiotic Analysis of two Columbia music videos
‘Wife you up’ by Russ
When observing the music video ‘wife you up’ it is apparent it offers a wealth of conflicting messages about how fame can ruin a potential relationship.Within the music video the protagonist reflects on how he should’ve married have the girl he fell in love with before the stardom took hold of his life.
Looking into the first 15 seconds of the music video the artist/protagonist is placed in the centre of the frame as a tracking shot captures the various camera at the front of the stage which he is performing on.The use of the props such as the cameras , as well as the low key lighting help to show the audience that the artist is now isolated , the camera portraying a barrier between his past love interest -who is sat in the audience, watching him
Despite the music video having similar conventions to other music videos in the fact that the artists is viewed singing to the audience , it breaks some convention due to the setting the artist initially performs in foreshadowing his reminiscence of the past.The setting is a snowy forest with cherry blossom trees surrounding him. A backdrop hangs behind him with a forest painted on it.Which later in the video foreshadows the artist buying a house for his love interest in the winter.
The music video is targeted at a young adults as the couple within the music video look as if they are in their early /mid twenties.The camera then focuses on the love interest as a spotlight is placed above her whilst low-key lighting immerses the other audience members in darkness , consequently making it aware to the viewer that the artist is only interested in her ,she’s Russ’ focus. She’s wearing a red dress. Russ ( the artist) glances at her for a moment. Then, he continues singing, “And baby I swear I’m done with these other women. They don’t mean sh** to me.”
She’s applauding
him. There’s a tender-hearted smile on her face. Subsequently, Russ grins from ear to ear back at her.The use of costume also portrays a stark contrast from before he became popular to present time Russ is wearing a black fur coat, black trousers, white sneakers, and a wealth of jewellery and trinkets then in the flash backs he simply wears a cap and a black tee.
There is then a montage sequence of the couple together ,scenes that go with the first verse are nostalgic, pleasant memories. Here, Russ is recollecting all the most memorable, delightful moments that he spent with his beloved before he was prominent as the the lyrics ‘looking back it’s a shame we were only a phase’ are heard.
When exploring the ways in which individuals are represented through the process of selection , one could consider the representation of the love interest in relation to race and ethnicity.The love interest in the music video is a young darkskin woman.A binary opposition to the stereotypical blonde , tan , slim looking female often portrayed a love interest.
Paul Gilroy could be incorporated as the music video challenges racial hierarchy by subverting expectations of a romantic song by a Caucasian artist by placing her in a position of admiration and attraction.Goodwin could also be applied as there is a relationship between lyrics and visuals as the singer refers to the past with visuals of the past linked to the lyrcis.There is also another key characteristic that is shown throughout the video as it is made clear there is a demand for close-ups of the artist that the record label want.
‘Pretty Hurts’ by Beyonce
The music video for Pretty Hurts belongs to the R&B genre. The characteristics that R&B has make it an urban contemporary genre. These characteristics that the genre has are expressed in Beyoncé’s music video for pretty hurts as the style of the music video is very urban and the beat of the music helps the montage editing used in the video to flow.
Continuing this, there a variety of shots of the women continuing to get ready for the pageant. There is then a tracking shot of the artist getting weighed and measured by on of the employees at the pageant, at first she looks happy and confident, but then he waves her off as though she is too big. Then he measures her waist and is also then dismissive of her, which creates an unconfident look on her face.
These shots are clearly linked to the lyrics 'pageant the pain away'. There is then an establishing shot of all the woman on stage at the pageant, including the artist. They are all smiling and all look confident. Straight after that shot there is then a long shot of the artist sitting down and then two of the girls at the pageant moving away from her; which emphasises again that she doesn't fit in. This then cuts to an extreme close up of the artist taking some pills, this could be drugs or diet pills as it looks like the artist doesn't see herself to fit in due to not being as skinny as her competitors.
The shots carry on to the artist being shouted at by one of the workers as he makes suck in and lengthen out her legs, he only picks her out, out of all of the other girls that are there. As the lyric 'tv says thinner is better' the is a long shot of the artist exercising, therefore these lyrics have a literal meaning to the visuals. She then weighs herself and looks hugely disappointed.
Columbia is looking to sell this track by heavily promoting the message of the song through the music video. The Pretty Hurts music video elevates how everyone is beautiful despite what society might ,Beyoncé is being offered an image that allows her to be an inspiration to people out there that don’t feel comfortable in their own skin.
In Pretty Hurts Beyoncé strips her outside image back and takes off her hair and make-up to show how none of it is needed in order to appear pretty. Beyoncé does this in her other videos as she is not an artist that feels she has to be done up all the time, for example in her music video for ‘Blue’ she is not done up at all she is fresh-faced and has a natural look in the entire video to highlight how, as Blue’s mother, she wants Blue to see her for who she is.
Towards the end of the music video there is then a close up to the artists face that shows her having some plastic surgery as the lyrics say 'there's no doctor or pill that can take the pain away' therefore this means that you'll only be happy once you accept yourself in the way you look and who you are. After this, it then shows a two shot of the artist and the woman that was from the beginning of the video, that is clearly scarily skinny.
The artist doesn't win, the other woman does, you can tell the artist is clearly upset by this as she tries to put on a fake smile and then cuts to shots of her shouting and breaking her trophies again to express her anger. The end of the video is how the video started however this time she is looking into the mirror with a happy look, suggesting she has now accepted herself, as this is shown the lyric is 'are you happy with yourself?... yeah'. There is then a quick flash back of her winning a competition as a little girl, but this competition is a singing one.
Hooks could be used as a stimulus to explore how the video offers a strong message about gender or feeds into the oppression of women in a patriarchal society.
B) Semiotic Analysis of two Parlophone music videos
‘Paradise’ by Coldplay
When watching the music video it is clear the video is mainly a narrative that focuses on a man in an elephant suit, played by Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay. But, towards the end, there are shots of the band playing the song at a concert.
There are intertextual references to film in the music video. The beginning of the music video is set out like the opening credits of a movie. It states who the film was made by, who’s in the video and the name of the song. The warm colour tone conveys that the song is very upbeat.The songs title is shown in a big, dark and bold font in the lightest part of the screen.There are also cinematic shots in the video that aren't usually used in music videos but in movies breaking some of the stereotypical conventions of a music video.
There is a relationship between the text and the image in the opening credits when the song title appears. The word “Paradise” is written in big, bold writing so it stands out and the audiences can clearly see that that’s the name of the song. The background is of a sunset and the animals are roaming around freely, not in a zoo, which conforms to most people’s typical ideas of paradise.
Todorov’s narrative theory can be applied to the narrative in the music video. There’s an equilibrium where everything is balanced. The elephant is at the zoo. Then there’s a disruption when the elephant decides to escape the zoo to find it’s friends. The video then ends in a better equilibrium where the elephant finds it’s friends and is free from the zoo.
There are also intertextual links to their own song. In the second verse, the lyrics are “every tear a waterfall” which is referring to another one of their singles, “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall.” “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall,” is about finding something positive in a bad time or situation. When the lyrics “every tear a waterfall” is sung, it shows the elephant stop at a bike shop. This could be seen as something positive because it’s the bike that gets him to paradise at the end.
The use of Goodwin’s type 2 narrative could be applied as the music video which is based around a story and has actors/actresses performing the story alongside the artists. This typology is used to engage the audience and is usually used in songs which can be relatable for the audience.
‘Smile’ Lily Allen
The song smile by Lily Allen is based upon a woman once being distraught and isolated over a break up but then the lyrics tell a classic tale of bitter-sweet revenge and are therefore destined to be sung by many heartbroken females as they dry their eyes and realize they're finally getting over it- appealing to a wide female audience.
This was Lily Allen’s first video so the producers haven’t spent much money on it since they do not know whether she’ll be a success. In the video she is being represented as a typical Londoner since they are trying to emphasize her strong singing accent. She is wearing everyday clothes and is in a normal size flat in a normal area, this helps to take away her rich image to help more people relate to her.
The start of the story, the lyrics tell us of betrayal and heartache. The line, `Just slept by myself all day,' really let us in on the mood and many listeners will identify with the hurt being felt.
The story soon changes to one of picking up the pieces and moving on but the "smile" in the title is the clue to the feeling of revenge.
There is a strong use of close-ups as the artist is present and is portrayed as a character within the narrative- making the audience feel like they personally know her. Lots of mid shots and close ups of the artist have been used to promote the star and to create a more prominent star image. The use of a mid shot introduces us to the artist as the camera moves in on her. This creates a star image which is used to introduce and promote the artist by the record label. A close up has also been used to create a star image as well as showing the audience the artist’s iconography that makes them recognisable.
The target audience for this music video would be teenagers and young adults as the fashion in this video is also mainly aimed at this age group. This age group would find this music video good since it may relate to events that hve happened in their lives, for example if a girl has been dumped by her boyfriend or if someone fantasizes about getting revenge on another person.The target audience is forced to feel a series of different emotions. At the start we are meant to feel sorry for Lily Allen’s character as we see she is upset because of the break up with her boyfriend. As she starts to then get revenge on her ex-boyfriend our sympathy may go towards him instead of her as we see him get beaten up etc. The audience may join in with Lily Allen’s characters laughter as we see all the bad things that happen to her ex-partner and we may also feel a sense of accomplishment when we see she gets what she wants.
The people in this video are mainly being represented as a bit ‘chavy’ or 'street' . Lily Allen wears big, gold earrings and trainers in some of the shots which are usually stereotyped with ‘chavs’. This may be because at the time of the video release this was a popular fashion, so to appeal more to the audience the producers would dress the actors of the video in this style. The members of the gang are being represented as violent, we can see this from the scenes where they beat her old boyfriend and when they trash his apartment. They are also wearing baggy, dirty looking clothes and most of their dealings take place in small alley ways or street corners.
