GP: Music Video Analyses

Analysis Of 2 Music Videos

Music Video 1: G.R.L – Ugly Heart (2014)

This music video is about getting revenge on a person who is beautiful but has an ‘ugly heart’ (supposedly an unkind person in terms of their love life). Their revenge consists of tattooing this guy’s face with the word ugly & this in turn results in all of them being arrested. 

Star quality values are present. For example, rebellion & an anti-authoritarian attitude go hand-in-hand here as their actions are rebellious & their non-verbal language of looking tough & not-caring due to their facial expressions lacking upset, even though they are being arrested, suggests an anti-authoritarian attitude.

Anger & disregard for social values is also shown due to their actions being a result of the anger towards this guy & their non-verbal language (in the third verse, one of the G.R.L members punches towards the camera).

Their rebellion value is shown through their costumes as well as some of the girls are wearing shoulder pads, others wear leather & some wear a ‘tomb-raider’ style outfit; this connotes a strong, frondeur vibe. Their outfits are also quite revealing; this is promiscuous & adds to the star quality of being sexy.

The star quality of success is questionable as the undesirable result of being arrested is not normally seen as successful but G.R.L seem happy due to the tattooing of the guy’s face & then dance whilst looking sexy which to them, in the video, is seen as a success.

Paradox 1 is present due to the realistic surroundings & happenings of being arrested due to the consequences of their actions. However, the tattooing of someone's face & not caring about getting arrested is quite unrealistic; this is seen as extraordinary as it is rare & hard to relate to. 

Even their colourful & eccentric costumes (extraordinarily fluffy, bright green shoulder pads to name one) are extraordinary. Dancing on tables in an office or anywhere is extraordinary as well.

G.R.L, however, do provide cultural ideas. For example, they support the dominant ideology that youth are involved with crime & rebellion. Also, the video is regressive due to the fact that their slim figures & promiscuous costumes supposedly make them look sexy; it supports the cultural idea that beautiful women are slim & wear promiscuous clothing.

Genre characteristics are fulfilled here as pop girl-bands are usually associated with dancing & that is exactly what occurs in this video.

The video illustrates the lyrics & instrumental well as it is upbeat enough so that G.R.L dance (this matches the rhythm) & the lyrics sing about giving all their “rights away” (which suggests they have committed a crime to experience this). The visuals where they are walking out of a tattoo parlour at the beginning & the guy at the end having his face covered in the word ugly make the whole video & song link. The visuals are anchored by the speech at the end where there is a shot of the guy’s tattooed face & then a mid-shot of one of G.R.L saying “now your face is like your heart, ugly”.

The music is emphasised as there is cutting on the beat. For example, after the big note on the third verse, as soon as it goes into the chorus there is a cut. This is anchored by their dance moves where their heads all drop on the beat as well.

Music Video 2:  Enrique Iglesias - Bailando (Español) ft. Descemer Bueno, Gente De Zona (2014)

In this music video, Enrique has a lot of star quality. This is demonstrated through many mediums. The video is sexy due to the red (associated with sexiness & promiscuity) costumes worn by the women dancers, the non-verbal language of the dancers (sensual Spanish dancing) & the sexual non-verbal language of Enrique & the woman (both get close to one another).

There is a lot more for the male gaze as barely any men are dressed as provocatively or dancing as sensually as the women; there could be voyeuristic treatment of the female body. However, the video is not overly sexual as the talent of Spanish dancing is highlighted (through slow motion).

Enrique Iglesias’ songs & music videos have a consistent sensual vibe due to the Spanish 'flair'. A consistent star image is vital for a star’s brand.

Paradox 1 is being shown as Enrique is seen cycling down a street which is ordinary, but then Enrique is extraordinary as he is performing at a concert at one stage.

In terms of culture, an emergent ideology that Spanish-speaking countries are filled with Spanish dancers lining the streets is reinforced.

The Spanish lyrics anchor the stereotypical Spanish & Latin American visuals; Enrique influences cultural thinking.

In terms of the editing, cutting on the beat occurs. For example, when one of the chorus’ come in, Enrique whacks his hand down to the beat & the editing shakes the screen during it. This highlights & enhances the music.

The summery, Spanish & upbeat feel to the music is anchored by the summery (sunny, bright/ high-key lighting), Spanish (Spanish dancing & costumes) & upbeat (dancing in the streets, cycling around & people jumping at concerts) visuals.

These visuals are stereotypical of the Latin-pop genre.

A desirable lifestyle is also conveyed with the concerts & sexual chemistry between Enrique and the woman; this adds to the star image & Paradox 2.

Joel Compass - Run (2013)

There are a lot of visual links in this music video. Especially the establishing shot being the same as the end shot; this makes the video more stylized and provides more of a narrative. The lyrics are also clearly associated with Joel Compass as he is the main character of the video & is lip syncing; visuals anchor the sound.

A lot of cutting of the beat occurs, a long with the cutting rate getting faster during the chorus; this highlights the instrumental.

The low-key lighting links with the almost ‘haunting’ piano instrumental; the night-time setting anchors.

However, Joel Compass is not shown as extraordinary (not Paradox 1) here as he is just on a street without dancing girls around him or champagne spraying on a yacht. This makes Joel Compass more relatable. This is contrary to the stereotypical star values that Dyer thinks one has to have. For example, success, rebellion, disregard for social values, conspicuous consumption, anger & sexiness is not clearly shown through any of the mediums. However, his face is projected on a road; that is quite extraordinary.

The illustration of the lyrics is so literal that there is literally a person running on the street & in the shadows (anchored by the dark lighting) whilst Joel Compass is singing “I’m gonna let you run, let you run away”. He also sings about love and how a girl is running away from love; there are also shadows of a girl as well; audience makes an association.

The 'meat' of the music video is emphasised as well as there are a lot of close-up shots of Joel Compass singing.

The tracking & frequent handicam shots highlight the pace of the song & emotions of Joel Compass (he is upset & is almost taking a walk a long the street to get rid of his upset).

There is a sense of repeatability in the video as similar shots keep getting played back-to-back; this keeps the consistency (a long with the consistent low-key lighting with the street & car lights supposedly lighting the shots).

There is also an urban feel which is associated with youth & this is associated with star quality.

A particular shot/clip that inspired me was the final shot of the video where there is a track towards Joel Compass as he is standing still. The use of tracking is very effective and the low-key white lighting looks hi-fi as yellow lighting tends to look amateur-ish. In our video, especially near the end of the song, I would like to do tracking shots with potential slow-motion added to them.