By Alina Haq

CINEMATOGRAPHY

This wide shot is introducing Marina to the

audience of the music v ideo. I t is setup to

look l ike an old 20’s c inema screen,

immediately present ing the theme of the

music v ideo.

This c lose -up of Marina with ful l make -up

and her hai r in ro l lers, impl ies the

glamorous l i festy le she craves.

In th is long shot the chandel ier is taking up

2/3 of the screen, whereas Marina is very

small compared to the chandel ier and takes up

1/3 of the screen. The s ize of the chandel ier

represents Marina 's wealth and that i t is so big

that i t a lmost over takes her.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

The s l ight h igh angle of the shot of

the broken T V, suggests that the age

of media is over, that you cannot

make money through media, you have

to go out and get i t .

The long shot conveys Marina on a step

ladder pick ing frui t , th is is a very v intage

c lassic shot which por trays the c lass

Marina has and how she wants her l i fe to

be classic .

The extreme close -up shots of Marina’s l ips

evokes her red, seduct ive l ipst ick , which

could imply that she achieved her wealth

and for tune through ly ing and from the

lyr ics we could assume that she achieved i t

f rom ly ing to men.

This use of c inematography is r ight

af ter a stra ight cut edi t . They have

used th is c inematography to make the

music v ideo s imilar to a v intage VCR.

The edi t ing matches the musical phrases and beat

The v ideo in general cuts to the beat of the music or in t ime with the l ines in

the song to run f luent ly a longside the music . Every moment, act ion or cut in

the v isuals f i ts wi th the rhythm of the soundtrack . For example, in the space of

the ten seconds in the v ideo (0:40 – 0:50) there were ten cuts averaging at

approximately one per second, in t ime with the beat .

The v ideo breaks many of the rules of cont inuity edi t ing, i t uses features in the

v isuals such as jump cuts or compl icated transit ions to make the edi t ing more

of an obvious aspect to the music v ideo than cont inuity normally would. For

example, dur ing cuts , a l ternat ing between these two colour f i l ters, drawing

attent ion to the cuts .

I t is a c lear convent ion of music v ideo edi t ing

EDITING

The edi ts may be real ly obv ious, to draw attent ion to themselves as opposed to

inv is ible, cont inuity edi t ing

The cuts in the v ideo tend to be qui te jumpy compared to other edi t ing

techniques in the indie pop genre. This could be to draw attent ion to the

edi t ing or prov ide the impression that the v ideo is imper fect – too qui rky to f i t

wi th the theme of the song and v isuals

Shot types with in the same frame of the ar t is t

Use of interest ing, fancy edi ts and cuts such as

th is t ransit ion of the broken v ideo look and then coming back in focus with

another scene

A sty le of edi t ing that runs through the v ideo and is dist inct ive to that v ideo.

This v ideo uses jump cuts and some unusual t ransit ions with an overal l

montage look to the v ideo which combined is dist inct ive to the music v ideo,

however the features are common in edi t ing in other indie pop v ideos

EDITING

The v ideo is a v isual response to the music

There is not necessari ly a lways a balance between narrat ive and per formance

The narrat ive is not a lways complete – par t ia l , f ragmented narrat ive

The structure of the v ideo appears dis jointed. This is typical to the pop genre

as i t re l ies heavi ly on the ar t is t ’s per formance rather than a story l ine. The

di f ferent scenes are incomplete/disjointed and don’t real ly te l l a story,

conforming to the ‘qui rky’ indie pop genre.

The v ideo is mostly dr iven by the per formance (pop convent ion) and the story

within the lyr ics ( indie pop convent ion) maintaining the v iewer’s interest

throughout the v ideo.

There’s not a c lear c losure/resolut ion at the end

The v ideo poses quest ions that cannot be answered

The narrat ive and theme through the v ideo is in a montage sty le

There is no narrat ive, however the v isuals corresponds with the messages in

the lyr ics about the type of woman the character is and what she is t r y ing to

put across about her love interest

CONVENTIONS

The music v ideo conveys Marina in g lamorous outf i ts and sett ings. In th is shot

she is wearing a pink spark ly dress wi th a whi te fur coat which we usual ly see

Hol lywood stars wearing. Also, a huge chandel ier is cooperated which holds

connotat ions of upper c lass.

CONNOTATIONS

The ideology of the song is that Marina wants a lav ish, g lamorous l i festyle of

the r ich and famous. This is shown in the medium close -up of Marina reading

the Jenni fer Haymore book Secrets of An Accidental Duchess , about a beaut i ful

woman that has been treated special ly seen chi ldhood, however she has a

bold, independent spi r i t and passion that proper young ladies must never

confess, implying that th is is what Marina is l ike.

The pink s i lky dress that Marina is seen to be wearing has connotat ions of

seduct iveness, again suppor t ing the narrat ive.

Marina’s make -up with in the v ideo has di f ferent connotat ions, the br ight red

l ipst ick again has connotat ions of seduct iveness, however the love hear t on her

cheek has connotat ions of chi ld ishness and immaturity.

Marina being shown on the exercise bike impl ies that to be in th is l i festyle you

have to look good and the fact that she is not taking the exercise ser iously and

doing i t in her n ighty suggests she al ready looks good enough.

MISE-EN-SCENE

The genre of Marina’s music is indie -pop

In the f i r st 30 seconds of the song the music is calm and almost l ike a lul laby

and then a strong beat comes in and the song becomes pop

This could represent how Marina would be in a re lat ionship, n ice at f i r st and

then when she gets the l i fe and money that she wants , a man has to do th ings

for her ‘Buy a big diamond r ing for me?’ ‘Would you get down on your knees for

me?’

At many points of the v ideo i t is dieget ic as Marina is per forming the song.

Imply ing that she is not afra id to te l l people exact ly what she wants

SOUND

The lyr ics f rom Primadonna suggests that Marina bel ieves she would have the

g lamorous l i festy le of the r ich and famous and she bel ieves a man should

prov ide th is for her : ‘Buy a big diamond r ing for me?’ & ‘L iv ing l i fe l ike I ’m in a

dream’.

The lyr ics a lso suggests that Marina is not fa i thful to her boyfr iend/husband

and only wants h im for h is money ‘Got you wrapped around my f inger, babe,

you can count on me to misbehave’ . When she says that she has h im wrapped

around her f inger i t re inforces that she can get anyth ing she wants , wi thout

be ing fa i thful or even n ice to h im.

The lyr ics ‘Everyday is a chore , chore , chore ’ suggests that she fee ls she

shouldn’ t have to ask for the th ings that she wants , she should just be g iven

them.

NARRATIVE - LYRICS