Music Video

Analysis

Miley Cyrus – We Can’t Stop

Miley Cyrus – We Can’t StopOn the 3rd of June 2013, Miley Cyrus released ‘We can’t Stop’ taken from her fourth studio album ‘Bangerz’. The release of this song marked her change of sound/genre and appearance. She dyed her hair bright blonde, cut it short and changed musical genre form country/pop to a more dance/hip-hop and pop style (this is a dramatic change as country music is quite innocent and calm while hip-hop and Pop is usually a lot more explicit). Since the release of the video, on the 19th of June 2013, Cyrus has been famously criticised for her antics in the video. Though it has received mixed criticism it is clear that most people took to it in a negative way. Most of these opinions and criticisms are regarding Cyrus' increasingly provocative image, she is a classic example of ‘good girl gone bad’. The song was originally written for Rihanna which does explain some of the provocative lyrics Cyrus has interpreted as her own.

The video racked up 10.7 million views in the first 24 hours of its release.

This video includes more Rap and hip-hop conventions than that of a Pop music video. Cyrus has drastically changed her main genre of music from County Pop to Hip-Hop & Rap.Looking at the hip-hop and rap aspects of the video there are several references to her being a ‘good girl gone bad’ in the video. Within the first second she is seen trying to cut an Electronic ankle tag off her leg, depicting to us she is trying to break free and that she is as bad as a criminal.

Reinforcing the hip-hop/rap genre you also see her and her friends rolling around the floor grabbing and smoking illegal substances, again showing the criminal aspect of it. The lyrics ‘we cant stop’ accompanies this nicely as it could looked at as an addiction, they cant stop smoking illegal substances -literally.

The lyrics "dancing with molly", is a reference to using ecstasy (molly being a slang term for ecstasy). More lyrics such as, "trying to get a line in the bathroom” refer to doing a line of cocaine in the bathroom.

Grills are notably worn by rappers. In rap and hip hop culture, grills is jewellery worn over the teeth, similar to braces. Grills are made of metal and are removable, they often have a lot of diamond in too and are used to reflect the person wearing them, being wealthy and stylish. At the start of the video, Cyrus inserts her Grills and pulls a typical rappers face. This could be linked to her inserting her change of genre and appearance.

Screen Shots

Screen Shots

Genre and Conventions

Outfits/CostumesHere she wears a fur coat while carrying a very skinny almost furless dog.

Here she wears a see through body suit of which there are ‘X’ covering her bodily parts. She holds a Barbie doll also wearing the same outfit.

Here she wears very short black shorts and a cropped top.

Here she wears very short black shorts and a cropped top.

Here she wears a white bodysuit with the logo ‘DOPE’ on the chest.

Here she wears a white crop top with pants.

All of the outfits she wears in this video have been disapproved of as they quite provocative and she is wearing very little in all outfits. She has been branded a bad influence.

Screen Shots

In the video, Cyrus’ main outfits are all the colour white. White is a colour that represents purity, when women they get married, some often where pure white to show they are pure and sinful. Miley on the other hand is clearly not pure in the video, the song include lyrics of a provocative and explicit nature, as well as there being moderate drug references throughout. Nothing in the video is of decency.

‘The male gaze’ theory by Laura Mulvey can be used on this video. Throughout the whole video we are viewing Cyrus from what a heterosexual man would like to see. There are many close up shots of her body and her skin (showing how little she is wearing); this does regulate her to the status of an object (she is being shown off as if she can be sold). The camera lingers on her body for most of the video, while she pulls what can be seen as ‘seductive faces’. She is being shown off to the world and does not seem to mind, in fact it appears to be her choice when looking at the lyrics. The main focus of the video is her body, she has clearly lost weight and is now much skinnier, changed her hair and her overall image, this video truly emphasises this. She has gone for the typical ‘Blonde Ambition’ (using your body/looks to get what you want). Blonde Ambition is also used to describe Brunettes who dye their hair blonde as the think they will be treated better. It is apparent she is going for the image ‘Blondes have more fun’ and ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’.

BeforeAfter

Screen Shots

Image 20132010

Lighting• The main areas of the video the lighting is exceedingly bright, making her white

outfits intensely lighter and adding a lot of contrast to her surroundings, though most of the backgrounds in the video are also white. The light is always most reflective on her in attempts to accentuate her body shape.

Screen Shots

• The end clip of the video is Cyrus in a darker setting among friends, wearing darker clothes. The sun appears to be setting in the background and there is no direct light shining upon her. It appears as if she started off pure in the start of the video (wearing white) and ended becoming sinful (wearing black) and the rest of the video is the transition – she becomes increasingly explicit and provocative from start to finish.

Product Placement/ Synergy

Cyrus’ video endorses spherical lip balm product ‘EOS’ or ‘Evolution Of Smooth’. Cyrus is seen with a collection of them in video, then making a choice of which one she wants to use and eventually using it. The first shot of the lip balm lingers on the logo for awhile. The producer of the video has clearly made sure the logo is on show at all times in this section of the video.

EOS

Beats

Cyrus also endorses the beats ‘pill’, a new portable stereo in the shape of a pill. As she presses the volume on the pill to increase, the actual song increases.Beats by Dr Dre are a famous Specialist Headphone and speaker brand, co founded by rapper Dr Dre, the Parent of the Company now being Apple. This brand has become one of the one of the most popular and iconic Audio and Consumer Electronics brands in the world, being valued at 1.5 billion as of 2014. She would have been paid a significant amount of money from endorsing this product and brand alone, the fact that it is in the format of a music video which has had its fair share of airing on Music Television (MTV, Viva,) and Online (YouTube, Vevo etc.) shows how much money potentially could have been made from endorsing this product.

Screen Shots

Screen Shots

Many celebrities have endorsed the brand beats By Dr Dre

Celebrity AppearancesCelebrity producer and the man responsible for this song Michael Len Williams II, aka ‘Mike WiLL Made It’ appears briefly in this video. Mike WiLL executive produced her album Bangerz.

Since this video was released, ‘Twerking’ a provocative dance (if done correctly) has gone global. This is because Cyrus is seen attempting it in the video as well as singing about it. She has become famous for not being able to ‘twerk’ very well and has also been greatly criticised for this.

Other Issues

Screen Shots

Screen Shots

Eminem - Stan

About the song• Stan was the third single released from The Marshal Mather's LP on December 4,

2000. The song was a originally recorded over a year earlier in November 1999. The original length of the song is 6.44 minutes long while the radio edited version stands at only 5.32 minutes long. This is because the song strongly depicts an over obsessed fan of Eminem writing letters to him about his life in an almost sadistic nature. Throughout each verse ‘Stan’ becomes increasingly infatuated and fixated on Eminem to the point he ends up killing himself and his pregnant girlfriend by driving off a bridge in to the sea. The song ends with Eminem replying to Stan's letters saying he hasn't had a chance to and trying to , ending with him slowly realising he has already learned of Stan's death on the news. It is easy to see the two perspectives. The video and song are both not very conventional of the rap Genre.

About the Video

The video is Narrative storytelling Video, it has been noted as ‘film like’ because it is exceedingly longer than the average music Video (the short version being over six minutes long). The song and video have been massively praised for Eminem's grasp on Fan Addiction and Obsessions. The video is set from perspectives of both Stan and Eminem. The first 3 verses of the song from Stan's perspective as he writes his letters to Eminem you see all of his encounters that he writes about. When in the fourth verse Eminem reply's to Stan's letters, you see how Eminem was not entirely at fault for not seeing Stan on these occasions. He apologises when it cuts to clips of a news program playing the news of Sans death. He says he saw a kid on the news that made him sick and slowly realises the ‘kid’ is Stan. It ends with Stan's image being shown in the lightning strike by the window and Eminem's ‘Damn’.Throughout the video thunder and lightning can be heard and seen. The sound of a pencil scratching (writing on paper) can also be heard during Stan's verses. In the song, Stan says ‘ I read about your Uncle Ronnie too, I'm sorry, I had a friend kill himself over some bitch who didn't want him. This is haunting as Stan kills himself because eminem does not want him.

Genre/Conventions• The genre of the song is indeed rap, however it does not include the majority of Rap

conventions. Rap conventions include the rappers talking about money, sex, wealth, women, gangs and rivalry. Though money, sex, wealth, gangs and rivalry are not associated in this song. Women however are less formerly. You know by ‘Stan's’ characteristics in the song that he suffers with mental health issues and has quite the temper. In the video he is fairly rough with his girlfriend (Dido) and due to his troubles with contacting Slim ends up tying her up and putting her in the boot of their car. He does mention while recording a tape for Eminem that he ‘didn’t slit her throat’ (as Eminem would in his songs), he just tied her up and declaring he isn't like Eminem as he does want his girlfriend to suffer more by suffocation. He ends up killing himself and his girlfriend by driving over a bridge.

• Eminem has previously been criticised for having double standards on the way females should be treated. He has in the past called women ‘whores’ and frequently rapped about how they should be treated and how he would treat them (violently), even rapping about slitting his ex wife and mother of his children's throat and disposing of the body. On the other hand, when rapping about his daughters he tends to be sweet and sincere, never mentioning them in a negative way and being very protective over them, also warning other rappers to leave his daughters out of it and not to mention their names.

LightingIn the video, lighting is used to foreshadow danger. Whenever something bad is about to happen there is lighting strikes outside that light up a character to show they are in danger. This is a reoccurring factor throughout.In the opening sequence, the we are shown the outside of a houses upstairs window. The house looks old and worn and the use of the rain and lightning lighting up the house adds to the affect of ‘a broken home’. The video then continues getting closer to the window until you can see through it.Because Dido is innocent in the whole video, when the light flashes on her it makes her lighter, showing us that she is pure (white is seen as pure). However when lightning strikes with Stan around the room he is in becomes lighter and he himself becomes darkened. These images are a screenshots from the video that reinforce this.

The whole video is darkly lit/tinted in order to make the presence of light and lightning seem more dangerous. The lightning foreshadows the inevitable things that are about to occur (Stan going crazy with rage and desperation). These images are a screenshots from the video that reinforce this.

In concert Footage• The music Video ‘Stan’ includes a short clip of Eminem performing, you can also see Stan in the

audience with his younger brother. You see Stan smile in appreciation and awe while he watches Eminem in the front row. He appears to be quite emotional. This clip is played while the lyrics are:

• “If you didn't want to talk to me outside the concert you didn't have to, But you could've signed an autograph for Matthew, That's my little brother man, He's only 6 years old, We waited in the blistering cold for you, For 4 hours and you just said "No“, That's pretty s***** man, You're like his f****** idol, He wants to be just like you man, He likes you more than I do”.

• The visuals do reflect the songs lyrics, you see them in concert and then later waiting out side in a mass of people while waiting to hopefully meet Eminem.

• ‘Stan’ and his brother were most probably filmed after the actual concert occurred, and the video shots of them later added during editing. Having in concert footage truly shows us how Stan obsession was progressing. The fact that he took his six year old brother to a Explicit Rap concert is shocking as it is not appropriate. In Stan's verse he says, 'You're like his f****** idol, He wants to be just like you man, He likes you more than I do’. This most probably not the case, Stan's brother looks bored throughout, though he is a fan of Eminem, in all the shots of him you can see how Stan is the one really enjoying himself. It implicitly becomes apparent Mathew, (Stan’s brother) wants to be like his brother not like Eminem.

• At the end of the full version of the video, you can see Stan's brother unveil his new bleached/dyed hair, just the same as his brother (a further attempt to be like Eminem), while at Stan’s Funeral by his grave stone. This shocks his mother.

Screen Shots

News Clips• All versions of the video include staged news clips of Stan's car being found in the river as a

reporter is explaining what has happened, you can hear her speaking in the background. There appears to be a lot of traffic as Stan's suicide has clearly caused a lot of commotion. It is the day after and it is still raining heavily, the use of this pathetic fallacy truly emphasises the impact of Stan's death.

Voice Over• While Eminem is singing and performing the song, in the video, it is made to like Stan is the one singing

using a voice over. To do this the actor playing Stan would have had to memorise the words to the song and then himself perform/sing them while he is acting in order to make it look realistic. Though at the end of the video the perspective of the signer changes and it becomes Eminem replying to Stan's letters. Eminem does not voice over all the words as he is thinking about what he had earlier heard on the news.

Change of Perspective• At the very start of the video we see things from Dido's perspective briefly. We are introduced

to the fact she is heavily pregnant and how she is being affected by Stan's change in personality and appearance. After the first chorus ends, we then begin seeing things through Stan's perspective. Throughout the majority of the video we are seeing things through Stan's perspective until the 4th verse where Eminem replies to Stan. While we are seeing Stan's perspective it appears as if Eminem does not care about his fans or Stan, but when we do see things through Eminem's perspective, we do see that he cares and that sadly he just has not had the best opportunity to see Stan dues to overcrowding, etc.

Start FinishEminemStanDido

Censorship• Dido has specified that she was indeed gagged in the

third verse of the video, but this has been censored so broadly that versions of the video with her gagged are enormously rare.

• There are several versions of the video. The full uncut version is no longer played on any music channel.

• In the Official short version of the video that is played on most television/music channels (at 6mins long), in the final clip you see ‘Stan's’ face flash on the window as there is a lighting strike and Eminem realises he already knows of Stan's death. It appears that Stan is looking at Eminem, though it is from a clip previously used. Many people fail to notice this.

A picture of the original version with Dido Gagged.

Other IssuesThe name ‘Stan’, since the song and video were released, has become a popular term for an overly-obsessed fan of someone or something, mainly used in the Rap community and other celebrities. Putting it into context, fans of celebrities would say, ‘I Stan for you’ which could also be associated with ‘I Stand for you’. Others view it as a mixture of ‘Stalker and Fan’ both of which the Stan is, in the Music Video and Song. It can be used as a Noun or Verb.The Gay and Lesbian Alliance fought against Eminem for Defamation over his lyrics ‘

Coldplay - Paradise

About the Song and Video

VideoThe video was released on 19 October 2011. Coldplay originally announced that the songs music video would be directed by Hype Williams but that version of the video was later scrapped after shooting it. Coldplay then decided to record a new version directed Mat Whitecross. The video is styled like a nature film documentary, the concept was thought up by Chris Martin. In the video, Chris Martin plays a man dressed as an elephant that escapes Paradise Wildlife Park in London (a zoo) and attempts to hitch-hike his way to another country and eventually gets there by stowing away inside a suitcase. He ends up in cape town, and continues travelling from there. The music video was shot on location in London, Cape Town, the Klein Karoo in the Western Cape and Johannesburg.

SongThe song was released on 12 September 2011. It is 4 and a half minutes long and is of the genre Alternative Rock.

These screenshots from the beginning sequence of the video show a vividly orange sunset with wild animals in the foreground. The setting itself as well as the visuals are picturesque and link with the name of the song ‘Paradise’. There is also a clear relationship with the lyrics of the song and the visuals.

The next shot you see juxtaposes the previous. You go from seeing real life animals in the wild to someone dressed as an elephant in a zoo. You can immediately tell that the person elephant does not want to be there whilst also implicitly telling us that animals kept in captivity “are not real” just like there surroundings, trying to show us that it is not fair. The person has his hands on the rails of the gate as if waiting for help/to be let out. You instantly feel be for this character.From this camera angle, it places the audience outside the gate, just like at a zoo we are watching this ‘animal’. We are looking directly at him vice versa. The surroundings have a strong contrast to paradise.After this we are taken inside the gates as we see the elephant counting the days he has been inside which explicitly references imprisonment and being in prison. The surroundings are gloomy and there are gates all around him. The continuation of the elephants presence show us there is a narrative. He next continues to shake the gates in an apparent cry for help.

The video has a narrativeScreenshots

He eventually breaks the lock on the gate and runs free, being chased by police men. Various camera angles are used to show the chase. He finds a bike in the floor and use it to make his escape. The setting shows how high the gates of the zoo are and through the next shots how close to civilisation it is.

The elephant peddles through the streets of London on his new acquired bike. He soon ditches it and heads for the London underground to catch a tube. The band have used well known locations to show explicitly show us that it is not a natural setting for an elephant to be in.

All of this happens before the first line of the song is even sung. As the first line is sung, it switches to a shot of the elephant holding up piece of cardboard which also says the same line.

“When she was just a girl,” – Coldplay

Various other shots are used to show us how odd it is for an elephant to so easily be roaming London. The use of such familiar locations really adds emphasis to this.

The elephant regularly looks at the camera which reminds us that this is a nature documentary. He is fully aware he is being followed with a camera and even enjoys putting on a show for us.

Close ups of his location/ desired location are used to help us decipher his journey. Everyday signs we see often are used to do this.

This panning shot is used to show he has finally reached his location. The use of a long shot emphasises the importance of this location to the elephant.

Mis En sceneTypical British things like news papers and magazines are common in this video. These types of props are used to show the vast contrast of setting once he ventures abroad. You'll notices there is little props used in the footage from Africa.

In this shot we see the elephant reaching for some spilt peanuts with his trunk. This shot is effective as it adds humour to the video. The peanuts, his trunk and a flight attendant are the only focus in the shot. The peanuts being central adds significance to them.In this shot you'll see he has contained himself in an old suitcase and is riding the conveyor belt to the bagging area. This also adds humour as he has left his trunk out for air. The simplicity of the props in the shots make it easier to understand the concept and meaning of the video.The use of these cardboard cut outs remind of the song itself paying to guide our attention away from the visuals, despite being a visual. The cardboard cut outs have the lyrics-playing on them. He also has a Pease Give sign in the background as he is trying t make some money by performing the song.

• Chris Martin wears this elephant costume for the whole video, only briefly taking the head of the costume off for some air. They costume is made of a body and a head. The costume does somewhat resemble an elephant but it is clear the humorous side of things was also considered whilst picking. The elephant costume is more cartoon like than a real elephant.

Outfits/Costumes

When making the video Chris martin asked for the least serious looking elephant costume they could find.. This is because they didn't want the seriousness of the song to hinder the vision of paradise, the video isn't about the elephant himself, it is about his journey to paradise, thus the way the elephant looked was not important. This is most probably why Martin decided to take the elephants head off whilst filming to allow us to remember it is still about a human.

Editing TechniquesThe majority of the shots in the video cut on the beat.These screenshots here are a good example of this. The lyrics these shots play on are “dreamed of Para-Para-Paradise”

The use of the cardboard signs are effective as well as the movement of his position but the same camera angle. The use of this technique is repeated at the start of the second verse.

Para

Para

Paradise

As the video has a narrative it does not cut back to previous shots, it keeps moving forward. You never see a shot twice and the location changes vastly throughout. The video as a whole has still managed to keep to a familiar rhythm and kept the shot changes to the beat.

Lighting• For the majority of the video the shots a naturally lit.

Some artificial lighting is used but nothing substantial nor obvious. The areas used to film are all very bright and mass of the video is shot outside in very sunny locations. Silhouetting is also used in the shots filmed in Africa. The use of focus on a bright background is used to allow the colour and clarity of the foreground to fade creating a silhouette effect. This is done several times throughout the film.

Audience and Demographic

Genre and Conventions

The audiences ages varies. This song was very popular among all ages despite the genre regularly targeting 16-32 year olds. Again, with this song and video it is clear it was made to be suitable for younger and older viewers by not including nudity, violence, drugs, sexual references etc. Instead, using humour to make it suitable for all (Chris Martin dressed as a Elephant is quite amusing).

The genre of this song is Alternative Rock which emerged in the 1980s. The video for this song is not very conventional to the genre. Typical conventions of Alternative Rock video are close ups of the band with there instruments, Long Shots of the entire band, establishing shots of the scene, POV shots and hand held shots. Most videos have some kind of narrative included in them. Lots of footage of them in concert. Prominent themes in alternative rock usually refer to negative images such as drug/alcohol abuse, self harm, pain, heartbreak, depression and anxiety. Still this is the majority, many videos of this genre do have happier themes.

In concert Footage• Some in concert footage is used at the end of

the video which shows all the band with there elephant heads on. This is used to make it look as if the elephants in the video miraculously became famous singers at the end of there journey.

Sia – Elastic Heart

About the Song& Video

• Elastic Heart is a song by Australian recording artist Sia.

• It was released on 1 October 2013 at the length of 4.18 minutes.

• On 7 January 2015, the music video was released. • It was directed by Sia and Daniel Askill and

choreographed by Ryan Heffington.• Maddie Ziegler, who has previously been in the video

for Chandelier by Sia, and actor the Shia LaBeouf play the main roles in the video.

Concept• The video depicts two wolves (Ziegler and

LaBeouf). Ziegler plays the stronger wolf, the pair constantly fight which is shown through their contemporary dancing. LaBeouf throughout the video is trying to become stronger whilst fighting off his enemy.

At the start of the video we see the wolves facing each other in what appears to be a face off. The pair stare each other down before finally approaching each other. The greet each other by pulling faces.

LaBeouf being the weaker wolf is shocked by her faces, retreats. Throughout the video Ziegler on various occasion throws LaBeouf around. These actions show that despite their difference in size she is in control.

The shots are kept simple in the video as it is the content which is important.

Genre Conventions• The genre of the song is Electropop.• Electropop is a genre they came about in the 1980s.• There is, if any, scarce reference to the lyrics at all. The main

focus is the story at hand in which the artist is trying to convey, by doing so as implicitly as possible. The idea of wolves came about from Sia herself who describes it as the two sides of her. It is common that videos of the Electropop genre explores voyeurism broadly. This video has been criticised for portraying themes of paedophilia; a lot of people disagree with the fact there is a man dancing with a very young girl in some graphic ways. Sia has defended this by explaining her concept more thoroughly.

• The genre of the song is reflected in the costume choice also. They are both wearing nude coloured leotards/briefs with mud smeared all over them, it is rather odd which reflects the theme.