Music Video Analysis

Pauline Okeke

Deborah Holdstein• Professor of English at Columbia College Chicago, • Film Critic, • Editor• "I think video plays a big part ... gives the band more of an

identity ... If a band's personality comes across, they're ultimately much stronger. Bands must take performance into account nowadays when they present themselves to the public. The [video] clips make you more accessible to the fans. When they come to a performance, then they bring or wear things they've seen in the video.

According to Deborah Holdstein music videos tend to divide in two categories:- Music videos with explicit political themes- Music videos who revive the traditional US film musicalHoldstein highlights that before music video the audience’ idea of an artist would be quite vague and formed through imagination, formed by listening to them on the radio or even watching them in concert. The artist are therefore able to use there music videos in order to address issues of today and portray there opinion of view upon there audience, almost coming across as political commentators.

Example- Beat it by Michael Jackson

• Michael Jackson is portrayed as a ‘fantasy’, a ‘political commentator’, or as a ‘mediator of social conflict. The song does address ‘racism’ and ‘social class’ : “They told him don't you ever come around here, don't wanna see your face, you better disappear.” It doesn't need words, it has faces, gestures, emphasis, and a narrative one could easily follow without ‘Beat It’ on the soundtrack., the mediator, has become a surreal ‘fantasy’ figure, involved yet detached from the action he seems to resolve.

Andrew Godwin

Andrew Goodwin identifies key aspects of music videos that we the audience should look out for which are:

• Seeing the sound • A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals• Narrative and Performance • The Star Image – Multiple close up shots of the artists/ vocalist • Technical Aspects of Music Video• Voyeurisms – Direct gaze at the artist,

Example- If I were a boy by Beyonce

• Goodwin suggests lyrics will make constant references to visuals on screen. Visuals will reinforce what the lyrics say. An example of this can be seen in the Beyonce- If I were a boy music video. The lyrics depict a girl saying all the things she would do and how she would act with “his” girlfriend if she was a boy. This is further emphasised on screen by the girl, Beyonce, acting as a boy and acting out the actions that she was talking about in the lyrics.

Sven Carlsson • Sven E Carlsson's theory is that binary oppositions drive the

narration of the music video forward, e.g black and white theme. Also that there are two main types of music video; performance and conceptual. Performance clips where the video mainly shows an artist (or artists) singing and/or dancing. Conceptual clips are where something else is shown during the song's duration which may have symbolism or an artistic meaning.

Performance Example- Try with me by

Nicole Scherzinger• There are three main types of performance clip; song performance, dance

performance and instrumental performance. A way of telling if a music video is a performance clip is that the artist is likely to be shown in more than one setting. 

• In performance clips the artist (artists) can be used as a commercial exhibitionist. An example of this is Nichole Scherzinger's music video for 'Try With Me'. Here, Nichole has been used as a selling item who people would aspire to be like. High key lighting is used throughout and an elegant luxurious setting makes the video appear high quality throughout. As the commerical exhibitionist Nicole wants success therefore evokes the charisma of stardom and sexuality. There are no backing dancers or special effects, all focus is on her and she is using suggestive body language in an elegant white (symbolic of purity and wealth) dress.

Narrative Examples- The A team by Ed Sheeran

• An example of a narrative clip in terms of Carlsson's theory is The A Team by Ed Sheeran. The music video is understood as a silent movie to a musical background hence it is a narrative clip. The story is easy to follow and contains no lip-synchronisation. The narrative in this video is about a women who's life is messed up and she sells love to men for money for drugs. The video is in mainly low key fitting the upsetting storyline.