1. Music video: Similar text analysis
Title/Artist: Jessie J – Whos Laughing Now
Genre: Pop/R&B
Target audience: Teenagers/Young adults 10 – 25
Music: Drums, Piano, Base, fast upbeat tempo.
Lyric Synopsis: The main message that is being put across through the lyrics is about
bullying, standing up to people and becoming a better person. We see this throughout the
video as Jessie J reveals to us how she was bullied as a child in school and didn’t have the
nerve to stand up to anyone. However one day she finally plucks up the courage to face the
bullies which results in her becoming confident and popular with the other children. This
later leads Jessie to become one of the most talented up and coming stars of today and she
uses this song as a way off rubbing her stardom and success to get her own back on the
bullies.
Narrative:
The narrative is non-linear as the video starts with a small girl who is meant to be a
young version of Jessie in her school days. She is walking through a corridor with
other girls her age staring and talking about her connoting that they do not like her
and that she is the victim. The video consistently changes from the flashbacks of the
young Jessie at school being bullied and teased back to the grown up adult Jessie
who is talking about her school experience. The young Jessie is sitting in class and has
her classmates shouting insults at her and pulling at her hair. “Hey Jessica you look
like an alien.” You then see the older Jessie creeping up from behind a desk in the
classroom which symbolises her rebirth and the person she has now become in
comparison with the young vulnerable girl she used to be. You then see the young
Jessie losing her temper, standing up to the bullies and walking out of the class,
slamming the doors as she walks down the corridor connoting that she has had
enough and wants to become rebellious so people will notice her. In between all of
this there are constant cuts to the older Jessie now sitting down in the classroom
singing and look really happy like she has overcome the bullies.
We then see Jessie walking through into the hall and there is a Hollywood backdrop
which she stands in front of. This symbolises that Jessie has made it big in America
with her singing and has become really successful. You then see the young Jessie
rebelling which connotes she has had enough of being treated like she is invisible as

2. she is destroying things in the school. She stomps into the lunch hall and ruins all the
lunch so the other children cannot eat which connotes that she wants payback.
There are still continuous flashbacks to the older Jessie who is still sitting in the
classroom, using a lot of hand gestures which connotes that she is confident and
doesn’t care about what anyone has to say. “She broke out of the box” connotes that
the young Jessie broke out of the quiet little girl stereotype and became something
completely different and unique. The older Jessie puts up her middle finger which
shows that she is not interested in what the school bullies have to say just to be her
friend now. The final part of the video shows the young Jessie aiming a fire hose at
the bullies and spraying them which shows her getting her own back on them for
making her life hell. She then has a bunch of the other school children jumping and
smiling behind her like they are supporting what she has just done and admire her.
She is now their heroine.
The video is mostly narrative driven which I think works extremely well as the lyrics
and music relate to the storyline which is being performed throughout the video.
Featuring Jessie J in the video, lets us know who is the song is sung by and who the
video is actually about. The mode of address in this song is mainly first person as the
artist positions the audience in her point of view as we can see different moments of
her life which lead her to where she is now. An indirect address was used for the
narrative part as the young Jessie in the video acts as if she is not being watched by
an audience whereas a direct address is used when the older Jessie sings, as she
looks straight towards the camera as if she is singing directly to us, the audience.
Themes:
There are two main themes being addressed throughout the music video which are
Bullying and courage. As most of the video is based around the young Jessie it allows

3. us to see what was going on when she was a schoolgirl and what she had to face.
Through the flashbacks of her childhood and her being teased and verbally abused,
we learn that she was victim at school and had to face a nasty bunch of girls her age.
As the video goes on we start to see the theme of courage as she stands up to the
bullies, showing them that she doesn’t want to be messed around with anymore by
causing a scene and getting her own back.
Representation:
The social issues that feature in this film are mainly based around the young Jessie
and her schooling experience. The flashbacks show scenes of how she was being
bullied and put us in her position of feeling invisible and unimportant as she doesn’t
fit in with the other children. At the start of the video the flashbacks show another
bunch of girls talking about her and sitting behind her in class pulling her hair and
kicking her chair as well as calling her names. She finally has enough and stands up
for herself which shows a growth in her personality as she realises that she shouldn’t
be treated like this. The social class is a key part of this video as the girls that are
bullying her look more upper middle class as they are dressed in pretty pink clothes
and look stuck up and spiteful, whilst Jessie is dressed in plainer boyish clothes and
looks poor and timid, a typical “girl next door” stereotype. However the roles are
reversed when we see shots of the older Jessie dressed in a designer outfit with lots
of makeup on. Also she used a lot of hand gestures, mainly pointing at the camera
which depicts that she is talking to the girl who used to bully her and is being
sarcastic about “who’s laughing now.” When the young Jessie turns rebellious it is
because she is trying to get attention and I think this is a good to see in the video
because it reaches out to other children out there who are also being bullied to show
them that they are not alone and you have to stand up to bullies.
Technical Codes:
The first shot is a slow right panning shot of what looks like a school with the bell
ringing in the background. We then see a forward CU tracking shot which shows the
back of the young Jessie’s head walking through the corridor with loads of other kids
hanging around. This puts us in the same place as if we are walking behind her and
the audience is now positioned to experience what Jessie experiences. There is a
medium CU of the four girls and we are lead to believe that they are bullies as they
look really snobby and start pointing over at Jessie connoting that she is not liked by

4. them. The music in the background resembles the noise that a chicken makes which
denotes that the bullies are actually cowards and chickens. The camera turns to a
MCU of Jessie looking at the girls and her facial expressions depict that she is quite
intimidated. There is a pan into the young Jessie which reveals what is going on
around her and how the other students are messing around whilst she is working. A
medium CU shows the girl sitting behind Jessie, pulling at her hair as we hear “oh
they pull my hair.” There are numerous medium CU of the other girls saying horrible
things to her such as “You’ve got teeth just like bugs bunny.” This connotes that they
do not like her and that Jessie is the victim of their bullying games. A CU of Jessie
raising her head depicts that she has had enough because her facial expressions have
dramatically changed. There is a quick cut to a shot of the older Jessie creeping out
from behind a desk in the classroom which denotes that she has come back to her
old classroom and is remembering how she got bullied as well as showing the bullies
how successful she has become. A CU of the teacher sleeping shows that she is not
paying attention to what is going on in the class and isn’t controlling the bullies
whilst making fun of Jessie. There are a series of jump shots that show the young
Jessie standing up and the older Jessie singing which is the first time in the video that
she really reveals herself and who she has become. She looks very confident and
proud of herself as she uses a variety of hand gestures like pointing to the camera
connoting that she has become a better person in life and wants the bullies to know.
We then see the young Jessie storming through the doors in a long shot and a few
other shots show her punching the lockers and knocking things down with her bag.
This depicts that she is now rebellious and has had enough of being treated bad.
There is a tracking shot of the back of young Jessie’s head walking towards a
Hollywood setup in the hall which resembles her journey to fame. There are a lot of
quotes in the song from what people have said to her. The young Jessie mouths
them and looks like she is taking the piss as she does it very smugly rolling her eyes in
a medium CU which denotes that she is becoming more confident and doesn’t care
about the bullies. There are still continuous cuts to the older Jessie sitting in the
classroom in the exact same chair as the young Jessie was sitting in. This depicts that
she is revisiting her childhood. On the second chorus when it says “Who’s laughing
now” we see a CU of the older Jessie laughing which connotes that she is laughing

5. directly at the bullies because she has come out on top and has done something
good with her life.
There are several shots of the young Jessie still causing mayhem, now in the canteen
throwing the plates and spitting in the food. There are also quick cuts to the lunch
lady who like the other staff in the school, does not seem bothered from the bad
behaviour by Jessie.
“She broke out of the box.” This denotes that Jessie broke out of the intimidated shy
girl persona and stood up for herself. There are more shots of Jessie messing up the
school which leads into an extreme CU of the older Jessie’s lips and her designer
watch connoting that she doesn’t care about what happened to her because she has
beaten the bullying. As she takes the piss out of the messages she has been receiving
from her school day bullies, we see a MCU of the four girls mouthing what they later
go on to send Jessie. “Oh my God babes your voice is like wow!” The MCU shows
them looking quite smug again and embarrassed because Jessie has done so well in
her life.
The final shots as the song draws to a close show Jessie spraying her bullies with a
fire extinguisher which is like she is getting her own back. We then see the video end
with the rest of her class and a lot of children standing behind her and cheering
which connotes that she was the only child to have the guts to stick up to these
bullies. Everyone admires her courage and Jessie finally looks very happy of herself.
Symbolic Codes:
(Mise-en-scene)
The whole video takes place within the school building because the song is about
being at school and what some children go through inside a school. This location
gives the audience an image of a normal life and environment however what is

6. happening to Jessie obviously isn’t normal as we find out. The young Jessie’s hair is
exactly the same as the older Jessie so we can instantly see that this is Jessie in her
school days and we subconsciously make the link. The older Jessie is wearing a lot of
make-up and has nice nails and clothes etc because she is meant to be rubbing her
fame and success into the bullies faces and getting her own back so in this video she
is showing them how she can fix herself up as they used to say she had “teeth like
bugs bunny” and taunt her about her looks.
Cultural Codes:
There are not many indications of iconography in this video to show particular
culture codes however there are subtle things can help us guess. I believe this video
is based in modern times as the way the characters are dressed shows a
contemporary style. However the young Jessie looks like she is from an average
working class family because she is wearing dull clothes and doesn’t look as wealthy
as the other children for example the bullies. In the classroom there are many
different coloured children which depicts that it is a multi cultural school.
Audience Readings:
The preferred reading for this music video was for the audience to understand that
bullying happens to a lot of people and the best thing is stand up for yourself. It’s
okay to be different and everybody experiences some sort of bullying or bitchiness
towards them during their lives. The oppositional reading of this video is that people
may think that it is promoting bullying.
Overall I really like this video and think it is a brilliant piece of work. It has both
narrative and performance based concepts as well as delivering a very strong
message that everyone should be able to relate to.