1. Analysing Music Videos
I have decided to analyse 4 music
videos within a similar genre of the
track I’ve chosen for my Advanced
Portfolio work.

2. Whilst doing this research I asked myself ten simple key questions when
watching each video:
1. What are the men/women doing?
2. How are the men/women dressed?
3. Are there more, fewer or the same number of men as women?
4. Describe the body language of those in the video, how are they
sitting, standing, gyrating?
5. Do the men/women have power? How do I know?
6. What’s the message of the song?
7. Describe the products that are highlighted in the video.
8. Are any brand names shown?
9. Focus on camera angles.
10. Look at how the shots are edited together, how does this add to the
message being told?
I also applied the theories of Goodwin, Mulvey and Archer to the music videos.

3. Intertextual reference to many different fairy tales, such as Little Red Riding Hood, and
Rapunzel and Goldilocks. All modernised to fit in with an urban culture - mise en scene
reflects this, along with the lyrical reference "little grey fairy tales". I'm not sure how this could
fit in with the genre of the music, perhaps all for creative purposes; it's all very smart and
makes the video really entertaining to watch - stands out from the stereotypical videos within
the genre. In this sense, the video applies to Andrew Goodwin's Theory - having the
intertextual reference and a relationship between visuals and lyrics.

4. Analysing the behaviour of the main woman
Aluna, her movements are strong and powerful,
proving she's someone you won't mess with,
especially when playing Red Riding Hood,
although this may be a slight characterisation
when I have watched their other videos I've
noticed she carries this attitude on throughout,
the women are seen as sexual objects to some
degree, their movements are sometimes quite
provocative in parts, but throughout the majority
of the video, I'd say that the Mulvey Theory
doesn't quite fit to the extent that extreme
voyeurism is portrayed, rather it has been played
down. All types of voyeurism have been sneakily
done with camera angles and the frequent notion
of Aluna looking at the camera straight on, unlike
in pop videos for example, when 'barely there'
costume is used and sexy dance routines.
As for the men, there are few and far between to
comment on, although those featured are quite
'hard looking' and intimidating, their costume and
body language say a lot about how they are being
portrayed.
In this shot Aluna is scantily clad
and is surrounded by men. Her
body language is quite
proactive, enforcing the Male Gaze
Theory.
Despite there not being a lot of
this type of direct representation
of her in this video, there are
definitely still elements of
voyeurism.

5. Costume/dress:
Women: Aluna changes throughout the video to keep up with change in roles she has, from
each fairy tale character to the next. The costumes are identifiable to the character she is
meant to be representing, but are modernised and often 'sexed up' showing a little bit of
skin. Although she may have a short dress on when playing Red Riding Hood, she is wearing
trainers and a hoodie - connoting the strength she has and the stereotypical attire for the
genre of music and those who may listen to it.
The other women are dressed like stereotypical chavs, with big hoop earrings and their hair
tightly on top of their heads, they aren't showing any skin suggesting only the star is the one
who needs to represented in this way, reinforcing Goodwin’s idea that the record label
demand the star to be portrayed in a certain way and the star image needs to be directly
shown.

6. Camera Angles and Editing:
There’s a low angle shot of the 'seven dwarfs‘ at the start, these are all men perhaps
indicating their strength and power, this idea is also enforced by their expressions and body
language, in the Snow White story the dwarfs protect Snow White, this is mirrored in the
video with the camera angle and their body language - men seen as powerful and
protective.
The shot changes to the camera tilting upwards from a basket of food that Aluna is carrying
(to aid the storyline of the video), and pans up her body to her face. Putting her on show
from the very beginning and reinforcing the Male Gaze Theory, demonstrating the idea that
this voyeuristic treatment of the female body will be continued. As a non media student, if I
were to watch this video before starting the course I would not have noticed this treatment
of female bodies, as it seems to be the complete norm within the media industry in this
society, but it has become more apparent to me now, its a technique used often and has
more or less become accustom to be featured. Voyeurism is then again slightly displayed in
another shot 40 seconds in, it's another tilt, starting at the feet of a woman and works its
way upwards. A high angle shot is used after this to primarily show what one of the women
are doing, but conveniently shows her body particularly her breasts.
Mainly all shots used are to tell the stories that are featured, and are then edited after each
one has 'done', for example we start with Red Riding Hood, then Rapunzel, then Goldilocks
and so on. When the video has about one minute left, like all music videos, all shots are
used, reminding the viewer of all the stories featured.

7. Camera Angles

8. Mise En Scene connotes the genre
characteristics. There's a very dark, and street
life feel going on, and this is reinforced by the
costumes of those featured, and obviously the
setting. Katy has a sort of sultry attitude that
makes the outfits she wears more feminine,
even if they aren't the most revealing nor
attractive, which may symbolise that she
doesn't use exposing her body to sell her
music or the video, rather she uses her body
language and attitude instead, which is pretty
interesting. I'm not entirely sure why she does
this, but I think it may be because she has a
very strong and powerful image, she wants to
be respected – perhaps something those
within her music genre value, respect.

9. Despite this strong and feminist attitude she portrays throughout the video, the lyrics of the
song connote a contrasting idea. “something about your eyes, the bright blue shine” “I
could stay like this for days, looking at your beautiful face” – these lyrics seem to show Katy
to be completely infatuated with someone, she’s needy for their love - “say I’m the special
one, the one you need the most”.
NME reviewed the track in here: “Surfing sublimely on a house piano beat from producer
Geeneus, this is breezy British dance queen Katy B on holiday in Ibiza, dancing with that
special someone. “Let me know what love is made of”, she sings, sounding like she’s gazing
into his eyes. The sound of sangria number three going slowly to her head”
Read more at http://www.nme.com/reviews/katy-b/14572#r0IbhDrVG045Ebhc.99
This idea is backed up by the slow and close up shots of Katy featured almost all the way
through the video, as she looks thoughtful and always as if her mind is ‘somewhere else’ –
she’s thinking about ‘him’. And then the shots of a male fitting the description shown too.
I thought that there was some similarities to the lyrics in this song, and our chosen track too.
I’m not entirely sure what our song is about, but the singer is obviously going through some
kind of emotional heartbreak “such a hurricane, such a hurting pain, trapped in my soul and
I can’t explain” “let me eat all these lies up”. It makes me think that perhaps she has done
something wrong, like cheat in a relationship, or has had somebody do this sort of thing to
her. Although I thought that maybe it’s her that has cheated, as she say’s “trying to find the
right time” as if she wants to tell him, and the connotation of “red lines” – the colour red
suggests danger or passion..

10. The video has been edited so that the majority of the
shots are quite slowed down and ‘floaty’. I discovered
that this has been created by speeding up the song
that the artist is miming to, and then film her doing
so, so when it comes to editing, they can slow down
the footage without it looking strange and obviously
way too slowed down.
I've noticed that all the different clips seem to flow into
each shot, unlike in some videos where the shot
change sort of jumps, but it looks good because of the
effect it has within the music video, this slow and
'floaty' editing really helps give the song its club
like/dance feel; it is kind of a strange thing to explain?
There are also a few clips of drag racing and car stunts
about 3 minutes in, these have been recorded on what
looks like mobile phones and give a more intimate
feel, it's also something that makes the video stand out
a little and obviously fits well with the continuous
theme of boy racers and sports cars, maybe we could
incorporate something similar to this idea within our
music video.
Unfortunately PowerPoint
wouldn’t let me embed this
video to this slide, but here
is the click through link of a
behind the scenes video I
found –
http://noisey.vice.com/en_
uk/blog/the-making-of-
katy-b-what-love-is-made-
of-video

11. Faith’s two analysed videos are on the next slide. We decided to split
this task between each of us, but equally worked together on the
majority of what we have both achieved.

12. A tracking shot is used at the start of the video
showing the girls are sat in there front garden
gossiping - just like any ordinary typical girls.
The next shot is the camera 'spying through a
pair of blinds at one of the artists, she is sat
slouching on a chair, which is not very
stereotypical for a girl, like she is waiting for
something. More single shots are shown again
of the girls, which portrays their different
personalities. Throughout the rest of the
video, the girls look they are preparing for a
party as they're dancing about 'wildly'.
Most of the camera shots are close ups
and mid shots, the close ups show the
girls being 'up in your face' and crazy.
The angles of the camera make the
house look like it has a lot of furniture in
it however there isn’t really much in it.
For the audience to like the band they
would probably have to have a crazy
personality themselves. I would say the
target audience for this song would be
teens or someone who can relate to the
band, if they have lived the same
lifestyle as them.
At the start of the video there are no men
shown but halfway through men show up to
the girls house like they're going to a party of
some sort. There are 5 boys yet only 4 girls, the
boys are dressed rather similarly to the girls
quite indie in black jeans and a denim jacket.

13. The music video then goes to single mid shots of the girls, this shows off what each girl is
wearing. The first girl which is shown has rather big, crazy hair which could connote her
personality as quite wild, she is also wearing something very showing, a bandeau top and
pleather dungarees which is cut quite low and shows off her arms and belly. This girl is
wearing the most provocative outfit out of all of them. The second girl shown is portrayed
differently, she has long curly hair and is wearing big hooped earrings. From watching several
different music videos from this genre most of the artists are wearing hooped earrings. This
girls clothing is also different to the previous, she is wearing an off the shoulder cropped t-
shirt which shows off her shoulders and part of her belly, however the colour of her shirt is
white which connotes innocence. The third girl is stood with her arms above her hair with her
hands running through her hair, because she is putting her arms up it lifts up her jumper
slightly which shows off more flesh. Finally the last girl is very different from the ones shown
previously, she seems more shy than the others as she is facing away from the camera and is
pulling her ponytail across her face. This girl is more covered up as she has a cardigan on and
not showing any flesh, she is also the girl who sings the lyrics ' their life to the full by partying
every night but also want to settle down because the lyrics say 'I just want to live a quiet life,
I'll make an excellent wife' this shows she is most probably the most serious out of all them.
The outfits change throughout the whole of the video but are mostly showing a lot of flesh
and frequent reference to voyeuristic treatment, like what has been said in the Andrew
Goodwin theory, it also relates to Laura Mulveys Male Gaze theory because they are showing
off flesh to lure men into watching the video.

14. The body language of the girls in this video is rather sexual like they are luring you in, this shows
a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals as the lyrics say 'I don't look for trouble but
trouble looks for me' is almost saying they aren't looking for trouble but they always end up
being in it whether by accident or not, and by dancing provocatively it shows they are kind of
'asking for it'. Their body language is also shown like the don't really care about anything as they
are dancing crazily around their house, also expanding on this the girl with the really big hair
sticks her middle finger up to the camera.
Shots are shown where the girls are
throwing beans around the house and
not having a care in the world. The
power in them is shown because they
are independent adults now so they
think they can do anything.
The women seem like they do have a lot of power within this
music video as they have their own house to themselves and
can do whatever they want in it.

15. At the start of the video there is an old-ish car
shown on the drive of the girls house, the
number plate says 'JUNGLE', which is basically
the name of the band. It identifies who they
are even before video starts. As the car is
rather old you either expect the band to be a
group of boys because it is a rather manly car
or you expect the girls to dress rather old
fashioned. A lot of Chihuahuas and small dogs
are shown in the video especially being sat
with the girl which was shown last, this could
symbolise that she is the more serious one out
of them all as she is the one who shows off
less flesh and dogs are something that
couples/people buy when they are settled
down in a permanent house. The products in
the house are very simple, and don't look
costly at all, this portrays that they are maybe
living like students as everything is like DIY,
however it sets the scene for the music video
very well because it gives it more of the indie
feel and shows that not all girlbands have to
have everything posh and proper, it makes
Neon Jungle rather unique.

16. The type of music this song is pop, it is very
fast paced which matches the visuals as the
shots are edited together rather quickly to
show 'trouble' and 'chaos'. The shots change
very quickly and are often repeated. The
quickness of the shots also links with the
quickness of the song, as it is a pop song it is
stereotypically expected to be a quick video
rather than a slow one. The message being
told in this song/video is that they are young
adults and want to live their life to the full by
partying every night but also want to settle
down because the lyrics say 'I just want to live
a quiet life, I'll make an excellent wife' . The
shots show craziness in the start of the video
but around the middle/end of the video the
pace slows down as they are being serious
about life and want to 'slow' down.

17. The video features a young girl slow dancing in
the middle of the stage where it looks like
people are watching but they aren't, this could
connote that she is maybe alone. The tempo of
the video is rather slow and the artists voice is
quite monotone, but the at the chorus the
tempo seems to speed up a little. The artist is
sometimes shown on screen lip-syncing, this
gives the audience an idea on who the artist
actually is, so they have an idea who she is and
maybe idolise her also.
The type of music this song is quite
dance but also house/electro. The way
the girl is dancing fits in with the dance
genre, it also makes the song sound
more interesting as the artists voice is
rather monotone so the beat of the
music livens it up a little.
There are no men in this video, it is just the artist
and the young girl who is dancing on the stage. As
there is no men in the video it could suggest the
artists hate for men as the song could also hint
about the sadness of her past relationships with
men. The young girl in the video could connote
how strong she is without the boyfriend and her
dancing proves this, she is facing her fears and
standing up to them.
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=_CLGDHpWQH0

18. The girl is dressed in a sparkly leotard which
makes her stand out a lot, although she is a
young girl quite a lot of her skin is revealed
which attracts the people to watch it. The girl is
also wearing quite a lot of make up and gems
around her eyes, as she is all silver it makes her
look like a satellite because satellites are silver. It
relates to the lyrics and title of the song.
Also the artist is wearing silver with a silver
necklace which matches the dancers costume.
Not a lot of skin is revealed on the artist as it is
only a mid close up shot, this could suggest that
she doesn’t want that much attention drawn to
her and would rather the audience focus on the
girl.

19. In the video there doesn't really seem for any
need of power, however the girl that is dancing
looks like she is trying to express her emotions
through dancing and trying to gain power over
the person who she is singing about which
could maybe be about a previous boyfriend.
However towards the end of the video the
dance movements seem to get a lot stronger
which could suggest she finally has power over
him, the dance movements are emphasised a
lot throughout the routine. Most of the shots
are shown in slow motion, which contrasts
with the tempo of the song, this looks very
effective and we thought we could use this as
an inspiration for our video.
The message of the song could be that the
artist is trying to explain a past relationship as
the lyrics say 'I’m falling down to earth, When I
get too high, You're calling get back down to
earth', this could connote that she wasn't
happy in this relationship as she was always
'dragged back down when she was happy'. As
well because the song is rather slow this could
relate to her heartbreak also.

20. The effect on the video is quite dull, it is
almost like a black and white effect. This could
connote how depressed the artist is feeling as
it reflects on her mood. As the artist is not
shown a lot and the main video revolves
around the young girl it could suggest the
artist is singing about herself when she was a
young girl, and the young girl is pretending to
be her. Also the effect links with this because
the black and white touch looks like they’re
looking back in time.
The camera angle on the artist is an high
angle shot, the camera is looking down
on the woman to maybe connote that
she isn’t so dominant and not in power.
The girl dancing is always in shot
whether it is an establishing shot or a
close up, this could connote her
importance within the video.
The products highlighted in the video are the
diamante's/gems which are on the girls eyes,
costume and also which are falling around her.
The diamonds are silver which connotes the
satellite they are singing about. Also the organ
the artist is playing behind the girl is
highlighted in the video, although she is quite
far from the camera she is always highlighted
and she stands out. The young girl also turns
back to look at the artist like for reassurance.