Textual analysis – Wiz Khalifa - See You Again

Textual analysis – Wiz Khalifa - See You Again ft. Charlie Puth

 

Narrative

The narrative of this song is all about a man called Paul Walker, he a famous actor that featured in all the Fast and furious films, however in 2013 he sadly passed away due to a high speed car crash. This came as a shock to family, friends and fans and meant that his brother had to be the actor for his final scenes. Moreover, so the storyline is about how they have lost their truly wonderful friend and how one day there will see him again. This music video has both a narrative and performance structure, the use of musical equipment such as pianos connote that’s its performance and then there is acting which connotes it’s also a performance video.

 

Visual codes

The video is set primarily at the beach side, on top of what looks like cliffs and then gradually as the video progresses it is set on the beach. Due to the fact we see the sea and sand it clearly connotes that’s where it is set. Black is the dominant colour that is seen I the video, e.g. black cars, black clothing etc. black is a symbol of death and this links in well because the song is dedicated to Paul Walker and he sadly passed away. There are also written graphics towards the end of the video, it simply says “For Paul”, this is a nice touch to end the video as he was such as well-liked man and his close families wanted to give something back in the sense of the video which is such a nice send off. Moreover, the body language of each character is quite relaxed, they are mostly seen to sit and watch the memories they have of Paul. Also, the clothes they are wearing e.g. shorts, thin shirt etc. connote that the weather is warm and you get a summer vibe from this.

 

Genre

The genre of this song is hip hop, however the artists and different, Wiz Khalfia is preferably a rapper but also likes to do a bit of RnB and Charlie Puth is RnB which means that the artists and the song itself do not match. When I first listened to the song, I knew it was going to be rather sad due to the fact they are remembering someone’s life and also the slow tempo and use of small montages of Paul Walker makes the audience want to watch it.  However, on the other hand I did not expect to see Wiz Khalifa in the video as he’s a rapper and I wouldn’t of thought he’d do a song like this but when someone passes away it brings people closer and they all want to do what they can to remember them for the great person they are. Also, in hip hop videos you tend to see a number of tracking shots which are seen visibly within this video which connotes that the genre is hip hop.

 

Technical codes

Throughout the whole piece there are a variety of different shots, ranging from a close up to an establishing shot. We see the establishing shot at the start which shows the night sky and the different buildings and then it pans into the fast and furious crew standing up. This shot has been used to show the surrounding’s and setting of where they are filming and familiarises the audience of where they are situated. Moreover, as we get towards the middle of the music video, we see a close up of Vin Diesel and then they camera focuses back of Paul Walker, this idea of this shot was to show the facial expressions on his face. The camera at the end follows Paul as he and Vin Diesel go different ways, the idea of this tracking shot is to tell the story and to let the audience know that he is no longer with us and that we will see him in another life time. The editing within this video is fast with lots of transitions and fast cuts, the whole idea of this is to show a variety of different clips/images of Paul so that everyone can share the memories of him.

 

Organisation

The record company plays a major role in the music video as they get to decide on what they want in the video and the type of theme. However, for this music video it was a lot different as they weren’t doing it to make as much money as possible, they were simply doing it as an appreciation for what a great man/actor he was and as a record company they wanted to help as much as possible so that there is always something there to have as a memory of him.  The music video wasn’t promoted as such as it was played at the end of the latest ‘fast and furious’ film and then the whole idea was to make the audience like the song and then they would go home and buy it but it wasn’t created for profit.

 

Audience

This music video has multiple audiences however it would probably be capped at about 50+ because the song was part of the ‘Fast and furious’ film which is typically aimed at the younger generation from 15 – 30 therefore I think it would have the same target audience. The video can be enjoyed by all age groups, demographics and genders. The target audience can access the film in a variety of ways because accessing music I this day and age is very easy so sites like YouTube, Spotify, iTunes and purchasing it in store is another option but the easiest ways are the sites I have listed. The audience need to know a bit about Paul himself, what has happened (him passing away), and the acting side of him, this is because the narrative will not make any sense to them. The use of the gratification model is used within this music video as this video has a clear message in which the audience use the text and are not used by it. The line “it’s been a long day without you my friend, I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again”, is a powerful line which can have an impact on people who have recently lost a loved one and makes them feel at ease knowing they will see them again.

 

Representation

This music video creates a saddened mood due to the fact they are remembering someone’s life and the use of small montages of him are sad because you realise that could be one of your loved ones. The dominant ideologies within this video are all middle aged and are all roughly the same age as Paul. There isn’t a clear representation of gender though because there is a mixture of both males and females rather than there being one dominant gender although the singers are males the other people who feature vary in gender. The producers clearly tried to incorporate both genders into this piece otherwise it would be classed as discrimination and also it means that there is a sense of equality.