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.

 

 

Textual Analysis – Taylor Swift – Wildest Dreams

Textual Analysis – Taylor Swift – Wildest Dreams

 

Narrative

The storyline of the video is she’s in love with a man but they are always falling out and arguing. It’s a very basic storyline where they argue and make up multiple times. The theme within this video is love and all to do with being hurt and how at the end Taylor is hurt as the man she loves is walking down the aisle with another woman. I believe this relates to the Todorov theory as it has a recognisable structure I the sense that they love each other, then they hate each other and then they love each other again. It’s the classic storyline where the couple have love and hate at the same time however normally it’s happily ever after but with this video it’s not as Taylor is upset as he’s got another woman.

 

Representation

Within this music video, throughout the piece there is an issue when it comes to representation in terms of ethnicity as the only ethnicity you see is people of the white race and other ethnic groups are not see what so ever. In addition to this, they were filming in what looked like Africa which is where the black race originate from therefore to not include someone of that race seemed somewhat strange. The person playing the main character is in fact Taylor swift herself so she’s acting as well as performing.

 

Audience

The target audience for this piece is teenage girls/women between 14 – 20 and I believe the audience has been targeted correctly, this is because of the love/romance sort of teenage first love. Accessing the video for the target audience will be easy as they will most likely use YouTube. ITunes or Spotify. This are the most common methods within the age group and due to the fact YouTube is easy to access and most importantly it’s free of charge to all users. Moreover, the key signifiers that indicate that this video is for this particular target audience is that throughout there is a love/romance theme and Taylor is the girl that loves this man so much that she can’t help but keep going back to him and this is the same with teenage girls who have their first boyfriend.

 

Organisation

The record company plays a big part in the music video as they have their say in what they want in the music video, how they want it set out etc. they will do wat they can in their power to own the company as much money as possible. Moreover, the star (Taylor swift) is promoted using different social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. For this music video Taylor used her big fan base and promoted through twitter and by tweeting when her song will be out and music video etc. this excited her fan base as they were waiting for ages to know when it was going to be released and Taylor updated them every step of the way. 

 

Technical codes

The first camera shot we see is an establishing shot; this shows the surroundings of where they are filming and believe this shot starts the music video off nicely. Towards the middle of the music video you can start to see that there are shots that are repeated a lot and in this case it is close ups. These are used to show the emotion on her face and this helps to tell the story as one minute she’s happy and all loved up but then other times she’s upset and angry and the camera helps to add to the effect.  Furthermore, the editing within this video is very fast, there are frequent cuts and transitions throughout, and this creates an excited very fast atmosphere. It’s the sort of song that you would listen to if you are in a good/excited mood.

 

Visual codes

The video is set within Tanzania, although I knew this already due to Taylor swift updating her twitter page most days but there are connotations that it is set in Tanzania as there are animals such as lions, giraffe’s and elephants etc. also, there are jeep like cars that you tend to see within Africa in the desert which are generally associated with Africa and obviously Tanzania is in Africa. Furthermore, at the start there are three written graphics which are after one another. The first one says “Taylor Swift”, the next one says “A film by Joseph Kahn” and the one after that says “wildest dreams”. This typography is good as it clearly states the artists name, who produced it and the title of the song.

 

Genre

The genre of the music video is pop and the artist is also pop, this makes it suitable as the artist and the song fit into the same genre which generally makes it more enjoyable for the viewer. At the beginning of the music video I could clearly establish that the theme was love/romance and therefore you could tell what the storyline was going to be about however there was a point in the video that I thought was unexpected and this was at the end where she’s upset/unhappy as stereotypically

Textual Analysis - Plan B

Plan B – Writings on the wall

The music video for Plan B ‘writings on the wall’ has been clearly thought out, in the sense that some of the stuff they do is rather intelligent.  The typical music is pop and rap and this song fits in with those genres. The whole narrative of this video is quite basic and is not hard to understand. It begins with a man and his wife and he is having an affair and therefore does not spend a lot of time with her. There is a reference to Stevie Wonder 'Superstitious' in this video. In the music video the wife cooks a meal or her husband whilst he is out with other women and having affairs from this we get the theme of love/ heartbreak. The video reflects the lyrics of the song as when she says about putting the phone down she also put her phone down within the video. Due to the fact she put the phone down and her facial expressions it is clearly shown that their relationship isn’t as healthy as it should be.

Within the video we see a variety of different shots, these are used to show the power of characters, there are low angles on the man which shows that he is the dominant figure within the clip whereas with the women there are a number of high angles to make her seem small/vulnerable. This is also stereotypical as in society men are seen to be the powerful gender and women are seen to be the less powerful ones. Moreover, there are also long shots within the video, this is shown when the women burns her hand on the saucepan, this could symbolise she is being burned by love for example.

The music video is set within a nightclub where 'Strickland Bank' is performing. This shows us that there are connotations of rock and celebrities. The text shown on the nightclub outlines his name and shows the camera highlighting the fact it is sold out, this gives connotations that he is popular. Moreover, the lighting within the clip is varied throughout, we see low key lighting a lot which shows that he doesn’t want to be seen/recognised because maybe he has done something wrong and it also shows he’s sinister/secretive.

Gender is shown within this music video as there are men and they are not seen in a positive light due to cheating and lying. Whereas the females are seen as naïve and all they are capable of is caring for children and staying at home making the house look presentable whilst the man is out at work earning the money. The most stereotypical representation of gender in this is when the woman is in the kitchen cooking for her husband. The artist 'Plan B' has been presented as a star, he is playing a character called 'Strickland Banks' who is a singer that is similar Plan B. he is shown to be a successful man however he’s being held back by the woman which is very sexist and unfair.

Furthermore, I think that the target audience for this music video is 15 – 25 as this is the gender gap that are most affiliated with rap/pop. Also, the video itself is what this age group like to do, it is set in a club where this age group are most seen and some of what is happening in the video relates to their current relationship.

 

 

Britney Re-make Video

This was our media class's Britney re-make video. We did this as a class because it meant that we didn't have to do a lot of work as it was divided equally between each group. Moreover, the main reason we did this was to get an understanding of lip syncing and see how the song fits with the movement of someone's lips. This was helpful as it meant that we had a chance to develop our skills on this one before we went on to make our actual music video which is part of our qualification.

Britney re-make shotlist

This is the shot list for the Britney video, however because we did it as a class activity this is only a section of the video that was given to my group. The list shows the shot that is used in that particular section, the duration and a small description so that when we are re-creating it we do not forget that the shot shows which is important for consistency within the video.

	Shot	Duration	Description
1	Close up	1 sec	Shows a student’s foot tapping the table repeatedly
2	Medium Shot	2 sec	Britney tapping her pencil on her book repeatedly whilst teacher is watching
3	Medium shot	1 sec	Camera focuses on clock – shows that the students keep watching the clock as they want to leave
4	Close up	1 sec	Camera focuses on Britney’s facial expression which shows she clearly wants to leave
5	Medium/close up	2 sec	Teacher staring at Britney
6	Close up	1 sec	Camera reverses back to Britney again which shows her facial expression – bored
7	Close up	2 sec	Camera zooms in on the clock but even more this time
8	Medium shot	2 sec	Camera is now focused on the bell which is another sign Britney can’t wait to leave
9	Long shot/camera tilted up	2 sec	Camera place at the back of the classroom showing the students quickly walk towards the door – also shows the teacher making her look powerful
10	Medium shot	1 sec	Britney leaving the classroom
11	Medium shot	1 sec	Also showing Britney leaving the classroom
12	Long shot/high angle	1 sec	Students running out of the classroom

Britney re-make storyboard

This is my Britney re-make storyboard that includes screenshots from the actual music video to help me with framing when creating the re-make. Each image shows the video from start to end. So when I am creating it I can refer to this so that I know I am making it correctly. The other reason I did this is because this video uses a lot of high key lighting therefore when re-creating it I need to ensure I get this lighting correct at all times.

Favourite music video

Analysis of music video – Ed sheeran - Photograph

 

 

Visual Codes

 

The song I am going to be analysing is written and sung by Ed Sheeran, the video is out of the ordinary as you do not usually see videos like this. The video is full of little clips of Ed when he was a child. It is a symbolic music video, this is due to the fact there is a montage of clips throughout and they go in a particular order as they start when he was a young baby and they go through the life cycle so as an audience member I get to see what he looked like throughout the years.

 

The theme of the video is all about childhood and stage of the life cycle, this makes the video unique is it’s not the same as others and the lyrics within the video link very well with the lyrics, for example he says “our eyes are never closing” and in the video you see a series of different image of his eyes. In addition to this, he also says “I will never let you go” as he clings on to his parents hand whilst in the sea.

 

I wouldn’t say there is any particular colour scheme that is visible throughout as the clips are all different from different stages in his life therefore it has a variety of different colours.

 

Moving on, the target audience for this video is hard to pin point as stereotypically Ed Sheeran appeals to the younger generation as he is young himself and produces music that appeals you people within the age 12 – 30. The audience itself is quite a large section of the population and you don’t usually see this however Ed is widely liked throughout the country and beyond. Moreover, I believe ‘Photograph’ targets 15 – 25 as the video could be quite hard to understand and I believe that people below that age wouldn’t understand it however they still might like the song which is fine. In addition to this. I think that there could be multiple audiences for this video, for example a parent would like this video as it would remind them of when their child was little like that.