Textual Analysis of Music Videos

I have analysed 2 videos taking Goodwin's principles into account and also taking note of the directors use of cuts.

Name of track: Te Amo
Artist: Rihanna
Director: Anthony Mandler

Genre Characteristics:

Rihanna's general genre of music is R&B, which tends to have genre characteristics in music videos of highlighted sex appeal of women which is seen very much throughout this video. We also see evidence of voyeurism, which is also sometimes a genre characteristic of R&B music videos, especially with well known female artists. However, this song has a very Spanish feel to is (intentionally because of the title and lyrics 'te amo') which has been portrayed in the video in the use of mise en scene. The colours red and black are used frequently and there is also a warm, gold tone to some of the scenes because of the fire which would be associated with this type of music.

What is the relationship between music and visuals?

There seems to be a clear relationship between lyrics and visuals, as the whole video generally depicts the story of the song. The story involves Rihanna's character being pursued by a female friend who has developed sexual feelings for her, however Rihanna just sees her as a friend. Even though these feelings are portrayed in the video, in some scenes we get the message that Rihanna's character does actually have feelings for the other woman (who is played by French supermodel Laetitia Casta). We see this in scenes such as the one starting at 1 minute 50 seconds in, we then see multiple cuts back to this scene throughout the video. So although Goodwin suggested that there should be a relationship between lyrics and visuals in all music videos, this only seems to be partially the case in this video. We also see evidence of the director going against Goodwin's theory at 3 minutes 12 seconds into the video, where the lyrics clearly say: 'She said "Te amo" then she put her hands around my waist, I told her no', however in the clip Rihanna's character shows no objection to the female putting her hands around her waist. This was probably done as part of the voyeurism and sex appeal of the video. There also seems to be a relationship between music and visuals, as at the beginning of the video there are extremely quick cuts to go along with the beat of the music. This is continued throughout the video at times and allows the music to engage with video and gives the video the same rhythm as the music. Upon trying to count how many cuts there were throughout the video I continually lost track because of the extremely fast cuts at the beginning and during the chorus. However, I learned that apart from in these extremely fast cuts there seemed to be a cut every 2 seconds which makes me think the video has roughly 210 cuts.

Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?

Throughout the video there are many close ups and medium close ups of Rihanna throughout the video, which shows that her audience is mostly captured by her image. These shots were also used to add to the voyeurism and sex appeal of the music video. We see such shots at 28 seconds into the video, 1 minute 2 seconds in, 1 minute 10 seconds, etc.

Is there any reference to the notion of looking?

Rihanna looks into the camera at points in the video, such as at 1 minute 10 seconds in and 1 minute 18 seconds in. This allows her to engage with the viewer, holding their gaze for a second so they will continue to watch and also makes the video more personal. We also see close-ups of Laetitia Casta eyes throughout the video. However, this contrasts with the voyeuristic qualities of the video, as in such scenes where the two characters are intimate they don't look into the camera so it makes the audience feel like they are watching something they shouldn't, or 'spying' on the characters. This is effective and will make viewers want to continue watching the video.

Are there any intertextual references?

There seems to be no intertextual references in the video.

Is it based mainly on
- performance
- narrative
- a concept or idea?

The video seems to be more narrative based, with it playing out the story in the lyrics. Although Rihanna is lip synching in some scenes which could be seen as performance, the video is heavily narrative and this seems to be the main basis of it.

Name of Track: Ridin' Solo
Artist: Jason Derulo
Director: Scott Speer

Genre Characteristics:

The genre of Jason Derulo's music is mostly Hip-Hop/R&B and this song is no exception. The music video itself contains many characteristics of this genre, such as dance scenes, colourful sets with bright lights, fast paced cuts and fashionable outfits.


What is the relationship between music and visuals?

The story behind the song is basically about a man (Derulo) who has just split up with his girlfriend and is enjoying the single life. The video uses this story as its theme, however tends not to actually play out the lyrics. However, the lyrics "I'm putting on my shades to cover up my eyes" is portrayed by the use of sunglasses whenever it is played in the video, and Derulo tends to gesture this lyric with his hands. Also, as the song is about being single, the majority of the video is shots of Derulo on his own, either dancing or lip synching to the song. There is a clear relationship between the music and the visuals however, as the dance moves in the video tend to go along with the beat of the music, we see this at 30 seconds in and throughout the video. The lights in the video and the cuts are also very fast paced to keep up with the fast pace of the song. In order to get an idea about how many cuts there were I counted them and found that although the cuts were very fast at points and hard to keep up with there are roughly around 225 cuts in the video.

Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?

There are many close-ups of Derulo throughout the video (such as at 39 seconds in) because he is the main focus of the video. He is also a recognisable face just like Rihanna and viewers would stop to watch the video if they saw him, and this is also used to attract a female audience.

Is there any reference to the notion of looking?

There are a lot of references to the notion of looking in this video. At 5 seconds in we see a photo of Derulo's character's ex girlfriend. The photo seems to be looking straight into the lense and her eyes are very defined. Derulo looks at this photo towards the end of the opening scene. At 51 seconds in we see Derulo looking at himself in a three way mirror, another reference to the notion of looking. The line "I'm putting on my shades to cover up my eyes" is emphasized through dance moves and Derulo himself wearing sunglasses which is also a reference to the notion of looking. He also looks into the camera lense at times throughout the video, directly addressing the viewer. However, this is mostly done whilst he is wearing the sunglasses therefore the viewer can't directly look him in the eye. Another reference appears in the scene at 1 minute 55 seconds in where the girls in the club are looking at an iPad screen and the camera shows shots of what website the girls are looking at so the viewer can feel like they are looking at it too.

Are there any intertextual references?

There seems to be no intertextual references in the video.

Is it based mainly on
- performance
- narrative
- a concept or idea?

The video seems to be more performance based during the dance scenes and the lip synching scenes, however it is also slightly narrative based as the video does emphasize some of the lyrics and sometimes follows the story of the song.

Ideas For Music Videos

Alex Day - Georgia

My idea for this music video would be half narrative and half performance based. The narrative would follow the lyrics and explore the story behind the song:

Alex is a well known video maker on YouTube and make a video one day explaining how he found a piece of paper on the floor at a post office which had the question "Do you want Georgia to leave?" with two columns both titled 'Yes' or 'No' with various peoples names written in both columns. He explains this in further detail in this video:

He goes on to perform a song that he has written about the piece of paper and the unknown girl 'Georgia'. He then recorded this song and added it as track on his album 'The World Is Mine (I Don't Know Anything)'.

My music video for this song would follow the lyrics and try and tell the story of Georgia, trying to reanact the moment where the piece of paper was possibly passed around the classroom with actors, mixed with performance shots of Alex singing the song at a gig. I would try and keep the video fast paced to go along with the fast beat of the music, using erating, creative shots and possibly having a cut on every beat.

Snakes Hate Fire - Heartbreak Beautiful

As this band have broken up, I would be unable to film them performing so the video would have to narrative or concept based. I interpret this as a song about looking back on your life and wondering whether you've taken all the chances you could and made the right decisions. I would like to amplify this idea by using split screen showing two alternate realities: two different sides of one situation, one where the character acts out her expectations of what her life would be like and the other side showing the reality. This idea has come from seeing the film (500) Days of Summer, in which at different times in the film we see main character in a split screen, showing his expectations of situations and the reality of whats actually happening. This can be seen at the beginning of this video:

(unfortunately it is not the best quality, but you can see the basic idea)

This would be a good idea as it could tie in with the theory of intertextuality and movies and it also an original idea which I haven't seen in a music video before. I would also like to ground the video by regularly cutting back to a scene where the main character is in a tranquil location, such as a field, as this will represent her looking back on her life now she has come to peace with her reality. The large open space will represent her freedom. In these shots she will be lip syncing to some of the lyrics, or possibly writing them down in a diary of some sort of which I would do close-up shots of. The song has quite a serious tone, and I think one interpretation could be her looking back over these past events and how they have shaped her into who she is now. However, as it may not be possible to do split screen with the editing equipment I will be using, I have decided to plan for another song by the band as well just in case.

Snakes Hate Fire - Innocent

If I were to choose this song, the music video would be narrative. Unlike 'Heartbreak Beautiful' which could be interpreted in many ways, 'Innocent' has a definite story to it. The lyrics portray the thoughts of a girl whose boyfriend has just cheated on her, and how she comes to terms with the fact that she needs to leave him, realising that she doesn't need a man. In my music video I would amplify these lyrics. My main focus of the video would be the girl moving on after her she has left her boyfriend, having fun with her friends, however like in my idea for Heartbreak Beautiful I will be regularly cutting back to the character lip synching along to the words, however this could be depicted in two ways, she could be in a different place every time it pans back: like journey.

For instance, it could start with her sitting on her bed with a text from her boyfriend saying he's sorry, then cut to a flashback of how their relationship was and how she found out he was cheating, continuing with interchanges throughout the video of scenes where she is hanging out with her friends and having fun whilst getting over her relationship, meeting new people and possibly seeing her ex with a new girl. When the camera pans back to her, she is walking down the street etc.

Each time the camera pans back, it could show her at a different stage of the journey she is making and eventually end with her knocking on a door, or arriving at her destination, and meeting her friends looking happy to show that she doesn’t need a man. The journey that she takes from her bedroom to meeting her friends could represent the journey she has taken from being in an unhappy relationship to finally being happy single.

However, another simpler idea could be to just have her staying in her room for the parts where she is lip syncing, and interchange this with shots of her going out with friends, having fun whilst they help her get over her ex, etc. As this song is more upbeat that 'Heartbreak Beautiful', I think I would prefer to make this video more light-hearted and fun, focusing on the character being happy single instead of on the actual break up.