The genre of this music video is pop, the pace is quite fast which mimics the beat of the song. There is a very strong narrative throughout the music video. It is about everyone doing the same thing, everyone following the same rhythm and no one standing out and being different. However, what is not expected from the music video is that the artists would break away from the pattern and being different to what everyone else was doing, during the course of the music video she begins to see the world differently and therefore she starts to break away from the rhythm, it all started when she pricked her finger on the rose. The intertextual reference within this music video comes from the clothes that the artist is wearing, the outfit appears to be very similar to the outfit from the character Jane from Jetsons.
Narrative
The storyline of the music video is that the artist is going round the theme park of life and she is singing about some of the current problems in the country she lives in. Some of the key themes that are found in this music video would be the fact that your not free living in your own country, everyone's doing the same thing/ acting the same way. Nobody has the courage to stand out from the crowd. there are two main characters in this music video, the female protagonist who is the artist, and the antagonist - which in this case is shown as the government. The music video has a lot of hidden meanings throughout the video and they do help the view to understand more about the lyrics through the video however, these meanings may not be apparent to the viewer the first time they watch it. One of the rides is called the Great American Dream Drop, this particular ride is all about the American housing market and how it could plummet at any moment leaving the people inside stuck and unable to move. During the roller-coaster scene there was a lot of empathises on today's style of dating and meeting new people, at the end of the scene the two people were rated on how they look. One of the rides was called no place like home. It featured two people getting into a catapult and then it appeared that they got catapulted over a fence, connoting that this ride was similar to the number or immigrants or people of an ethnic minority are not welcome in America and the wall captioned "safe trip home" suggesting that they aren't welcome to come back.
Representation
Overall the music video is a little non stereotypical because you expect everyone to be doing the same thing whereas the reality is that the majority of the people have been pulled into the same rhythm whereas the main character (the artist) after pricking her finger on a rose begins to see the world differently and quickly begins to act differently to what she once did. The "love me" roller-coaster ride shows the representation of both gender and sexuality. Clearly shown on each seat is either a pink or a blue heart suggesting that one is for male and one is for females, once again dictating what people should do and where they should go. However, those pink and blue hearts are placed next to each other making the male sit next to the female, suggesting that this is the only way that the people can find love - with someone from the opposite sex. there is no option for a female to sit next to a female or a male to sit with another male connoting that the ride is not open to homosexual relationships. But again the ride is a metaphor for hat the artist is truly singing about which is the country she lives in - America. The artist plays a main role within the video and as she walks round the theme park we as the viewer get to see the reality unfold before her. However, that role that she play is anonymous although it does break away from the norm and that makes her stand out a little more.
Visual codes
The video is set in a theme park - this is the only location shown throughout the music video. However the theme park and the people within it look very futuristic suggesting that the problems that society and the government have now are still going to be problems in the future because they haven't accepted the change. In the beginning the artist is wearing all white connoting innocents and purity because at the time she is not fully aware of what is happening around her, however nearer the end her costume has changed and now she is wearing very dark clothing suggesting that her eyes have been opened to what the world is really like and therefore she has lost the innocents that she once had. the dominant colours in this music video is definitely pastel colours, all the colours used are very calm and soothing and therefore does not attract attention suggesting that they want this place to be viewed as if it were any other place connoting that they think everyone has the same type of backward thinking society that doesn't accept change. The theme park is called Oblivia - this name is a play on the word 'oblivion' (meaning the state of being unaware or unconscious of what's happening around them) and that is the message that the artist is trying to get across to the audience, we are all doing the same things day after day and things are happening around us and we just don't notice it because we are oblivious to it. One shot that stands out is the close up of the barbed wire rose, at first glance it looked like a normal rose but with a closer look it becomes apparent that even the most prettiest of objects can be deceiving.
Technical codes
The camera follows the artist on her journey through the theme park showing the audience the progression of the star breaking away from the rest of the group - breaking away from the rhythm. There is a close up of peoples feet and they are all moving at the same time again suggesting that everyone is doing what they are expected to do - they are just copying the person in front of them, nobody is daring to be different. The editing is very fast paced, the music video cuts between different shots very quickly to mimic the pace of the video.
Audience
The music video is aimed at young adults, the video targets that specific audience by using people of a similar age in the video and by the genre of music that the song applies too. its is aimed at the demographic groups E (students) and D (blue collar workers).
Institutions
Within the music video there doesn't appear to be any obvious links or roles that the record company can play within the video. In this particular video it is the fictional character promotes the star whilst the star is trying to tackle bigger world issues, which is the subject of the song and therefore standing out and being different because the majority of people prefer to change the subject and not think about what's really going on in the world.
This music video has a lot of hidden meanings that aren't at first the obvious, and it contains quite a few of Goodwin's theories, Looking at a variety of different music videos and seeing the different approaches with the professional music videos will help me come up with a unique music video for my chosen artist and genre.
No comments:
Post a Comment