This video begins with a high angle shot of a girl in her bedroom. The use of a high angle shot suggests the audience to be looking in on her situation and possibly suggest we have dominance over the character. It also allows the scene to be established as the characters bedroom. The use of the bedroom seems quite a key convention of the dance genre as a lot of videos begin in the bedroom. It also allows the target audience to drop below those that are legal to attend nightclubs as the younger audience can relate to the video as they may listen to this sort of music in their bedrooms.
There is then the use of a close up on the mobile phone connoting this as important. This suggests the target audience to be teenagers and young adults as mobile phones are part of there everyday life and therefore allows them to relate to the video. Furthermore the age of the characters is around 18 reinforcing this age range as the target audience. The mobile phone is also used to connect the two characters in the beginning of the video. A number of jump cuts are used to show the connection between the characters and highlight the similarities between the emotions they portray and situations they are in. This creates a fast pace for the edits to match the song and obey the conventions of this genre of music. The use of medium close ups on the characters allows the audience to see the emotions on the characters face. The expressions of both characters are sad creating a sad atmosphere which therefore challenges the genre of music. The characters are framed centre frame and therefore reinforces there importance to the video.
The use of over the shoulder shot of the female looking at a picture of the male and her and the male reinforces the idea of them being connected. It also allows the audience a deeper insight into the narrative of the video. The target audience of the video is then also reinforced by the use of the female’s laptop to contact her friends.
This is followed by a medium shot of the male character sitting in the middle of the room. His importance is still portrayed due to his centre framing but his body language challenge’s the dominant ideology of men as he is portrayed as quite weak instead of strong and women’s saviours.
A selection of medium and medium-long shots of the two characters and there friends are then shown. Jump cuts between the two reinforce the link and similarities between the couple as they are both shown getting ready for a night out. This links with the conventions of the dance genre as it links to night out and therefore nightclubs. These scenes also reinforce the genre due to the atmosphere changing to a more upbeat and happy atmosphere. The couple’s importance is also reinforced due to the framing of the couple compared to their friends who are often framed to the back of the frame.
As the girls prepare for there night out, the audience are able to identify with the characters due to the focus on make up and revealing outfits which is often seen within this genre as it allows the video to be linked to femininity and realism. The costume of the female character is a short black dress. The use of black connotes mystery and seems to be a key colour for outfits within this genre. The dress is also sparkly relating to dressing up for nights out and the idea of shining, therefore showing her importance as she stands out. Revealing outfits also seem a key convention of this genre as they have appeared in a number of music videos and even album covers that I have analysed.
A medium shot of a black silhouette of a woman flicking her hair back and dancing seductively is then shown. This reinforces the representation of woman gaining identity through their sexuality and appearance. The use of flashing brightly coloured lighting within this frame reinforces the happy atmosphere whilst creating a nightclub effect and therefore allowing the audience to relate the video to the genre.
The video then switches to the setting of a nightclub. The lighting therefore darkens to create a night setting and the use of strobe lighting and flashing white lights are used to reinforce the nightclub setting. The gesture within this scene is very high energy due to the dancing scenes this creates an upbeat atmosphere and portrays the nightclub scene as would be expected. Fast edits and pans are used to match the camerawork to this chaos/energy and therefore to the beat of the song. This also links to the genre of music well as fast edit are a key convention of the dance genre.
The mobile phone is then shown again in the club scene. This is an important prop as it allows the target audience to link with the film and continuously shows the connection between the two characters. It also allows the narrative of the song to be clear to the audience by the text used in the text messages. The text also reinforces the target audience by the slang used.
Towards the end of the video a two shot of the couple is shown. The couple are frames within the forefront of the frame with the background blurred out. This reinforces there importance to the video and shows the narrative to be about them and not necessarily the setting. There is then a medium-close up of the couple kissing reinforcing the idea of romance within the video and this genre of music.
Within the video the Woman is quite dominant as she has more camera time than the male character. This challenges the dominant ideology of male being dominant and female being weak characters. However this ideology is reinforced by the framing of the male character as the male dominants the frame more than the female connoting his power.
I feel Todorov’s narrative theory could be applied to this video as the narrative begins with an equilibrium that is then disrupted by the break up of the characters. This is then realised by the characters as the characters are shown as upset. The characters then attempt to cheer up by going on a night out, attempting to get over the pain and therefore 'resotre and equillibrium'. Finally, a new equilibrium is created at the end of the video by the rejoining of the characters and the kiss scene.
As nightlife, nightclubs and relationships are all key characteristics of the english culture, of teenagers, i also feel that cultural transmission is apparent within the video. The video may also be used for the grafication of personal relationships as the target audience is abe to easily relate to the characters and the emotions/situatitons that the characters are in.
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