Research; Music Video - David Guetta feat Kelly Rowland 'When love takes over'

This video begins with a sunset setting. This connotes romance and immediately connects the narrative of the song to romance from the beginning of the song. Jump cuts then connect this image with medium shots of the beach, nation flags and the sea creating a holiday setting suggesting the narrative to be linked to holiday and holiday experiences. The video then shows the artist for the first time with a long shot. This allows the audience to see the setting around the artist and can see that it’s a holiday setting by the buildings. However the buildings also seem quite run down due to dirt and graffiti causing the artist to stand out and show her importance.

The video then tracks the artist connoting her importance. This is reinforced by the models immaculate appearance and costume causing her to stand out from the others, as well as always being centre framed.

In between the tracking shots there are a number of close up shots of the artists face. This allows us to see her expression and emotion. The artist is smiling throughout each close up creating a happy tone and atmosphere. This tone is also created due to the bright colours of make up used for the artists eye make up.

Then second artist is then introduced to the audience by a jump cut. The jump cut shows a link between the two artists and enforces the importance of the two. He is seen pushing DJ decks suggest to the audience these are connected to him. This also allows the audience to link the song to the dance genre as the ‘DJ’ aspects links with parties and nightclubs. The male artists costume is predominantly red connoting passion, danger and energy. Energy is reinforced by the pace and volume of the song increasing as we are introduced to the male. This suggests a sense of power reinforcing the dominant ideology of the males being the dominant gender. This is however late contradicted within the video as the woman is shown more and dominants the camera time and frames connoting her as the one with strengthen and power challenging this ideology.

At this time the atmosphere is build more and more happy and upbeat. This is shown with the pace and beat of the music and if reinforced by a costume change in the female character to a bright summers dress.

There is then a close up on three wires from the DJ's decks, showing the importance of this prop to the song. These wires are red, purple and black in colour. The red is used to connote passion and romance and is reinforced by the lines of ‘love takes over’ being sang as this shot is shown. However it can also connote danger and could mean this due to the use on electrical wires. The purple is a light purple which could also connote romance as well as wealth and luxury. The black connotes mystery and is used to show power.
Throughout the video there are a number of shots of people dancing, which is a key convention of this genre as it has been present in a number of videos I have analysed. However it does break the code and conventions as the majority of the dancers and all the solo dancers are male characters. The video also includes shots if dancing on bikes and skateboards. This suggests that the target audience is male orientated instead of female as the dance genre is in general.

The power and holiday are reinforced by the large number of shots of the sea. Towards the end of the video the female is seen in the sea and it becomes quite fantasy like as it seems the sea ‘takes over’ the girl as is stated in the lyrics. This could be seen as a metaphor for love and the emotions felt when in love again relating to the narrative of the song. The use of the sea connotes the power and depth of love, while a holiday feel could relate to a holiday romance allowing the audience to therefore relate to the song and the artist.

After this, the video goes into a night life situation. It uses fades and jump cuts to build the pace and cause the transition. There are shots of fire and dancing, during this, as well as a close up of the females face. This connotes the energy as well as the dangers of romance and love. The scene also uses a number of kissing and intimate shots to anchor the connotation of love and the narrative of the song. As the video moves into the night life the colours within the video darken as well as the costumes and make up of the characters, reinforcing the night idea and linking the video to the genre.

The Editing throughout the whole video is fast paced which suggests this is a key convention of this genre as it has been present in all the videos. Jump cuts also seem to be key in increasing the pace and showing connections within this genre.

The video ends with the artist walking along the beach and the sunset image again, suggesting the video to be a reminiscence or an insight into what happens after the sun goes down.

This video, again, doesn't have a particularly clear narrative. The audience is able to clearly establish the idea of a holiday romance through the setting and lyrics of the song, however they are unable to clearly see relationships between the main characters. The only theory i feel could be possibly used is the Propp theory. The focus on the woman could suggest shes a 'princess' character, however the relationship her and the character have, would suggest he's a helper, not a hero.