This video begins with a medium close shot of a woman pulling up her socks. This suggests to the audience that she’s getting ready to go out, or for particular in this genre that she’s getting ready for a night out. The next shot is then a medium shot of three women getting ready for some sort of performance or show; this is clear due to the small enclosed space and props within the room giving the feel of a changing/dressing room for the performance. This is then reinforced be the costumes of the women. The women’s costumes are very revealing and link to the stereotype of woman to being known for their sexuality and appearance and as an object for men this is further reinforced by an over the shoulder shot of the blonde character in the woman which gives a clearer shot of her breast and focus’s on her applying make up. The women’s costumes are black in colour connoting mystery of the characters and the kind of show they’re preparing for.
Jump cuts are then used to show connections between the three girls and the artist. This creates a fast pace for the video as a number of edits are used back and forth increasing the pace. These edits also reinforce the idea of a woman’s appearance as the artist is shown looking immaculate and isn’t singing or dancing suggesting she’s just been shown for this and to highlight her importance due to her centre framing.
A medium long shot is used to shoot one of the three girls. Although a distance shot is used the woman is framed centre frame connoting her importance to the narrative of the song. The woman’s gesture is very fast paced and she is framed as though she is dancing on a raised platform. This allows the audience to link the video to the genre as it’s the sort of thing you would expect to see in a night club. The woman is dressed in revealing and provocative clothing and it used jump cuts to show a connection between her dancing and a male character watching her. There is a close up of the side of the males face allowing the audience to understand that he’s watching her but unable to see him completely and creating enigma. This is further enforced by the fact the male is wearing sunglasses and therefore connoting mystery. The use of the woman dancing for the male characters pleasure reinforces the dominant ideology of woman being objects for men and the stereotype of women being something for their sexuality. This scene is used on a number of occasions throughout the video allowing the narrative to be quite simple and therefore clear to the audience.
A reoccurring prop throughout the video is Red Roses. These work along side the reoccurring scene as stated above. This builds the narrative and allows it to become clearer to the audience causing them to engage more in the video. Red roses connote romance and passion and are used within the video for that reason. However the roses also connote power as they cause the male to have dominance and control of the female reinforcing the dominant ideology of the male dominance. During the scenes that the roses are shown the artist is portrayed as happy connoting this as an emotion of love. This also creates a happy atmosphere which links back the genre of dance. This upbeat atmosphere is reinforced by the use of high energy gesture and movement through the dancing scene. The use of dance also further reinforces the link to the dance genre.
A mixture of close ups, medium close and medium shots are used when showing the artist. She’s framed centre frame the majority of the time and the rule of thirds is obeyed when not ensuring her importance is still clear. The use of close ups allows the audience to clearly see the artists expressions and any emotions. On the close up, of the artist singing, the artists expression is quite sad. This creates a sad atmosphere and therefore challenges the music genre. These scenes are used in between the rose and dancing scenes by jump cuts. This suggests that the two atmospheres are both connected to the emotion of love which is the main focus of the video.
The key light used, when the artist is shot, creates a shadow on one side of her face. This connotes mystery within the character and suggests that theirs something the audience doesn’t know. The use of the key light also high lights the artists features causing her to stand out and therefore reinforces her importance to the song.
Jump cuts are used from the artist to the narrative scene of the family arguing. This suggests a connection between the two and that it may be a flashback for the artist. This creates a clear narrative and allows the audience to relate to the video and identify with the characters.
I feel that Todorovs narrative theory could be applied to this video. The video begins with an equillibrium that is disturbed due to the family arguements and possible break up. This equillibrium is realised by the male farther character and is then tried to be repaired by him. A new equillibrum is then restored at the end of the video with the farther being the mothers sercet admirer and the roses creating a connection between them again restoring peace and love between the couple.
The use of family problems with in the video again links to uses and gratifications as it allows the audience to use the video for personal relationships or identity as they can relate to the video and may be in the same situation themselves possibly using the video for comfort reasons.
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