8/3/2019 EltonJohnpresentation

1/6

CONVENTIONS OF MUSIC VIDEOS;

GENRE TEXTS THAT BREAK THE

RULESS I R E L T O N J O H N : I WA N T L O V E

Shafaah Jaber

8/3/2019 EltonJohnpresentation

2/6

R E L A T I O N S H I P B E T W E E N T H E LY R I C SA N D V I S UA L S

A man like me is dead is places- the empty house

shows his solitude, however it also gives connotations

that there once was some one or something that filled the

void.

Other men feel liberated- trapped in his own

house/ prisoner in his own home.

wont break me down, wont brick me up, won't

fence me in- looks out of the window, gives a senseof entrapment.

8/3/2019 EltonJohnpresentation

3/6

R E L A T I O N S H I P B E T W E E N T H E M U S I CA N D T H E V I S UA L S

The editing is very slow paced to match the tempo of

the music. At times it feels as though there are barely any

advanced editing techniques used.

The video consists of the camera following the singer

around a house, there is no relationship between the visuals

and the music.

Only three basic camera shots are used (long shot,

medium shot, close up) which makes it harder for the

audience to empathize with the singer since they feel

alienated.

8/3/2019 EltonJohnpresentation

4/6

P A R T I C U L A R M U S I C G E N R E S H A V E

T H E I R OW N M U S I C V I D E O S T Y L E A N DI C O N O G R A P H Y

Sir Elton Johns music style fits into the singer/songwriter

genre. Music videos of this genre usually call for plenty of

close-ups of the artist themselves. In fact it is required

that the artist appears in the music video singing their

song and maybe playing their instrument. I Want Love on

the other hand is very different, Sir Elton John isnt in the

music video, he doesn't even make a cameo appearance

like Ed Sheeran in The A Team music video.

8/3/2019 EltonJohnpresentation

5/6

D E M A N D O N T H E PA R T O F T H E R E C O R D

C O M PA N Y F O R L O T S O F C L O S E U P S O FT H E A R T I S T / L E A D S I N G E R

Sir Elton John makes no appearances in the music video. It mainly consists

of the camera following Robert Downey Jr around a big empty house.

The record company can get away with this because Sir Elton John is alreadya very well established artist so he can afford to have a big Hollywood star

lip-sync in one of his music videos.

How ever though there are no close ups of the artist there are plenty of

Robert Downey Jr, this technique kills two birds with one stone as the

audience can listen to a great artist and watch a great actor. Essentially the

record label is promoting two men from very different fields.

8/3/2019 EltonJohnpresentation

6/6

I N T E R T E X T U A L R E F E R E N C E S

The only intertextual reference in the music video is Robert Downey

Jr himself as a Hollywood actor.